Customer Reviews

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 9 (Women of the Prehistoric Planet / Wild Rebels / Sinister Urge / The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies)

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This is the ninth 4-disc MST3K collection from Rhino Video. It features two shows hosted by creator Joel Hodgson and two hosted by head writer Mike Nelson. This wonderful collection plumbs the creative depths of the show from its first season all the way to season eight. Three episodes come from the Comedy Central years, while the fourth show is from the first season of the show produced for the Sci-Fi Channel. Here is a synopsis of each episode:

104- WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET
"Hi-keeba!" This is the episode from which the most popular MST3K catch phrase of all time originates! It's a 1966 color science fiction (SF) film wherein a spaceship crashes on a primordial planet inhabited by primitive savages. Time dilation while traveling faster than light causes the rescue crew to arrive eighteen years later. By then, all of the crash survivors are dead, but one of their offspring, a young man named Tang, survives. One member of the rescue crew, Linda, meets Tang and falls in love.

This disc has a brief extra feature, wherein Irene Tsu, who played Linda in the movie, provides a short introduction to the film.

This is one of the best episodes from MST3K season one. If you haven't seen a season one show before, be warned that the show's sets were much cheaper looking than in later seasons and Josh Weinstein voiced Tom Servo; Kevin Murphy was still working only behind the scenes at this time. However, the cleverness of the MST3K concept, talent of the performers and the quality of the writing came together well for this episode and the results are quite hilarious. Listen for the terrific running gag, "Tang, it's not just for breakfast anymore."

207- WILD REBELS
In this 1967 biker film, a small motorcycle gang plans a bank heist. When they attempt to enlist a stock car racer to be their getaway car driver, the police recruit the racer to infiltrate the gang and inform on them. This movie has some premise issues to say the least. There are many hilarious plot oversights and credibility stretches in this film for you to discover.

This was the first episode of MST3K I ever saw and it is a real winner and still one of my favorites. Dialogue like "You're so square you're like a box, baby," will amuse you throughout. The movie is lively and entertaining compared to some of the slower films used on the show. The host segments are all top-notch and hilarious, especially the "Wild Rebels Cereal" commercial. Watch this one repeatedly "for the kicks, baby."

613- THE SINISTER URGE (with short: KEEPING CLEAN AND NEAT)
Ed Wood, who also directed Plan 9 From Outer Space and Bride of the Monster, directed this 1961 crime drama about the "smut" industry. It is very tame by today's standards. A series of young women are murdered and the police suspect the crimes are related to the "smut" (i.e., naked photographs) industry. Gloria, the front woman for the smut racketeers, figures prominently as she and her henchman continue to lure gullible, innocent young women to their dirty business and get rid of those who threaten retaliation. Look for Harvey B. Dunn (who played Grandpa in Teenagers From Outer Space and Capt. Tom Robbins in Bride of the Monster) as Mr. Romaine.

Conrad Brooks, who played Connie in the film, provided a brief introduction as an extra feature.
This episode also contains the fun hygiene short, "Keeping Neat and Clean." Host segments, possibly out of a sense of good taste, eschew the film in favor of other elements. In this case, they center on some antics concerning TV's Frank.

812- THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES
In this surprising surreal, slow low-budget picture from 1964, a young man named Jerry acquiesces to his girlfriend's request to visit the fortuneteller at a carnival. The fortuneteller gives him unhappy news, so he wanders off to see the fortuneteller's sister, who is an exotic dancer. During this visit Jerry is deliberately entranced into becoming an unwitting killer. Soon, Jerry's friends become suspicious and try to get to the bottom of the nefarious plot.

This film is legendary for it's "incredibly strange" and extremely long title. It used to make it onto UHF channel programming back when independent TV stations showed low-budget SF and horror movies to fill much of their airtime. Although at times dull, confusing, or both, there are a few elements of creativity in the film, mostly concerning the rich use of color and surreal imagery.

Host segments in this episode focus on the film, including a segment in which Crow and Tom try to read Mike's fortune.

