RIFFTRAX LIVE: THE RETURN OF SWAMP THING

It is that time of year folks. Another Rifftrax and it was a fun one. First off, we get the short Danny’s Dental Date. A strange thing that starts out with puppets. Danny overhears his mother making a dentist appointment for him. Naturally he panics and runs away with his puppet dog. The dog talks about his teeth and then we meet other talking puppet animals. A squirrel, a cat, and a cow. All talk about their teeth and how Danny has such similar teeth. Then an endless parade of food that you should eat including 6 teaspoons of butter. Yes, kid just shovel spoonfuls of butter down your throat. It’s good for you. He wakes up and is a real boy but anxious to go to the dentist. His dentist decides to carve his initials into his fingernail and Danny’s to show how fun the drill is. Definitely a strange film. You can watch part of it here.

First off, the movie starts with some government agents with M-16s trudging through the swamp looking for a moonshine still. They get lost but are confronted by a giant leech man. The leech man kills two of them and two more are captured by a beautiful woman in a jeep. The final one gets saved by Swamp Thing.

Tax dollars are work folks.

Giant Leech monster.

Well, this Leech guy is still busy and Swampy has to save two young boys. Then we cut to Abby Arcane who is a florist in L.A. and has issues with her stepfather Anton Arcane. She decides to visit him at his mansion in Louisiana to work out these issues.

Young boys getting into trouble for comic relief.

Now Anton Arcane who is an evil scientist is doing what evil scientists do which is splice animal genes to humans for some vague reason. Arcane did get killed in the first movie but thankfully there is some vague explanation about his henchmen scientists rescuing him. He is delighted that Abby has come because her blood may have the answer to his vague human experimentation.

One of the rejects.

Naturally Swamp thing gets involved. He has to first save a wandering Abby from inbred moonshiners. Then the incompetent guards of Arcane in orange jumpsuits. Swamp thing and Abby have a trippy love affair before she is captured again. Once again Swamp Thing has to rescue Abby from having her life force sucked out of her to save the evil Dr. Arcane. Fortunately, the female scientist betrays him when she overhears Arcane give to OK to use her blood which also has some kind of compatibility. Swampy breaks in and kicks butt. The whole mansion is destroyed and to two live happily ever after.

Arcane and the other evil scientists.

Evil mercenary captain taunting an experiment.

Swamp Thing and Abby.

I am a big fan of Swamp Thing the only vegetable that is a DC superhero. I loved the comics and the Wes Craven movie. The late Dick Durock the stuntman who played Swamp Thing in both movies and the excellent USA TV series does a great job. Now this was a Jim Wynorski film, so you know you are getting a heaping does of camp in this movie. This was an excellent movie to choose for a riff. The jokes were spot on, and I had a very enjoyable night. Sadly, we only get one Rifftrax this year, but I suppose one is better than none. Until next year.

RIFFTRAX LIVE: AMITYVILLE THE EVIL ESCAPES

So this Tuesday was another Rifftrax Live. First off we start with a short called “Its your Accident.” Another one about the horrors of workplace accidents from the sixties. This one has Mike who works at a factory and is having a bad day. So bad the machine he works on cuts off some of his fingers. So he gets shamed by some guy who posted a mirror on the wall. Luckily his daughter salts tomatoes for him to eat. Ends with some horsing around with a forklift and I guess we are now all aware of the possibilities of workplace accidents.

Then we get to the main movie. It starts at the famous Amityville house. A group of priests come armed with holy water and bibles to cleanse the place of Satan. They seem to have succeeded but one young priest gets thrown into a wall by some godawful tree lamb.

One evil lamp.

So in celebration they have a yard sale and sell all the furniture. An old woman decides to pay $100 for this ugly lamp to give to her sister in California. We then cut to this nice house on a cliff where Jane Wyatt the sister lives. At this time her daughter Patty Duke and her three kids arrive. She is staying with her mother after her husband recently died. They all arrive just in time to see the new lamp gift. Needless to say this lamp is still possessed by Satan and starts it’s evil ways.

OOOHH!! An ugly lamp. Hope it’s not possessed by Satan.

