Customer Reviews

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 10.2 (Giant Gila Monster / Swamp Diamonds / Teenage Strangler / Giant Spider Invasion)

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Unfortunately, the original version of this volume 10 collection was put out of print by rights issues over the Godzilla movie included in it. However, another giant mutated reptile has stepped in to take Godzilla's place, so with help from The Giant Gila Monster, here comes MST3K Collection Volume 10.2! Here is a bit of information about each episode:

402- GIANT GILA MONSTER

Ray Kellogg, who also directed, "The Killer Shrews" and co-directed "The Green Berets", directed this 1959 black-and-white monster-on-the-loose film. It stars Don Sullivan as a young heroic singing automobile mechanic named Chase Winstead who must battle the giant lizard of the title as well as the prejudice of a cantankerous codger who thinks he's up to "no good". Meanwhile, he helps a lot of people throughout the story no matter what adversity comes his way, including his immigrant girlfriend and his physically disabled sister. Think of this as "Killer Shrews" with more likeable characters and slightly less drinking or "The Creeping Terror" without the carpet monster but still plenty of creeping.

This movie is yet another in a long line of cheap monster films produced in the 1950s that feature a supposedly oversized version of an otherwise normal creature as the monster. The special effects in the film are quite poor and it is painfully obvious throughout the film that the monster is a normal Gila monster crawling extremely slowly over miniature sets. The dialogue is naïve and ridiculous and the pace of the film is as slow as the starring creature. The direction also involves a lot of actors putting a leg up on something, whatever happens to be around in the middle of the shot, a fact that supplies the MST3K writers with endless jokes throughout this film, including an entire host segment. This film also contains a monotonous little ditty sung by Don Sullivan featuring the lyrics, "I sing whenever I sing whenever I sing" as he happily pounds away at repairing an automobile body. Jokes about this appear not only in this episode, but also pop up in other episodes of MST3K for years to come.

The whole episode is hilarious from start to finish. I don't want to spoil any jokes for newer MST3K fans that may never have seen this episode, so I won't quote any specific jokes here. Let me just say that the Renaissance festival punching bags invention during the pre-movie "invention exchange" host segment will have you rolling on the floor and that this episode as a whole is a strong classic no "MSTie" should miss. Movie sign!

503- SWAMP DIAMONDS (plus short: WHAT TO DO ON A DATE)
This is a 1955 Roger Corman "classic" starring Beverly Garland and Mike "Touch" Connors before his fame with Mannix. Beverly Garland leads a gang of escaped female convicts to a cache of diamonds and they kidnap the innocent Mr. Connors and his girlfriend along the way. A policewoman goes undercover inside the gang hoping to recover the stolen diamonds. Beverly Garland turns in the usual good performance and looks great doing it in spite of the mediocre film quality.

Host segments in this episode focus on the dating short as Servo tries to get up the nerve to ask Gypsy for a date. There's also a hilarious bit based on the "This Side of Paradise" episode of the original Star Trek series.

514- TEEN-AGE STRANGLER (plus short: IS THIS LOVE?)
This is the second episode of MST3K to be hosted by Mike Nelson after the departure of show creator Joel Hodgson. The main feature is a small independent film made in 1968 West Virginia about a serial killer in a small town and it looks every bit the amateur film. Highlights in this episode include Mike Nelson transforming into Mikey from the movie and the hilarious "The Janitor Song." The short is also a winner with some of the oldest looking "young people" you're likely to see on film; this is really funny stuff!

810- THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION
This movie is a 1975 monster flick from Bill Rebane, the same man who brought you Monster A-Go Go! This film is ever so slightly more competently made than Monster A-Go Go and actually features a couple of well-known actors: Barbara Hale of Perry Mason fame and Alan Hale, Jr. who was The Skipper on Gilligan's Island and also the sheriff in the film The Crawling Hand which was featured in MST3K episode # 106. The movie is really goofy fun, with large spiders everywhere, sleazy and gross yokel-type characters less appealing than the spiders, and a small car dressed up as the biggest and cheesiest looking spider of them all. The scene where Barbara Hale's character does an odd tumble down a hill is worth seeing all by itself and there's plenty of other good material here as well for the MST3K writers. This is certainly one of the more fun episodes done after the show moved to the Sci-Fi Channel. The amusing host segments are based loosely on the classic SF film Invasion of the Body Snatchers rather than on the film featured in the episode.