In summary, there is GREAT comedy to be had in this set, with a wide variety of film genres and periods of MST3K being represented across four hilarious episodes. Don't be square; get it now "for the kicks!"

Rhino has put together an excellent mix of episodes for Volume Nine, including one from the series' first year that aired on the Comedy Channel (before it merged with Ha! to become Comedy Central). Unless you were a fan of the show at that time and had the Comedy Channel on your cable system or knew of someone who did and taped the episodes for you to borrow, chances are you never saw any episodes from that first year because Best Brains hated airing them. Besides, and collection that includes both Ed Wood and Ray Dennis Steckler is worth the money if only for the bots' comments. However, the most compelling reason to buy is that if you're a Mystie, you already have the eight other volumes, so why stop here?

104 - WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET - Ultra-cheesy low budget sci-fi flick about two astronauts (Wendell Corey and John Agar) who bring together Linda and Tang to populate the planet. Featuring shoddy sets, man-eating plants, giant lizards, a huge spider, Lyle Waggoner, and Stuart Margolin, it's produced by Jack Broder, the man who gave us "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla." This episode is where the famous MST phrase "Hi-Keeba!" comes from, uttered in the movie by one of the supporting cast. The film is introduced by Linda Tsu, who played Irene.

207 - THE WILD REBELS - An incoherent mess of a movie about a stock car driver who is talked into being the getaway car driver for a gang called Satan's Angels who are about to pull a bank job. The guy who talks out hero into this is a cop planning ac trap, but the rebels escape.

613 - THE SINISTER URGE - Ed Wood! A film about a fiend who goes berserk watching a sex film and stalks the leading lady. Detectives Kenne Duncan and James Moore seek to catch the fiend and destroy the film that caused the crime. Look for Ed himself in a fight scene. Conrad Brooks does the honors of the intro.

812 - THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES - A natural for MST 3000 based on the title alone, and the title says it all. From Ray Dennis Steckler (as hero Cash Flagg) comes the first monster musical about a gypsy fortune teller who hypnotizes patrons, turns them into ugly monsters by throwing acid in their faces, and collects them in cages in the basement. Of course the monsters break loose and kill everyone in sight until the police arrive. Mike and the bots do an excellent job keeping up with one.

I never thought that Rhino would release any Season 1 eps anymore,but was surprised to see Women of the Prehistoric Planet included in this set.All great choices from different seasons,so newcomers will get to see(if they haven't already)what the show was like before Frank and Servo's old voice.And how it was during the Sci-Fi channel era,too....Keep em coming Rhino,we're ready for more!!!! Will we get to see Volume 10 before this year is over?? Let's only hope.....

Opening Credits (Beginning Remarks):

Another release of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 episodes from Rhino and another nice split between episodes hosted by Joel Robinson and his replacement, Mike Nelson. I really enjoyed the mix we got here. It opens with a rare look at MST3k's first season and concludes with one of my favorite episodes from the Sci-Fi channel era. Some brief comments on each of the episodes follow.


WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET:

A Joel Episode. It's extremely difficult to watch this movie, because it's so incredibly static. You'll get distracted by the non-moving surface of the wall next to your TV set. The director obviously didn't believe in moving the camera; they bought a tripod and, damnit, they'll lock it off if they want to.

That complaint aside, this film is the embodiment of every 1950s-1960s bad science fiction movie: the goofy science, the boring plot, the long sequences of planetary explorers slowing making their way across the same three studio sets, the "twist" ending which connects the fate of the futuristic astronauts with the birth of mankind. It desperately needs a good comic relief character. But unfortunately, the best the movie can provide is a guy who yells "HI-KEEBA!" and falls over.

I'm not a huge fan of the early episodes of MST3k, and the deadening pain caused by the sheer boredom of this film does not help. Still, the jokes are pretty decent, even if the riffing doesn't have the quickness and the polish that Best Brains would later develop.