It starts off by working on the youngest daughter who is vulnerable by coming to her in the guise of her deceased father. Then it starts some other fun. Like taking the pet bird and roasting it in the toaster oven. Then the dull witted son almost kills his grandmother with a possessed chainsaw.

Help! I’m too dumb to figure out a chainsaw.

Then other fun stuff starts to happen. The garbage disposal doesn’t work and a helpful teen gets his hand ground off while fixing it. A plumber gets in the crawlspace and a beam collapses on him. Then the pipe bursts and drowns him in black sludge. Although he does find the missing hand.

Literally gives a hand.

Plumber dies in the line of duty. They never found the body.

The evil lamp continues it’s reign of terror by then killing the grandmother’s friend. The young priest gets out of the hospital and comes to help out. By then it is too late for the lamp has taken possession of the young daughter. A big fight ensues with the possessed daughter floating around and stabbing the priest in the shoulder. All ends well when the grandmother picks up the lamp and tosses it over the cliff. Everything goes back to normal except they never did figure out the plumber was still down in the crawlspace. I suppose the smell would eventually attract their attention. Oh yeah and the cat Pepper gets possessed so it leaves open the idea of another sequel.

I could see Satan possessing a cat.

This was the fourth Amityville in a series of about 20 or 30 done so far. I never seen the original but I hear it is a well respected horror film. Needless to say any success in the entertainment industry is beaten to death. For a made for TV movie in the late eighties this wasn’t that bad. It does have a charm to it. This was a great idea to riff over the Halloween week. The idea of this evil lamp that was just ugly as hell was a perfect fit. I really am glad that Rifftrax is back and look forward to new movies next year.

Priest smacking down Satan.

Here is the trailer.

RIFFTRAX LIVE: HOBGOBLINS

I got to watch a Rifftrax this Tuesday. It was supposed to be broadcast last year but you know what happened. So this is the first time I got to a theater and it was fun. The show started off with a short called Life in Medieval Times. Some dumb peasant kid named Otto has to take a cow to town to sell for a pair of shoes for his lord. To tell you the truth it was interesting and I learned a lot about live in those times. Apparently the Seneschal the lords second in command wears a green rag on his head and a pair of shoes cost a cow.

Dolt of a security guard who is the first to die.

So the movie starts on an abandoned movie studio. There are two security guards and the younger one who always wears his walkman has just been hired. The old guy warns him not to go into a part of the building which he ignores and finds a vault. He gets an illusion of him being a rockstar and somehow that ends up killing him. The old guard finds this and just closes up the vault. Nothing to see her.

Old guard showing off the pistol. Probably used it to shoot Archduke Ferdinand.

Well apparently they require two guards for this abandoned studio and he hires another young guy. This one is much more enthusiastic. He goes home and we meet his friends which are just pure eighties. There is his girlfriend who always rags on him about how much of a wimp he is. There is this guy in purple shorts who is addicted to phone sex.(This was those primitive times before the internet.) A slutty girl who can’t wait to get it on with her boyfriend returning from the army. Oh and the boyfriend has to embarrass the hero by kicking his butt in a rake fight to show how inept he is.

Big fight with rakes. Thank God the Soviets didn’t invade because if this is what was in the army we would have been screwed.

Well one night at work some guy in a leather jacket tries to break in. Thankfully they have a pistol to chase him off. Only the young guy thinks he went into the mysterious vault and so checks it out. He releases the Hobgoblins.(Why they didn’t escape the last time is a mystery.) Some nasty puppets that have this psychic ability to grant people their wishes but it kills them. The old guard has been keeping them locked in a vault all these years. Why? Don’t know.

The Ho wondering where her boyfriend is while a Hobgoblin must have found a stool to stand on.

Well by some great coincidence the Hobgoblins are drawn to the young guys house were his friends are partying down. The trampy girl is attacked by one of them and uses a hoe to squash it. Both girls later have to fight off the little puppets in a hilarious scene of them rolling around on a couch clutching them, trying to look like they are being attacked.

Ho uses a hoe.