This DVD set also contains the following extra features:
-MST3K Video Jukebox with 15 songs from the series
-Outtakes consisting of about 15 minutes of the best moments from "Poopie 2"

This set is still great and the substitution of The Gila Monster movie in place of the originally included Godzilla movie is a fair one as both are terrific episodes every MST3K fan should see and most MSTies would love to own. Join Us! Movie Sign!

A little over a year ago, The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection - Volume 10 was pulled from store shelves because of rights issues with one of the included films, "Godzilla vs. Megalon." Rhino Home Video is re-releasing the set as The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection - Volume 10.2, with "The Giant Gila Monster" (episode 402) replacing Godzilla. Also included in this 4-disc set will be: "Swamp Diamonds" (episode 503, w/ short "What To Do On A Date"), "Teenage Strangler" (episode 514, w/ short "Is This Love?"), and "The Giant Spider Invasion" (episode 810), all carried over from Vol. 10. New extras on Vol. 10.2 include: A new short sketch featuring early series regulars Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and J. Elvis Weinstein concerning this whole mess, and comments from Gila Monster star (and singer of the infamous "Mushroom Song") Don Sullivan. Assuming the original three discs remain unchanged, other extras will include the MST3K Video Jukebox, and outtakes. (From Digital Monster Island dot com.)

C'mon guys, settle down. If you were one of the lucky few (like me) who bought the original Volume 10, there's no reason to rebuy this set just to get Giant Gila Monster. All you have to do it go to the Rhino website and you can order the single version of GGM for under $8.

I was one of the first people to buy the original volume 10. The only question is: "Is it worth it to re-buy the set to see Joel and the old school players doing a new skit on the reason the old version was pulled?"
Maybe. I like the choice of "The Gila Monster" replacing the "Godzilla v. Megalon" from the original disc set. The invention exchange on that episode is awesome (The Mads demonstrate "Ren-Fest Punching Bags").
The other movies are worth well worth the purchase price.
Looks like I'll be buying this again...and I don't hate myself for it.

I never saw the original episode that has been replaced on this but the Giant Gila Monster is a great one. All of these are fantastic hilarious episodes from a fantastic hilarious show that never should have come off the air.

I loved all the movies in this boxset, but I have a special tie to "Teenage Strangler". It was shot in my hometown of Huntington, West Virginia (same place "We Are Marshall" was shot) and this movie made it's world premire in Huntington in the 90's if I remember correctly (as if it deserved that). The scene at the beginning, where the girls first stop running, where there's a black stairwell, is the first apartment my wife ever got. Seeing all the places from my hometown always gives me a warm feeling. However, the piece de resistance from Teenage Strangler is Mikey. You can hate this movie all you want, but Mikey's unintentionally HILARIOUS presence makes it all worth while.

"Swamp Diamonds" is the stinker in the pact. I can't remember if this is a Roger Corman production or not, but the shoddy production would be a giveaway. The only other Roger Corman movie I've seen (unfortunately) that is worse than this is his version of the Fantastic Four. Ugh.

I haven't seen the Giant Gila Monster movie yet, but "The Giant Spider Invasion" movie is horribly funny, especially Alan Hale playing an actor trying to pay his rent by playing a sheriff. Oh, it's bad. Wonderfully negative stereotypes of country folk to (yes I am being sarcastic).

Opening Credits (beginning remarks):

Didn't we just go through this?

The first version of Rhino's Volume 10 of their MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 box sets included a copy of GOZILLA VS. MEGALON. Unfortunately, it didn't appear that they had the legal right to distribute it, and the discs quickly were recalled from store shelves. Only we few who were quick enough on hitting the pre-order button we able to snag a copy before the lawyers descended.

However, Rhino decided to take pity on the MST3k fans. As their last act before letting the rights to MST3k itself go over to "Shout! Factory", they re-released Volume 10 -- this time as Volume 10.2 -- with THE GIANT GILA MONSTER in place of the giant Japanese monster.

