08 January 2007

MST3K (604)

604 - Zombie Nightmare - Mike: "I wish I could understand the lyrics." Crow, mockingly: "Maybe it's for the young generation?" The riffing about Motörhead's classic metal anthem "Ace of Spades" should've warned me that I was going to be on a different wavelength for this film than the guys from MST. Though Mike was 16 and Trace was 22 when that song was released, I think we're looking at more of a cultural gap than a generation gap here. A low-budget, '80s Canadian horror movie starring a bodybuilder/heavy metal band frontman filled with rock music is right up my alley. I'd buy the unMSTied flick in a second if it were available. The MST clearly crew felt otherwise. "This was a very painful movie for us -- we thoroughly, intensely, and unequivocally hated this movie," wrote Mary Jo in the ACEG. It showed.

The host segments were near-nonexistent, presumably to make more room for the movie. Unfortunately, the movie was still chopped up to bits by the Brains. It looks like they cut out nearly every bit of zombie violence directed at the teenagers. Were they worried about their young fans? Did they find the violence distasteful? Or did they just find it easier to riff on the post-violence dialogue? I don't know, but I didn't like it. I was especially disappointed that the entire death scene for the incredibly unlikable, pasta-throwing mullet-guy was cut. Man, I wanted to see zombie-Thor kick that guy's ass.

Not that this episode was without laughs. Outside of the geezer-rific comments on the songs, there were many laugh-out-loud-worthy moments in the movie. "Oooh... it's stuck in his hinder-holster!" Any comments about the "rebellious" mullet-guy's sensible driving were great. I was impressed that the Batman jokes weren't too abused despite Adam West's mustachioed presence. I feel like I got my laughs-worth.

"Suddenly the Twist & Crème seemed a much darker place." (7/10)

film d. Jack Bravman (1986)
mst d. Trace Beaulieu (24 Nov 1994)