The guy comes with his Army buddy friend and chase them out to the van where they are locked in. Only they are too late to save the phone sex pervert. A Hobgoblin gives him a vision of the phone sex girl wearing spandex that looks way too tight to fit.(I think I need a penicillin shot just looking at her.) She lures him to Reputation Road to make out. Only the real plan is to push the car over the cliff. The young guy comes and saves the day.

Phone pervert being lured to his death.

Only when he comes back home does he find that the Hobgoblins figured out how to open the door of the van and escape. They also lured his girlfriend to Club Scum so she can live out her fantasy of being a stripper. The gang goes to Club Scum and the place does live up to its name. It has a bouncer named Roadrash and a waitress with a beehive hairdo that has to be seen to be believed.

Hey 1963 wants its hair back.

Well stuff happens with the Hobgoblins causing chaos. The Army guy hallucinates that his sergeant is there and gives him grenades and an Uzi which he starts to blow up the place. One grenade explosion sets him on fire. Eventually they defeat the Hobgoblins and go back to the studio for the big final showdown.

Nothing says the eighties like this.

This movie was a very beloved one from the Sci Fi era. One of those just so bad they are good. Obviously it is a ripoff of the more popular Gremlins. The writing and acting is just so bad. The fights with the puppets. The Army guy at the ends comes back fine after being burned alive. This is just one of those perfect movies to riff on. So glad that Rifftrax is back.

The movie trailer.

And finally there will be another show in October. Amityville 4.

RIFFTRAX LIVE: THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION

So its the final Rifftrax Live for the year. They start off with a short Adventures in Telezonia. A weird short from 1950 that was put out by the telephone company. It had some creepy marionette named Handy that slides around the telephone lines and listens in on people’s conversations. He decides to help some kid who lost his dog and enlists his other creepy marionettes to use the telephones. Not that easy back in 1950 as they must navigate rotary phones, operators, party lines and mumbling marionettes. I did find one with a humorous commentary that you can watch here.

So the movie starts in Northern Wisconsin and a revival meeting. An old creepy guy with a back brace is leaving his lush wife to supposedly go to the revival. In reality he is going to see his hot girlfriend Helga in town. Meanwhile a meteor is heading to Earth and crashes on the farm in a blinding flash of light.

Philandering guy off to see his girlfriend.

This guy has a wife and girlfriend that are way too hot to be believable.

So anyway the next morning they find all their cattle mutilated. Fortunately the old guy comes up with a plan to just butcher the carcasses and sell the meat to Dutch’s cafe. Yes good old fashioned Northern Wisconsin dining.
But they also find some strange rocks. Inside are what appear to be diamonds and the old creep goes to town to consult his inbred cousin who happens to be a mineralogist. Apparently the standards for this field are extremely low.

At this time a scientist guy comes from NASA and teams up with a lady astronomer. They eventually come to the conclusion that a black hole was formed by the meteor and opened up a door to an alternate dimension. Of course this dimension is full of giant spiders. The strange rocks are the source of the spiders hatching tarantulas that eventually grow huge.

The giant spider goes around grabbing people and shoving them up his ass. Well soon a mob is formed but proves incompetent in stopping the spider. Luckily the scientists manage to shoot the spider with a flare gun that melts it and closes off the portal. How well SCIENCE!!! I don’t know what science but obviously some was used.

Alan Hale as the sheriff with is shirt always unbuttoned to show off his sexy chest.

Now this was just an enjoyable treat. You could not get a better movie to riff on. The farmer guy that was in a back brace and not only had a hot wife but a hot girlfriend on the side. If that wasn’t enough he hits on his underage sister-in-law who spends the movie with the least amount of clothing on. Then their is his wife who spends the whole movie drinking. There is like a bottle in every room and for breakfast she dumps a bottle of vodka into the blender with some juice.

Back Brace perv hitting on his underage sister-in-law.

Then there is the giant spider which was a VW covered with fur and had the legs attached. It was driven backwards so the taillights could be used for its red eyes.

Filmed in the small town of Merrill Wisconsin. I actually have family up there and have been to the town to attend some weddings. I can say you aren’t missing much.

And the trailer for the original movie.