As an extra bonus, included on the GILA MONSTER disc is a brand new sketch featuring Trace Beaulieu (as Dr. Clayton Forrester and Crow T. Robot), Frank Conniff (as TV's Frank and Tom Servo) and Joel Hodgson (as Joel). They describe the "real" reason as to why the DVD sets had to be recalled and demonstrate how exactly one should upgrade their Volume 10 package to 10.2. As sad as I am, I was not only delighted to see the crew back in costume (albeit looking a tad older), I also noticed the glaring continuity error. (I should repeat to myself, "It's just a DVD extra; I should really just relax.")


THE GIANT GILA MONSTER

From the title, one might expect this to be a typical rip-off of a Japanese giant monster movie. In actuality, the eponymous monster gets relatively little screen time. Most of the story is about a teenaged tow truck driver who by the end of the movie is looking to improve his singing career. That's right, THE GIANT GILA MONSTER is a musical.

This is a very silly movie which takes itself a little too seriously. A normal sized gila lizard on a series of models to make it look like a monster; a lead character who's a teen heartthrob trying to break into the rock'n'roll industry; a know-it-all parent who finally learns his lesson: this would be a cult film even without the MST3k treatment. Although I didn't find the movie riffing to be among the MST3k gang's finest (mediocre MST3k is still better than most TV), the whole package is a lot of fun.


SWAMP DIAMONDS

When the plot summary contains a gang of jail-breaking female bandits on the run from the cops and attempting to find diamonds they buried before their previous arrest, "boring" should not be the adjective one would use to describe the final product. And, yet, there is no way around using that descriptor here.

The film stars Mike Connors (a.k.a. Mannix), credited here as Touch Connors. A police woman infiltrates a gang of three woman, along the way capturing and falling for Connors' character. This is a typical Roger Corman piece of fluff, but fortunately -- once again -- Joel and the bots keep us from falling asleep.


TEEN-AGE STRANGLER

If TEEN-AGE STRANGLER had been made in the 1970s or 80s, then it would have been what we now call a teen slasher movie. However, this was made in the relatively more restrained 1960s, and therefore is only a teen strangler movie.

The plot of the film is almost exactly what the title suggests. A suburban high school is being terrorized by a criminal who goes around at night strangling the local teenagers. As the cast is made up mostly of teenagers, the quality of the acting is really all over the place which gives the MST folks lots to mock (their send up of the nerdy Mikey character is hilarious).


THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION

I hadn't seen this episode since back when it had aired on the Sci-Fi Channel, so I was really looking forward to it. As you can guess this one involves a giant spider from outer space terrorizing rural Wisconsin in the 1970s. The casting director must have been calling up people completely at random; I can see no other way in which they got both Barbara Hale and Alan "The Skipper" Hale in the same movie. The Wisconsin setting gives the gang a lot of fodder for jokes (remember that Mike Nelson and a few of the writing staff had once lived in Wisconsin). The repeated references to the Green Bay Packers team and players never failed to crack me up.


Love Theme (conclusion):

It's good to see that Rhino was able to correct their mistake and get the three episodes from Volume 10 (and the new offering) back out into circulation. This is one of the stronger sets from Rhino with each of the four standing up well to multiple repeated viewings (especially, for me, THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION). Let's hope Shout! Factory will give us something equally fun for their first release.

I have the original version with the Godzilla movie (no, I didn't send it back when it was recalled), but if I know the MST3K crew, the Gila Monster is probably at least close to being as good. Anyway, you'll probably want to buy this for the Mike Connors vehicle "Swamp Diamonds": jail breaking female inmates, undercover female cops, guns, ropes, Mannix and diamonds...in a swamp! Set against stock footage of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, you can almost feel the heat! The best thing about MST3K DVD's is you can watch them over and over and still get plenty of laughs out of them, a la, "Oh yeah, now I remember. They did say that!" I don't think this is the best set, but it is excellent and a lot of fun.

My copy of this Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume 10 DVD set has a Godzilla movie. For copyright reasons, I presume, it's been swapped with a copy of the 1959 B-movie The Giant Gila Monster. Two episodes are from the Comedy Central era and two are from the Sci-Fi/SyFy Channel era.