(Oh, and if you're looking for a lot of women in this movie, too bad. Despite the title, the planet they land on is entirely bereft of females.)


WILD REBELS:

A Joel episode. This is your standard bikers-rob-a-bank-for-the-kicks film. The production of this movie must have provided a boon for the local sellers of German war paraphernalia, because virtually every character and wall is adorned with either a swastika or an Iron Cross.

This was such an enjoyable episode simply because the movie was sort of fun in a bad, goofy way.


THE SINISTER URGE:

A Mike episode. This film was directed by Ed Wood, so it will not be a surprise to hear that a) the film opens with a scene of a woman running down a dirt road wearing only high heels, a bra and a half-slip, and b) one of the police methods of catching criminals is to use a male officer in drag as bait.

This film is a ham-fisted screed against the porn industry. Characters make, if not impassioned speeches, certainly boring ones which make smutty pictures seem like more of a threat to civilization than murder and war. Of course, it's hard to really take this seriously when the product we do see is the most chaste pornography imaginable (not only are some of the models wearing giant 1950s style bathing suits, but one wears an outfit that literally covers her from her neck to her ankles).

And, of course, it's an Ed Wood film, so Mike and the bots get to mock those delightful little quirks that made his films so special. Like the exciting (and repeated!) footage of police cars slowly pulling into parking spots. Or the insistence that we witness every character entering and exiting the room in each appearance.


THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES:

A Mike episode. Get a load of that title. I hadn't seen this episode since MST3k was still airing fresh episodes, and while I remembered this being a bad film, I'd hadn't realized how much of this movie is taken up by pointless song and dance sequences. The crew are perfectly correct when they point out that the director simply filmed an open mike night and made it half of his movie.

The plot involves a crazy carnival fortune teller who occasionally throws acid on the faces of her costumers and locks them in the back of her stall. Why exactly she does this is unknown. Ray Dennis Steckler (the writer, producer, director and star of the film) and his odd posse wander into the carnival and become involved with all the strippers, singers and fortune tellers the place has to offer.

For my money, this is one of the funniest commentaries that Best Brains ever produced. The sheer bizarreness of the characters as well as the totally incoherent plot make this ideal fodder for the Brains.


Love Theme (Conclusion):

I'd been looking forward to the release of TISCWSLABMUZ for a long time, so I was bound to love this set. But the other three movies are worthwhile too. Good for fans and newbies alike due to the nice mixture from all distinct eras of MST3k.

I'm more of a Mike fan than a Joel fan but I am glad to see "Prehistoric Women" in this set. But the best film has to be "Sinister Urge" which is probably Wood at his finest. The Ray Steckler film is also a great choice and spawned the recurring character Ortega which had a great bit in the PBS Telethon host segment for "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank." I haven't seen "Wild Rebels" but MST3K really shines at spoofing biker films ("Sidehackers" and "Hellcats" being standout episodes).

First of all I want to say that this is a good set for all the people who had discovered this in it's later years. Second reason I am thrilled about this set is because it has the very episode I have ever seen that got me hooked and that is Wild Rebels. That certain episode has such great lines in it such as 'Hey look it's the local color.' 'Yeah, white trash.' It also has a season one episode called Women From the Prehistoric Planet and need I say that is just as funny as some of the older epsodes.
I am also happy because they have put the god of all bad cinema, Edward D. Wood Jr. I do like The Sinister Urge but I wish they would put out Bride of the Monster on a future set. I really loved Incredibly Strange Creatures. That one had me rolling on the floor laughing from the begining. I hope Rhino can get the rights to such great ones as Outlaw, Final Sacrifice, The Magic Sword and Jack Frost.