Well that is it this year for Rifftrax Live but I do have my tickets for the live Mystery Science Theater 3000 Thirtieth Anniversary show. This November 2 I will be at the Miller High Life Theater for a showing of the classic Jean Claude Van Damme movie No Retreat, No Surrender. So see you then.

RIFFTRAX LIVE: STAR RAIDERS THE ADVENTURES OF SABER RAINE

So its that time of year for another Rifftrax Live. This time the 2017 sci-fi adventure Star Raiders The Adventures of Saber Raine. First though we were treated to an educational short from the sixties or seventies called Values: Telling the Truth. In it a school teacher talks to her class about telling the truth. He tells the story of three boys who were the best of friends. One day while out playing they come on a cement mixer. This fascinates them to no end. The guy putting in a decorative slab with small rocks in it offers the boys the left over rocks. They scoop them up into their pockets like they were gems. Then they go around and throw them at things like trees and fire hydrants. They come on a towel innocently hanging there and throw. Unfortunately the rocks go through the kitchen window and into some old bitty’s soup. She comes running out and catches the one that just stands there and berates him. The end. Not really sure what the moral of the story was supposed to be. Don’t hang around and get caught was what it told me.

Our heroes.

So it starts with a blue reptile woman being chased by some ships. Saber Raine comes and inserts himself between them so the reptile can escape but earns the wrath of his own people. So years later we find him slumming on some planet.

Hot chick and her father and uncle.

Some girl with red eyes and two men in their cosplay Punisher costumes with a half a sunglass are being attacked by zombie mutants. Saber decides to insert himself at the last minute. Seems these guys are there to rescue a kidnapped prince and princess from the evil Sinjin. A guy who had such a big zit that it literally popped off the top of his skull.

Man this guy was too late with the Clearasil.

Anyway we later find out he is in league with the princess Calliope. This leaves the prince who looks like K.D. Lang as the good guy. Well there is a whole convoluted plot with them traveling this planet and fighting off the various alien minions. They eventually rescue the prince and return him to his homeworld. At the end there is a hint of a sequel as Calliope and Sinjin arrive on a planet with giant robots to further their universe conquest plans.

I eat flies.

Well they sure picked a winner with this one. The plot was incomprehensible and convoluted as hell. The dialogue was atrocious and the acting as wooden as a redwood. Still this is my type of movie. It reminds me of the ones I rented back in the eighties and nineties.

Can’t get this app to work.

There is a charm to it. Some auteur who gets some local talent and friends together. Dusts off the old Commodore 64 for some special effects and has enough money to hire Casper Van Dien the friendliest of the Diens. Oh and they had some for a very brief cameo by Cynthia Rothrock who was in many martial arts films from the eighties and nineties. Yes this was definitely an enjoyable film and worthy of riffing on.

Evil princess with evil aliens.

So an encore presentation will play this Tuesday.

And in August the final movie of the year. The Giant Spider Invasion.

RIFFTRAX LIVE: OCTAMAN

So its spring and a new year. Which means we get a whole new slew of Rifftrax Live. We start off with this turkey of a movie. First though a warm up with a short from the eighties featuring McGruff the Crime Dog. Yes a guy in a dog costume lectures us on dangerous of poisons. Specifically the various household chemicals with the pirate skull and crossbones on it denoting danger. Well this goes into the dangers of old prescription drugs lying around and then into the evils of illegal narcotics. With an old eighties say no to drugs and users are losers message. Somehow I don’t think these helped much given the current opioid crisis and success in legalizing marijuana.

McGruff lecturing kids.

Then we start with the movie. A film from 1971 shot in Mexico. Some science type guys and one girl are investigating the effects of radioactivity from underwater nuclear tests. This lake next to the ocean is just full of radiation. So much that it creates these weird mutant octopus.

Live calamari. Yum.

It also created an octopus man a.k.a. Octaman with an A instead of an O. Now Octaman doesn’t like these scientists one bit and starts to stalk them.

I have my eye on you. Octaman’s first victim.

The scientists the greasiest gringos you ever saw seem perplexed on what to do. Bullets don’t seem to have any effect but light from flashlights do hurt Octaman.

Waiting for the oxygen to get consumed so it can suffocate Octaman.

