MST3K (1012)

1012 - Squirm (w/ A Case of Spring Fever) - "No springs! *bwee-bwoo*" The last very last short of the series and it's a good one. They've been waiting to do this short for 8 years now. I'm glad they squeezed it in at the last minute. It feels like ages and ages since the last, real educational short. Industrial shorts are fine, but these mini-films created to illuminate the minds of children are the best. This one is particularly psychotic. Even discounting the bizarre cosmology of the piece -- "Where does Coily fit into God's plan for us?" -- the fact the more than half of the short is the post-Coily old man endlessly preaching the wonders of springs to his friend makes it strange enough. Was this a huge problem with the youth of 1940? Did they not like springs for some reason? Was the spring industry in trouble should a generation grow up disdaining their necessary, vital product? I can only assume this is the case. With that said, enjoy The Simpsons parody involving the importance of the 30th element:



Squirm is pretty cool. Give it to the filmmakers: no one ever thought to make a horror movie about earthworms before. That a "live bait" stop in the backwoods of the South could be a place of horror: brilliant. Then again, I'm partial to films set in the country starring decidedly non-movie star-like people.

It seems to me that Servo dressed up and spoke like a southern belle once before. I know that there's twice been really tall things on the bridge of the SOL before Crow wore his enormous platform shoes in this episode. Mike's really, really big hair and Crow's mile high pie come to mind. It's the second-to-last episode. Go with what kinda worked before, I guess.

"So, one clod says one thing and the whole world pays?" (7/10)

film d. Jeff Lieberman (1976)
short p. Jamison Handy (1940)
mst d. Kevin Murphy (1 Aug 1999)