Cinematic Titanic

The end of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 did not mean the disappearance of opportunities for connoisseurs of le bad cinema to indulge. Five of the MST3K writers—Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Mary Jo Pehl, and Frank Conniff—banded together in 2007 to revive the concept through live shows as well as studio-shot DVDs. This set compiles all 12 episodes made between 2007 and 2012, five of which were performed live. Of the dozen movies subjected to the cast's derisive comments, perhaps the best-known are Roger Corman's The Wasp Woman (1959) and the notoriously awful Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964). Others hail from Japan, Italy, and the Philippines, but the common denominator is that all are cheap sub-B efforts and therefore rather easy targets. And even more than on MST3K, the comments by the crew here (who are presented as participants in some sort of corporate experiment) lack even the appearance of spontaneity, and often fall flat (and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians had already been riffed on MST3K, so the episode here is basically a retread). The other rotten movie targets of snarky commentary are The Oozing Skull (1971), The Doomsday Machine (1972), Legacy of Blood (1971), Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (1974), Blood of the Vampires (1966), East Meets Watts (1974), The Alien Factor (1978), Danger on Tiki Island (1968), War of the Insects (1968), and Rattlers (1976). Extras include an intro by Weinstein, and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)