Nice variety pack of pure cheesy goodness. "Planet of Prehistoric Women" is very much in the original "Star Trek" and "Forbidden Planet" vein and is mercilessly riffed by the crew. Great to see another Season 1 episode. "Wild Rebels" is a natural - Joel and company do some of their best work with biker flicks and the usual incoherent characters. ("I think he's chanting in Sanskrit.....") Ed Wood and "The Sinister Urge"! Yes, the great autuer himself, and Wood even makes a guest appearance in the film as a fighting barfly - quite an acting stretch, eh? See a cute little grandpa gnome take pictures of beefy gals in baggy swimsuits - that stuff drives people cah-RAZY, man - it brings out their SINISTER urges! And shoot, where ELSE are you going to come across a movie with a title like "Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies"? (Actually, I'm surprised the folks at "Something Weird" didn't pick up on this one - it's more their kind of entertainment.) "Ortega" gives our old friend "Torgo" a real run for his money as the goofiest sidekick in any movie. Are they dancing in those dream sequences, or dreaming about dance sequences? Phew - jaw-dropping.

All winners, and such a wide variety that there's something for every fan. Get it for the KICKS, square-hair!!

I got vol 9 last week and it was a real joy to watch...the best show i think is 'The Sinister Urge' which really doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense for the first half hour....'Wild Rebels' was so completely stupid for it's portrayal of stereotypical bikers and someone tell me please , WHY DOES THE GANG DRIVE A STATION WAGON GETAWAY CAR ??? , i mean it looks like they got dad's car to rob a store...this volume is a gem.....

MST3K vol. 9 provides hours of entertainment at a reasonable price. If you're already a fan of the series, this is some of the best material available. If you're not a fan, the movies themselves are unintentionally funny enough. The commentaries of Joel/Mike and the robots push it over the top.

Women of the Prehistoric Planet is a real gem from the pre-Frank years. This was a fairly campy, scientifically-challenged, mildly sexy technicolor fest with an ending undeserved by the muddle that preceeded it. Hi-keeba.

Wild Rebels -- All for the kicks, baby. Disgruntled racecar driver looking like the lead singer guy from "That Thing You Do" rats out a rogue biker gang who get their "kicks" from robbing stores and passing around a scantily clad elderly woman. Uh I mean "babe."

The Sinister Urge was done by Ed Wood. Uh huh.

TISCWSLABMUZ is a real sleeper hit. By that I mean you (and the movie) will probably fall asleep about ten minutes after you push play. If you manage to caffeinate yourself sufficiently ahead of time, the lead character's foreign roommate is a real gas. Even when he's not mumbling real fast in a heavy Balkan accent, you gotta love the hairdo. And what can be said about Ortega that hasn't already been said about Torgo?

It's hard to review this one when everyone else has done it so well. Let's just say that for me, the only let-down in this collection was Wild Rebels. It's the movie itself, not the guys -- who are as sharp as ever. My taste just tends to lean toward the fantastic, and I happen to despise the American 60s as subject matter, so it's just an opinion. It's got some pretty hilarious bad dialogue and ridiculous characters, that's for sure.

Each movie is deliciously bad, but my favorite is definitely Mixed-up Zombies. It's so weird and tries to be so much and fails on such an epic level that it's hard to tear one's eyes away. It's like watching a fourteen car pile-up. Between the terrible singers, the strippers who don't strip, the horrible dancing, the greasy fortune-teller... oh, it's magnificent. Just watch it.

"Women of the Prehistoric Planet" grew on me, and now it's one of my favorite eps. Hypothesizing why "Women" is in the title and watching all of the stupid characters die is a good deal of fun. I always wondered where "HAI KEEBA" originated and, now that I know, I can die happy. All in all, I never get tired of those awful sets and little model spaceships and crappy science, and I promise you won't either!

"Sinister Urge," how I adore thee. With the way folks are killing each other over the "smut racket," you'd think they were selling coke. Nothing makes me laugh more than when they put a girl to work in the "smut industry" and promptly drape her in a shapeless, full-length shower curtain so opaque one can't see even the barest hint of skin. Just a note to the potential buyer: don't be turned off by the word "smut" -- it's bandied about, but in the movie's context is equated to women posing in swimsuits.

I can assure readers that this is a very quality set with a lot to offer. Just get it. You won't regret it!