Thursday, April 19, 2012

MST3K: Episode 423 - Bride of the Monster

I'm watching all of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes in order. More about that here and here.

Episode 423: Bride of the Monster

First aired: Comedy Central on 23 January 1993
Availability: iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Amazon (Volume 19), Shout Factory (Volume 19), Best Brains (Volume 19)

Movie? I have no movie!
I love this movie. Not just this episode of MST3K, but the actual Bride of the Monster movie.

You got Bela Lugosi at his Bela Lugosi-est. You got Tor Johnson at his Tor Johnson-iest. All directed by Ed Wood at his Ed Wood-iest. What's not to love?

This is, of course, one of the movies that MST3K did, that I saw before MST3K did it. I loved it before Joel & the Bots got ahold of it, and I love it still.

It's the first appearance by Tor Johnson as Lobo. He played a character named Lobo, though probably a different character named Lobo, in Episode 320: The Unearthly. He also played Lobo, the same Lobo, in Night of the Ghouls, Ed Wood's sequel to this film.

By the way, Night of the Ghouls featured the lead character Doctor Acula. That was the name of a character Bela Lugosi once said he was going to play on TV.


[Direct link]

Doctor Acula.

Dr. Acula.

Dr acula.

Dracula.

Get it?

Yeah, okay, back to this film.

That's not Bela.
There are lots of stories about this film. One famous was was featured in the movie Ed Wood. It goes that Wood and crew stole the octopus featured in the film, but forgot to steal the motor, causing Lugosi to have to control the arms while he fought it.

The reality is that Wood actually rented the octopus and didn't steal it -- or "borrow" it without permission -- but it was defective. It's not clear why the motor didn't work -- whether it was broken or simply not included in the rental -- so the actors and stuntmen did have to work the octopus' arms.

Oh, and though the Ed Wood movie indicated Bela got in the mud and did the octopus scene, a still from that scene shows a different person, probably the same stuntman who did the fight with Tor Johnson.

Lortta King and Delores Fuller in Bride of the Monster.Juliet Landau as Loretta King and Sarah Jessica Parker as Delores Fuller in Ed Wood.
Oh, and yes, the Ed Wood movie spent a lot of time on Bride of the Monster. If you've seen the Johnny Depp film, you'll recognize several scenes.

All this chit-chat about the movie and not much about the episode. Let's fix that now.

It's fun! What else can I say.

Since it's an Ed Wood film, it's a bad, bad film. A wicked, bad, naughty film.
Lightning strikes the octopus."Man, that' one unstable octopus!"
And, it's got some great riffs. Like at the end of the film. Story goes that the man who financed the film wanted it to end with an atomic explosion. But, that wasn't in the script. So, Ed Wood added an atomic explosion. That's not to defend Wood. He knew it didn't make any sense. But, he did it anyway.

See the U.S.A. ...
I still haven't mentioned the short, Hired, Part 1. It was funny. The riffing, that is. And, since it's Part 1, that means there's a Part 2. Maybe we'll get to it when it airs. But, I'm not so sure about that. Because of the movie in that episode.

It's about a Chevrolet dealer who is dealing with his doo-to-door salesmen not making sales.

Now, I never knew that Chevy dealers had door-to-door salesmen. But that's what the salesmen in the short are. And, they're on foot. They're not even driving a Chevrolet. They couldn't even sell themselves a car!

One of my favorite episodes featuring one of my favorite bad films. Let's watch Bela's speech from the movie, won't you?

[Direct link]
Home? I have no home. Hunted, despised, Living like an animal! The jungle is my home. But I will show the world that I can be its master! I will perfect my own race of people. A race of atomic supermen which will conquer the world! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!*
That's a whole pick-up truck load of awesome.



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