MST3K (704)

704 - The Incredible Melting Man - The MST crew attempts some healing by working through their painful movie experience. This involves them doing what the do best: making fun of people with puppets. I didn't really find this episode's Hollywood exec-filled host segments particular funny, but I understand their need to do them anyway. Them L.A. folks sure do like them some bottled water, eh?

Quite the year for Rick Baker this was. First he gets to work on a tiny sci-fi picture called Star Wars, then he upgrades to melting men. This has got to be the goriest movie ever broadcast on the show. I was surprised, given the large kid audience the show has, that, for example, the scene where the decapitated head breaks open on some rocks was left in. As a horror fan, I like that sort of thing, but I sort of felt bad for Mike and the bots. I feel that whenever there was something extra-gooey onscreen, they did double-time with the riffing. It was like they were trying to cover the gore with comedy.

"Meanwhile her baby is discovering the wonders of goofballs." That's close to what I was thinking, Servo. After a couple of miscarriages, Mrs. Ted Nelson is finally pregnant with her first child. Dr. Ted treats her gently; he doesn't even want to tell her about the wandering, murderous melting man for fear of the stress it might cause her. What's he do after she freaks out over a broken bottle of milk? He shoots her and the fetus full of sleepy drugs. Good plan.

"His parka's keeping me really involved in the movie." (7/10)

film d. William Sachs (1977)
mst d. Kevin Murphy (24 Feb 1996)