Rifftrax: The Galaxy Invader (DVD), Plan 9 From Outer Space (Blu-ray), Hand-Crafted Artisan Shorts (DVD/all Legend
Films)
Picture: C+/B-/C+ Sound: C+/B-/C+ Extras: C- Episodes: B+
We’ve covered many episodes of Mystery
Science Theater, The Film Crew,
and Rifftrax on Fulvue Drive-In over
the last 10+ years, and one thing has remained consistent in every incarnation
of the “Best Brains” comic team--a wry sense of humor that mixes fun and satire
for maximum entertainment. Mike Nelson,
Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett return in two DVD and one Blu-ray release of Rifftrax. While the lads have been at it for the better
part of two decades, they have not lost their touch!
In The Galaxy Invader, we
finally get to see the movie that the crazy, ersatz opening sequences of the now
classic MST3K episode Pod People horrified us with so many years ago. The film centers around a single,
rubber-suite alien’s attempt to take over a community of country yokels who
collectively possess little to no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Were it not for Mike, Bill, and Kevin tearing
these losers to shreds with quips and barbs, the film would be utterly
unwatchable. The main villain in the
film is actually not the alien, but rather, Joe, the paternal head of the
primary family affected by the alien’s arrival.
An emaciated, angry drunk who wears torn t-shirts and harangues his 40+
year old son, Joe winds up being more loathsome than a killer from beyond the
stars. Terrible performances, bad
lighting, and awful sound give our intrepid trio plenty of ammo for their
verbal jabs.
Hand-Crafted Artisan Shorts delivers ten phenomenally funny “educational” films
on topics as diverse as the benefits of walking to school to the value and
impact of the paper and pulp industry.
Uncomfortable performances and bizarro animation rein in these pedantic
shorts, with most unintentionally funny being the young boy in the paper and
pulp short, “Paper and I.” Yul Brynner he is not! The seemingly epic walk to school of a pair
of siblings in Los Angeles makes one long for the short bus in “Walking to School,” and you can find
true dental horror “Tooth Truth with Harv
and Marv.” If you’re looking for
just a quick-hit from the Rifftrax
guys, just pop this disc in and watch one or two of these shorts. Preferably not while operating heavy
machinery.
The best of this trio comes to us all the way from a live stage in
Nashville, TN, and arrives at the hands of no less famous a film than the
classically bad Plan 9 From Outer Space. If MST3K
married the Rocky Horror Picture Show,
you might get something akin to this episode of Rifftrax. Live riffing,
musical performances, and general hilarity ensue when Mike, Bill, and Kevin
take on Plan 9 from a theater in
Nashville. The behind the scenes slideshow will give fans a peek into what goes
into a live show like this one, and the heightened sound and picture quality of
the Blu-ray format provides a nice respite from the usual poor product the boys
are forced to work with--see Galaxy
Invader for a textbook example of
this.
If you like Mike Nelson and crew, and you loved MST3K in the 1990s, you’ll find these episodes of Rifftrax a lot like visiting an old
friend from college. One that you still
like. While it’s not as good as those
actual days when you were 22, it will give you moments that recapture the
essence of what it was like to be that young and that hopeful, and sometimes
that has to be enough.
- Scott Pyle
