MST3K (804)

804 - The Deadly Mantis - Gah, I'm getting sick of the '50s Universal horror movies. This is the fourth one in a row. The obedience to the white, male authority figures, the tremendous sexism, everyone wearing gray suits 24-hours a day... it's all wearing thin. And what's the deal with the educational segments starting these things? In the last one, we learned all about different theories on the hollow Earth. In this one, we're educated on the radar fences the US somehow installed in the sovereign country to the north. Both of these preludes are much more interesting than the movies that followed.

This was a particularly boring movie on par with similarly pointless Beginning of the End. The mantis chews some Inuit, planes and buses, is killed by the military, the end. In the middle, there's lots of stock footage and shots of military guys lecturing each other. The lone woman in the movie exists only to scream when the mantis first appears, be leered at by the army and to kiss the main hero. In my head, I can picture a really cool giant insect movie with huge explosions, people getting eaten and a really gooey ending. Unfortunately, this not something that's ever going to appear in these '50s movie for a variety of reasons.

Ah, finally, the host segments catch up to the intro song. Now I see Pearl chasing Mike and the bots through time and space. It didn't make much sense before this episode. I have to admit, I liked Dr. Peanut. Mike's voice is perfect for that character. Still, getting away from monkey Earth will free up the show to explore any ideas they want out in the galaxy. Hopefully, that'll make things more interesting. By the way: thanks a lot for that monkey-buffalo shot, Kevin, in the final host segment. Appreciate it.

"Where'd you stash your thirty foot claw, ma'am?" (6/10)

film d. Nathan Juran (1957)
mst d. Kevin Murphy (22 Feb 1997)