They do finally manage to trap it in a ring of fire. Then they manage to capture it in a net but that doesn’t work.

Calamari in a net. Now what?

Oh the Octaman also has a crush on the lady scientist and numerous times tries to carry her off. But the creature moves so slow it is stopped by the others and has to drop her.

Attempt 621 to carry off the girl.

Eventually the scientists decide to leave but find the road blocked by some brush and one fallen tree. Their inept attempts to clear the road fail so they decide to go after Octaman. They have some endless time crawling through a cave. Eventually they manage to pump enough bullets in the creature where it crawls off into the ocean to die? Or not?

Octaman and his two of four working arms.

So this movie was one big turd. My god it was endless scenes of guys in a rowboat. Guys crawling through a cavern. The Octaman coming out of the reeds and flailing its tentacles. Many scenes were shot in the dark and you could hardly see any action. The baby octapuses would meow like kittens. This was one of those painful movies to watch. You need to crack jokes just to keep your sanity which makes it an excellent movie for riffs. So only watch with the professionals riffing and never attempt to watch alone.
Rifftrax trailer

Octaman trailer.

And coming in June Star Raiders.

RIFFTRAX LIVE: KRULL

So another Rifftrax Live yesterday and the guys do the cult classic Krull. They skip the shorts for this one and start right off with the movie. So it opens with a sinister mountain in space with impressive music. The mountain lands and hordes of slayers exit on horseback. The narration tells how the Beast has been conquering worlds and now its Krulls turn. The two most powerful kingdoms on the planet decide to marry off the prince and princess to form an alliance. The kings hate it but it seems to be driven by the young couple who are truly in love.

Princess Lyssa waits for her future prince.

The young man arrives and soon the wedding takes place. Just as it ends the slayers come with their laser shooting swords and make short work of the sword welding Krullers. The princess is captured and all the others are killing including our hero prince Colwyn. But no the prince was only knocked out and some old geezer comes along to patch him up. After the whiny prince has his bout of self pity he decides to man up and follow the old geezer to rescue his love. First on the agenda is recovering the Glaive.

The Glaive for our brave hero.

What is the Glaive? Well its a kind of star claw shaped boomerang with point blades. Kind of looks cool but very impractical. After a bout of rock climbing the prince pulls the Glaive out a pool of lave without burning his hands. Then told to not use the Glaive until its time. So they continue on. They meet up with an inept wizard and some group of bandits. The bandits include a young Robbie Coltrane and Liam Neeson who are just starting their careers and the only actors that went on to stardom from this movie.

A young Liam.

Oh and they also pick up a giant cyclops who carries a trident and has a score to settle with the Beast.

Giant sad cyclops.

The group continues and must stop over at some wise old wizards place. You see the Beast’s mountain is always moving every day and they need this old coot to find the place. So they drag the old guy and his boy servant along.

Nearly blind old wizard.

Alas he can only help them if they go to a special place in the swamp. So they have to battle some of the slayers which will turn into giant worms and burrow into the ground if you kill them. (This is never really explained.)

Comic relief battles slayer.

Then they wander into some quicksand and have to pull themselves out but do lose one in the process. This allows a changeling to kill the old wizard and take its place. They have to then kill the changeling and now have no way of finding the mountain except The Widow of the Web.

Pulling themselves out of quicksand.

Now it luckily so happens the old man knows the widow and thinks he can get her help. So he goes to the old crone and it is his old love. She now is forced to live in a spiderweb guarded by a transparent giant spider. She is being punished for killing their son because she was upset with the old man. The old man is not really bothered by this news and gets her to tell the location. She gives him her magic sand so he can leave the giant spider. He does but gets seriously wounded in the process and dies soon after telling the prince the location.

Transparent Spider.

They must then reach the Iron Desert and the only way is the Fire Mares. These mares are actually Clydesdale horses that run so fast they create fire at their feet. Well they have no trouble corralling and capturing these mares.

Fire Mares.