The Giant Spider Invasion(1975): This is a low budget sci-fi/horror film from the 70's. The filmmakers are honest about the fact that they're competing with Jaws(1975). Director Bill Rebane did a decent job making the film with very little money and resources. Intergalactic spiders prey on the citizens of a small town and scientists and the military try to fight back. The filmmakers weren't sure if they should make a straight-forward horror film or a comedy. We get a mish-mash of the two! Alan Hale Jr. cracks a bunch of unfunny jokes in the film. This film uses a lot of 1970's stock music. Poor, sexy Leslie Parrish(The Manchurian Candidate, Star Trek, Mannix) is stuck playing an unappealing woman! There's a Buggles music video that explodes in a backyard! The Giant Spider Invasion is so bad, it's good.

Teenage Strangler(1964): This independent B-movie came and went from movie theaters. It's Psycho(1960) meets West Side Story(1962). MST3K saved it from an oblivion. The nerdy, wimpy Mikey has a cult following! There's a skit where Mike Nelson is brainwashed into acting like Mikey("I'm sorry, Betty! You gotta come home, Jimmy! He didn't steal no bike, neither!").
Ben Parker directed(no, not Spiderman's uncle). A teenage girl sees her friend killed by a man in the shadows. The police chase a gang member who might be the serial killer, but they're chasing the wrong man. There's a woman in the film who seems to be filled with joy that she's acting in a movie.

Swamp Diamonds(1955): Mike Connors stars in this early Roger Corman movie. He's billed as Touch Connors. Four women break out of jail and search for diamonds hidden in a swamp. One of the women is an undercover cop. There's a big continuity error in the middle of the film. A sexy, redheaded woman falls into a filthy, dark, dirty swamp! When the editor cuts to close ups, we can see that it was filmed in a clean, tidy, spotless swimming pool that doesn't match the look of the dirty swamp! Even Joel and the Bots poke fun of this! The late Beverly Garland looks sexy as a woman with a bad attitude.

The Giant Gila Monster(1959): This is a low budget horror movie about a giant gila monster killing people in a town. A tow truck driver with a French girlfriend has to kill it before it causes more damage. This black and white film may be too slow paced for people living in 2011! The director uses small scale models of cars, toy trains, and a regular sized Gila monster. A clip from this film was used in the credits of Ernest Scared Stupid(1991). Still, I enjoy this film's 1950's rock & roll soundtrack and the goofy, old drunk guy.

Godzilla vs. Megalon(1973): Godzilla and Jet Jaguar battle Megalon. Many scenes were cut from the U.S. version of the film so it could get a G-rating. The Japanese version shows nudie magazines and stronger violence. Jet Jaguar is a flying, shape shifting robot; they must have been trendy in the 1970's. Joel and the Bots must have had fun poking fun of this campy Godzilla movie.

This DVD set is worth the money if it's still for sale.

I'm not so gung-ho about this collection. As I've found out over time, the best MST3k episodes are the ones with movies that are hilarious and cheesy by themselves. The movies in this collection are stupid, yes, but for the most part... not all that much fun.

The Giant Gila Monster is so-so. I adore the voice the guys give the lizard, the goofy song Sullivan sings makes me laugh, and the host segments are great. But for the most part this movie just creeps along at the speed of its villain, and there's not much hilarity to be had. It's just hard for Joel and the bots to pick this puppy up.

Swamp Diamonds is boring. There are some truly hilarious moments (such as the freakish bathing scene and the alligator attack), but for the most part it just mopes along to its climax. There are many, many shots of the swamps... many... many shots. Boring shots. The short, "What to Do on a Date," is very funny, and far more fun than the movie that follows it.

Teen-Age Strangler is moderately fun. Mikey is the star of the show here, whether anyone recognizes it or not. There are also some really slow, delightfully funny car races. The host segments are gold here, too -- especially the one where Mike puts on the "Mikey glasses." Should be watched at least once!

The Giant Spider Invasion is also moderately enjoyable. I have never wanted so many characters to die before. Thankfully, many of them do. There are some truly hilarious spiders here... specifically, a ginormous puppet, perhaps the very one Ator fought so long ago. Unintentionally hilarious characters, really wacky science, a squawking scientist, and other humorous bits abound. However, just try to keep your lunch down as you watch the white trash. Eee-yuck!

Overall, this is an okay set. Spider Invasion and Teen-age Strangler should be nice additions to your collection, if anything. But it certainly isn't the collection I'd leap to first. New MSTies would do best going for Volume 2.