We’ve covered good acting performances in bad MST movies, but how about “Non-Acting Bright Spots in Otherwise Horrible Movies”? It could be particularly beautiful scenery, a surprisingly well-done camera shot, music, good special effects, etc.
I thought of this the other night when watching “The Sky Divers.” When the dancing starts at the party, the first girl is an AWESOME dancer. She’s the one in the striped top wearing a wide headband in her hair, and she’s really got those 1960s dance moves down.
And continuing in a Coleman Francis mode, two words to say about “The Beast of Yucca Flats” — the bunny.
Two words: The Platters.
Your pick?
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while there was a whole lotta horror dancing around ‘Party Beach’ there was of course the jewel that was ‘sexy romulan girl.’
A monster suit that is particularly memorable (She Creature, Track of the Moon Beast, and even the goofy gorilla suit/space helmet combination of Robot Monster) can brighten up the dullest horror flick.
Monster A Go-Go –
Yes, you guessed it. There was no bright spot.
Oh, I hate myself for doing that.
Having just re-watched TRACK OF THE MOON BEAST on DVD, I’ll say that, as cheesy as it is, the song “California Lady” is surprisingly catchy.
And, I’ll also go for a cliched response and say any time there was a cute actress present in a bad movie. For example, as dreadful as The Atomic Brain is, the actress that played Nina is damn adorable.
I’ve got a couple, Susan Gordon’s acting in “Tormented” and The Paper Chase Guy’s motorcycle getting destroyed by the all mighty Megaweapon in “Warrior Of The Lost World”.
Allison Hayes was always a bright spot in any movie she appeared in. Particularly as Livia in The Undead. She will always be the queen of the B’s in my book.
Soultaker has some excellent establishing scenes at the beginning (a car pulling up to a grand house vs. one turning in to the driveway of a middle-class house while the same song plays on radios in the cars AND the various bedrooms…wow! I like it!). It also has that great soundtrack, which really lifts the movie up for me. Karen Lawrence AND Kevin Danzig? Yes, please and thank you!
three words…..Mamie Van Doren
The Amazing Colossal Man’s touching conversation with his fiance about his problem. Normally 50 foot guys destroy everything like Godzilla, but having a normal conversation that ends with “I don’t wanna grow anymore” (“I’m a Toys R Us kid”), classic!
We’ll always have Yuri’s hairstyles.
“Ladies and gentlemen…THIS is Little Richard” (and so what if he’s all hopped on the drugs).
One more: the song “Night Train to Mondo Fine;” it begs for a Tom Waits-ish treatment.
Some of the movies were bright spots in the MST3K series themselves. Here, I’m thinking of the Russo-Finnish films specifically. Among other things, they had some creative effects, entertaining stories, and great cinematography.
God help me, I love the Beau Brummels song, When it Comes to Your Love, in Village of the Giants. And I think it’s genuinely cool when there’s a breakdown in the song featuring just the drums and guitars and the camera cuts to the “teens” continuing to dance during the break and after it kicks back in.
I’m sorry.
Well, if we’re going THIS direction, my vote is Allison Hayes in The Crawling Hand, The Unearthly, Gunslinger, & The Undead.
:inlove: ;-)
As far as great moments not involving actors/actresses in MSTK3 movies, the special effects in Space Mutiny were pretty good…
… oh, wait.
The monster suit/makeup in “Boggy Creek II” is extremely effective and frightening. Oh no, wait – I’m thinking of Crenshaw. Never mind.
I appreciate the music of legendary film composer Ennio Morricone, and that includes his scores for Operation Double 007 and Diabolik.
Dr. Erickson’s remarks in post #16 aside, the creature costume in Boggy Creek II is well made, especially when you consider the miniscule budget the production likely had.
One obvious one is the scenery in location shots in the land of the
citizens and officials of Rutland, Vermont. (Oh, and the kale in the
supermarket looked real fresh too).
And the singing by that young lad hopped up on goofballs in Catalina Caper was quite energetic.
I always enjoyed the tribal music from Werewolf . . . not that it’s original, but it sets a mood the acting and accents can’t sustain. Plus the opening shots from Boggy Creek II, of the titular bogged creek, are quite excellent.
While we’re on the subject of Diabolik, I must say that I love the direction and cinematography in Mario Bava’s films, which include Hercules, Hercules Unchained, and Diabolik.
I have no idea what’s on tap for the eleventh season, but I sure wouldn’t be disappointed if they managed to throw another Mario Bava film into the fray.
Having cousins in Fouke, Arkansas where Boggy was filmed I can tell you that large hairy individuals are not hard to come by. Also, the bottoms really are pretty.
Thanks for picking my topic for this week’s discussion, Sampo! Green Switch @13 mentioned the Russo-Finnish films, and that reminded me that Lemminkainen’s log ride down the river in The Day the Earth Froze was, I thought, a very well-shot scene.
The Wind Demon from the Sword and the Dragon.
Pretty much all of the scenery and special effects of the Russo-Finnish movies was pretty darn good, but the Demon was particularly well done.
