Mystery Science Theater XIX Special Gypsy Edition DVD Review
Mystery Science Theater XIX Special Gypsy Edition DVD Review
Mystery Science Theater XIX Special Gypsy Edition DVD Review, Devil Doll, Devil Fish, Robot Monster, Bride of the Monster
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MST3K: DEVIL DOLL
Well … hello Dolly! Before a sold-out audience in London, “The Great Vorelli” performs with his ventriloquist dummy, Hugo. The doll walks on his own. It talks on his own. It even threatens the audience on his own. But is Hugo the real villain? Or could it be that his ventriloquist owner has lost his marbles?
Wraparound: While Pearl and Brain Guy show the Romans how to have a good time at the Lesser God Day celebration, Mike, Crow and Servo invite you to their own open-window frat party! Party it up with the S.O.L. crew, complete with special guests, devil dolls and their own British pub.
Bonus Features
The Puppet Master: Richard Gordon on Devil Doll
Original Devil Doll trailer
Staci's Review
Actually, Devil Doll is just a little too good to be poked with fun'age and pun'age by the MST3K crew… but it works. Definitely a template for William Goldman's Magic, this 1964 shocker stars Bryant Halliday (who was all kinds of awesome in The Horror of Snape Island [aka Tower of Terror]) as a vexed ventriloquist with a doozy of a dummy. At first, it just seems like a normal, if incredible, cabaret act… but when a spotlight of suspicion is cast upon the demented duo, Vorelli and Hugo make sure it's lights out for nosy American reporter Mark English (William Sylvester, Gorgo). Throw a beautiful woman (Yvonne Romain, The Last of Sheila) into the mix and you've got one helluva show. The black and white cinematography is crisp and clear on this good transfer, and while the acting is a bit overly 60s-dramatic (ala Amicus), the music is pretty timeless and the editing choices fairly snazzy.
OK, maybe I am overselling this a little… it's not a classic, but it's not nearly as bad or unintentionally funny as most of Mike and the Bots' picks. Since it is not possible to watch the movie as a standalone, it's somewhat difficult to judge on its own merits (I don't recall having seen it before). However, the peanut gallery is in fine form here — they always manage to say exactly what I'm thinking. When it comes to the substory / wraparounds from the Satellite of Love, as Joel, Mike, Gypsy, Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot and "special guests" (um, no one I've heard of) laugh it up in a fake British pub, it's not as successful.
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Also in this boxed set:
MST3K: ROBOT MONSTER
The sinister alien Ro-Man has decimated the Earth’s population, leaving only eight survivors, including a professor and the family of young space enthusiast Johnny. Its status as “one of the worst films ever made” easily makes Robot Monster an instant hit with the crew of the Satellite of Love!
Wraparound: Join Joel, Servo and Crow as they explore their own fears of Ro-Man -- errr … Ro-Tom -- surrealism and, of course, the awful greatness (and the great awfulness) that is Robot Monster!
Also includes the shorts Radar Men From The Moon: Chapters 4 & 5.
Bonus Features
Brand-new introduction by J. Elvis Weinstein
Larry Blamire Geeks Out
Original Robot Monster trailer
MST3K: BRIDE OF THE MONSTER
Horror cinema icons Bela Lugosi and Tor Johnson star in this unforgettable Ed Wood classic as the crazed Dr. Vornoff and his beastly assistant Lobo, who conduct heinous experiments on human victims in an effort to create a race of atomic super-beings that will conquer the world. The film raises some intriguing questions: Do robots made of scrap parts aboard an orbiting satellite dream of electric sheep? Can Joel and the ’bots carry a tune? Who doesn’t love cold Tater Tots® and olive loaf? These and other, equally imperative, questions will be answered -- and more -- in this “very special episode” of Mystery Science Theater 3000 that pays tribute to one of Ed Wood’s best bad movies ever! After all, no Ed Wood film would truly be complete without the biting yet loving riffs of your faithful Satellite of Love crew!
Also includes the short Hired!, Part 1!
Bonus Features
Citizen Wood: Making ‘The Bride,’ Unmaking ‘The Legend.’
Inventing the “Invention Exchange”
Original Bride of The Monster trailer
MST3K: DEVIL FISH
When Dr. Stella Dickens concludes the recent string of grisly deaths and demolished boats can’t be the result of any known marine creature, she sets out to capture the beast, a genetically created bio-weapon that must be kept secret . . . at any cost. One thing’s for sure, however: The fish are biting! Beware the dolphins, after Mike and the crew of the Satellite of Love decide to mock their intelligence! Meanwhile, Pearl is forced to convince unexpected visitors that the castle’s actually a luxurious cruise liner! No one’s safe -- least of all, Devil Fish -- in this episode from Mystery Science Theater 3000’s ninth hysterical season!
Bonus Features
MST3K: Origins and Beyond at CONvergence 2009
Original Devil Fish trailer
The Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XIX limited-edition 4-DVD box set (featuring the Gypsy figurine) from Shout! Factory, in association with Best Brains, Inc. will be for sale on November 9, 2010.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
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