They reach the tower and battle the slayers to enter. The cyclops sacrifices his life to hold the door open. So in this Salvadore Dali designed interior our hero confronts the Beast as his men battle slayers. He uses the Glaive which cuts through the cell to free the princess then plunges into the Beast’s chest. This is not enough to defeat the Beast but fortunately the prince and princess love one another. This love creates a flame that the prince is able to use to blast the beast and then blast a hole in the wall to escape. The mountain then disintegrates and flies off into space. The planet is saved and the couple’s son is destined to rule the galaxy.

The gang.

I love this movie. It is quintessential eighties movie. Yes you can wonder how a medieval society could fight some spacefaring aliens with laser swords and defeat them. In fact the whole plot is just pure goofy. Yet it is a fun movie. It was beautifully shot in Italy and has some spectacular scenery. The studio scenes at Pinewood on the 007 stage were also well done. The riffs were enjoyable and was a good movie to choose.

Coltrane wondering about the plot.

So this is the last of the Rifftraxs for the year but not for live performances. I just got my ticket to see the Mystery Science Theater 3000 live show that is traveling the country. November 15 at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee. Will see you then.

RIFFTRAX LIVE SPACE MUTINY

So it is that time of year and another Rifftrax Live is there to introduce summer. This one is the old classic Space Mutiny from the SyFy era of MST3k. First it warms up the audience with a short. This short is actually based on a story by H.G. Wells. Not your typical educational short or industrial promotion they usually do. Still the Magic Room was definitely an excellent choice. You wonder what old H.G. was smoking when he wrote this odd story. It is a man taking his son to a store called the Magic Room. In it is a strange guy who can what else perform magic. The dumpy kid is amused to no end by the magic antics as the father has a perpetual look of bored annoyance. So the proprietor takes them into the back room where all the good stuff is stored. He gives him a box with moving toy soldiers and teaches the brat how to use a magic wand. Which the kid causes all things to burst into flames. Then he performs a disappearing act which sees the little pork chop disappear. This causes the father to go nuts and while tearing up the place he is transported outside. He meet his son who is loaded down with packages. The shop is now a pizza place.

Our hero the beef cake Reb Brown.

So the movie starts after it’s hightech credits that must have been done on an old Commodore 64. We find ourselves in an episode of the old original Battlestar Galactica. But this is the Southern Sun a ship on its way to colonize some distant planet. It has been traveling for 13 generations and some are a little impatient. The chief enforcer Kalgan wants off the ship. His plan is for his fellow mutineers to take over the ship and sell the people into slavery to space pirates. So during a pirate attack by Cylon ships he blows up the launch elevator to trap everyone inside. But not before some women known as Valerians manage to land. Also the hero Ryder the beefy guy in a silver tanktop manages to beam onboard but losses his passenger some important professor.

We need more Kalgan.

Well the ship is run by a guy who looks like Santa Clause and wears a silver muumuu. He has a daughter who is way too old to go prancing around in such a short skirt. Well the beefcake and daughter manage to lead the crew to victory over the evil Kalgan. Along the way there are two golf cart chases. Valarians with Spencer gift globes that have some mystical power which isn’t really explained or for that matter what the hell their purpose was to the plot. Endless battles with masked snowmobilers before the evil Kalgan is dispatched in a fiery golf cart crash. Or his he?

Captain Santa Claus.

This movie had to have been my favorite MST3K episode so I was glad they decided to do this movie. I remember actually renting this way back when. Got it from the local Sentry and it was a fun time waster for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

skanky heroine in a eighties in space moment.

Filmed in 1988 South Africa during the Apartheid regime. Something that was frowned on but still many glorious bad movies were filmed by someone looking to make a cheap buck. The movie budget seems to have been spent on stock footage from Battlestar Galactica. John Phillip Law who played Kalgan is always going around like he wants to pop his skull out of his skin. I never seen such scene chewing in my entire life.

Hero having a screaming fit.

And the endless chases with the fearsome Enforcer golf carts in what looks like some kind of power or water treatment plant in space. This is a classic gem in the history of bad science fiction movies.

Dangerous golf carts in space.

Henchman who looks like Ed Grimley.

Crippled henchman who gets burned alive.

Coming up next the classic Krull in August.