And Nastinka…… *sigh*
The best aspect of the Mole People was not lead actor John Agar but the “Gesture Professor”, Dr. Frank C. Baxter. Besides his resemblance to Mitch (Skinner) Pileggi and his passion for gesturing, he was much more interesting than the script and provided facts not bent to the movies advantage, “It’s a fiction … a fable”. His gesturing provided more satisfying action then those tepid “action scenes”. Finally, he was smart enough to say his piece and then get out of the way of this train wreck of a movie.
Richard Kiel gets my vote for Eegah. It is one of the ickiest experiments and is only watchable because of his talent and professionalism. He isn’t often asked to do very much other than to be intimidating (see The Phantom Planet), but he makes you care about his character.
Beverly Garland in anything. She was the best.
I always enjoy it when movies from the 1950s, early 1960s, have location shots showing how places looked back then. Especially because I’m sure they didn’t have permits to shoot a lot of those scenes. Even something as banal as the NY city scenes in Horror of Party Beach interest me for that reason. In big budget movies from those days, it’s rare to see an actual location instead of a studio set.
I genuinely enjoy the Del-Aires’ songs in Horror Of Party Beach. They’re just good enough for the movie, but just sloppy enough to be playing to a bunch of teens on a crummy beach in Connecticut. (Unlike, say, Little Richard on the boat in Catalina Caper.)
Here’s the Del-Aires doing The Zombie Stomp:
http://youtu.be/YvjH57CUO7c
How’s that for a Weekend Discussion: types of movies we hope to see in the new season? Personally, I’ll be a bit disappointed if we don’t get a ’70s made-for-TV movie or failed pilot.
Atmosphere counts for a lot when it comes to movies. If creative choices evoke an ill-fitting or out-of-place atmosphere, these decisions can work against the effectiveness of the entire film.
That’s why I appreciate the atmosphere of The Brute Man. Through the cinematographic techniques (the contrasts, the use of shadows, etc), the film is able to conjure an involving atmosphere that makes it feel like a must-see piece of film noir.
Good idea!
I’m hoping for yet another wildly weird Russo-Finnish film.
The baby bears in Jack Frost – Aaaaaawwww!! You know, aaaawwwwww!!
Real rock songs in the ’60s movies in general. Sets up that ’60s “feel” to movies from that era, plus I love oldies. And that very much applies to the ’50s music in “Untamed Youth”. Really great sound there!
If the rest of “The Wild Wild World of Batwoman” could match the really awesome dancing of the first three minutes, it would have been a good movie.
Great idea. Would love if they did the pilot episode of “Supertrain”. So 70s and so open for riffing (a 200mph train that includes a disco and a bowling alley) it would have walll-to-wall laughter.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertrain
He actually was a real professor. He was known as “Dr. Research” and did a series of movies on science topics for Bell Labs. I remember watching them in science class as a kid.
I honestly agree with that… but still think Jimmy Clem (he of the Royal Academy of Performing Arts) is scarier.
Carol Kaye performing “It Only Hurts” in “The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. The only non campy number in the movie and a decent typical early 60’s pop song. And the camera work is pretty decent.
In The Amazing Colossal Man, that scene of the doctors applying the bandages on Glenn stopped me in my tracks, if the rest of the film had that same ‘atmosphere’ (and no giant needle) it would’ve been great.
On the subject of cute actresses, the one I like is June Kenney. Ofelia Montesco is more of the femme fatale for me.
Other bright moments have already been mentioned : Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack, the wind demon…
I might be alone on this but I really like George Nader.
I’ve always thought the shot of Krester (ol’ Mr Backbrace) from behind as he’s walking in his fields and inspecting the dead animals was very striking. The one where it’s just sky in the background.
Jimmy Bryant is likely the best thing in “Skydivers”. In fact just about any scene during the party at the skydiving place is better than the actual movie.
I might be the only one, but the hot 80’s babes in Master Ninja I & 2. The 16 year old in me loves them.
‘Hobgoblins’: when the end credits started.
Mary Beth Hughes and her singing in “I Accuse My Parents”. She was adorable, and I’d watch her in anything, but she also had such a lovely singing voice. And that “Are You Happy In Your Work” song was pretty catchy.
“Yikes Stripes” from Teenage Strangler was a catchy tune and pretty good considering the performers had were just regular townspeople. I liked “California Lady” as well, also I may stand alone on this, but I thought Don Sullivan’s songs from The Giant Gila Monter weren’t bad at all. I also liked the Auto Racing scenes in Wild Rebels, and I liked the scenes between Auntie and Troy in Final Sacrifice.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve always liked scene in Future War where Sister Ann and Fred Burroughs are talking about her past at the kitchen table. The two of them play actually play off of each other pretty well; if the filmmakers had thrown out everything but that scene and started over, they may have had something.
And I also kind of dig Chris Howard and the Third World in Girl in Gold Boots. They may not have been overlooked geniuses, but they seemed like a good, solid bar band. I’d be happy to have them playing in the background…
And on a more prurient note, am I the only one who spent all of Robot Holocaust drooling over Valeria? Even her ridiculous accent is hot…
“Shook Out of Shape” from “Incredibly Strange Creatures” is a catchy song.
To me the songs in the opening and closing from Squirm elevate the creepy feeling. If you like those I’d recommend the haunting theme played in the end credits to Happy Birthday to Me. Stevie Wonder’s former wife, the late Syreeta Wright, nailed that. Reminds me of Diana Ross’ “Do you know where you’re going to” sort of.