RIFFTRAX LIVE: THE FIVE DOCTORS

The night started off with a short from Britain. Apparently the British also put out these goofy shorts about dumb people doing dumb things and trying to discourage such dumb things. In this case its not respecting power lines. So you have dumb kids flying kites or wheeling around their sailboats and getting electrocuted. Dumb kids throwing frisbees into power transformers then breaking in an getting electrocuted. Oh and hooligans like to throw chains into power lines causing blackouts. Luckily an animated wise old owl and his dumb robin sidekick shame everyone into behaving.

So the main feature was the classic TV special The Five Doctors or four because Tom Baker didn’t like the money or screentime in the episode. Some sinister being is plucking all the reincarnations of the doctor from the timestream and bringing them to the Deathzone. The Deathzone was an old gladiator type arena where the Time Lords brought different aliens to fight for their amusement. Thus the first, second and third and some past companions are snatched out of time and dumped there. The fourth is conveniently stuck in the system.

The four Doctors together.

The Time Lords also throw in the Master the Doctor’s arch nemesis to rescue him. And of course Cybermen, Daleks and Yeti are also tossed in. Basically the various Doctors make their way to the dark tower and confront the evil behind all this.

Cybermen meet their match.

Now I am a big fan of the old classic Doctor Who series. I actually like the Five Doctors. Sure its a bit cheezy and there are some moments that were perfect for riffing. When the Cyberman comes out and looks surprised as the Doctor and Master were talking and nobody notices him. Their riffs on how he screwed up and missed his cue got the most laughs for the night.

Cyberman looking surprised that nobody notices him.

Then there is the bearded image of Rasillon with his Genghis Khan hat.

Rassillon aka Genghis Khan.

Or the main baddie who looked like Maleficent.

Maleficent contemplating immortality.

I guess it just never really resonated with me. It was enjoyable and had some good laughs but never came close to Samurai Cop. I think they really should stick more to the really bad cheezy movies. Those are the ones that are absolutely hilarious. So until next year we bit adieu to Rifftrax live.

RIFFTRAX LIVE SUMMER SHORTS BEACH PARTY

So another Rifftrax Live and this one was a series of shorts. In addition to Mike, Kevin and Bill the old gang from MST3K was also there.

The first done by Mike, Kevin and Bill was one of those old safety films from the seventies. Ricky the Raccoon a guy in a raccoon suit who magically appears as their parents are buying a new house. Nobody seems concerned in the least that a creepy guy in a raccoon suit appears out of thin air. Of course the real estate agent won’t make a big deal about it since he’s interested in making a sale. Anyway the raccoon proceeds to teach the real dumb kid basic safety tips that his parents were apparently too busy to teach themselves. The dumb kid annoys Ricky to no end by insisting he’s a bear. You have to love those wacky anthropomorphic animals that appear the teach the stupid basic things. Here is a funny take from two rednecks.

So we move on to Office Etiquette which was done in the fifties. A woman gets a lowly clerical job all on the recommendation of some old bat that teaches typing. She tows the line and makes it to personal manager. Wow it is depressing to work in an office back then just as much as it is now. Some things don’t really change. It had some good riffs here and there. A little too much social justice commentary.

Then we get the 300th shorts riff the guys have done. This one is Rhythmic Ball Skills. Basically they make young kids do goofy things with a rubber ball. Supposed to be exercise but looks goofy as hell.

Then Mary Jo and Bridget do the Griper. Basically some complainer who does nothing but grip and ruins everything for everyone. Some reason the message seems that those that grip will just ruin it for everyone.

Move on to Sentinels of Safety. A short that shows all the bad things that can happen to you in the 1940’s if your not careful. So we watch people step on nails, fall down the stairs, slip on the floor and blow themselves up by washing their clothes in gasoline. Amazing our grandparents survived.

A Touch of Magic was some General Motors promotional to sell their new 1961 line. A husband and wife host their invisible friends who have the new cars. Very strange.

Finally it brings us to The Baggs. Santa Claus spends his summers driving around L.A. in an old pickup picking up junk. He steals some old burlap bags that come to life and chases them all over. Definitely they saved the weirdest for last.

Well it was a fun night. The jokes were funny and the shorts were really offbeat. So next up in August The Five Doctors.