Movie: (1967): The brother and fiancée of a murdered detective infiltrate a drug-running biker gang.
First shown: 12/8/90
Opening: J&tB have colds
Invention exchange: J&tB are feeling better thanks to vapor action, but it may cause flashbacks. The Mads are still enjoying the hobby hogs. Joel’s invention is the sign language translator. The Mads just yell “NOOOO!” for reasons that never become clear.
Host segment 1: Tom’s flashback: J&tB do Shatner with The Crawling Hand (from episode 106)
Host segment 2: Crow’s flashback: Zero gravity humor lesson (from episode 201)
Host segment 3: Joel’s flashback: Gobos lesson (from episode 203)
End: Gypsy attempts a diary entry; Crow and Tom mock her for it at first, but they soon admit they keep diaries too and everybody gets emotional. Joel reads a letter. In Deep 13, the Mads are emotional, too
Stinger: Trumpeter yells something unintelligible.
(173 votes, average: 3.93 out of 5)
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• I laughed quite a bit this time around, but I found I could only take this episode in short bursts of 10 or 15 minutes. The movie is just so meandering and pointless, and the retread host segments don’t help. The movie is clearly cut from the same cloth as “Girl in Gold Boots” (even “Sidehackers” looks more professional), but the riffing is really pretty good, good enough to save this one from being truly painful. It’s still not a standout episode or anything, but I had fun watching it — a little at a time.
• This episode was released (in DVD) by Rhino as a single episode in 2002.
• Just about every TV show has a cheesy clip episode, and this is MST3K’s. In the ACEG, it is explained that most of the staff was going to be out of town, so the writing time was shortened and this is what they came up with. Mike calls it a “tribute to ‘Family Ties'” (for the younger folks, that was an ’80s TV show that seemed to have a lot of flashback episodes).
• Joel’s jumpsuit is not a never-before-seen pastel green. The goatee is also still there.
• Joel mentions SPACOM, from “Project Moonbase.”
• Joel finally gets to show off his sign language translator, which he wasn’t able to present in the previous episode. The Mads, still enjoying the “hobby hogs” from the previous episode, offer no invention.
• In the bit in Deep 13 before the movie starts, you’ll notice that it cuts off the INSTANT that Frank says: “I don’t fink on soul brutha.” The reason is that Frank could never say that line and look at Trace without cracking up (as seen in the “Poopie” reel). He finally managed to say the line straight and hold his laughter for about half a second, which was enough.
• References.
• During the funeral scene at the beginning, two guys are crouching behind a tombstone: a thin guy and a chubbier guy with sunglasses. The chubbier guy is director/screenwriter Robert F. Slatzer. Crow points out that the director is on screen, but when he says it, the other guy is being shown. At first I thought it might have just been bad timing, but later on they identify the other guy again as the director. So it’s officially a goof by BBI. They got the wrong guy.
• Crow and Tom wear their robes in the theater for the entire show.
• Crow and Joel are very snippy toward each other early on in the theater, but then they re-enact a famous exchange from “Then Came Bronson” (which they felt it necessary to have Servo explain) and all is forgiven.
• Great moment when the shot moves to the gangster and his dog sitting in the convertible and all the riffers can do is laugh.
• Some of the music for this movie was arranged and produced by well-regarded producer Richard Podolor (misspelled “Podlor” in the credits) who also produced Three Dog Night, Iron Butterfly and Steppenwolf. (By the way, there was a soundtrack album. Yes, there was.) The act Podolor tried to push in this movie was a group called Davy Jones and the Dolphins. Their career still went nowhere.
• Incidentally, when Crow (wrongly, by the way) suggests that the Davy Jones of Davy Jones and the Dolphins is the same Davy Jones as the guy in The Monkees, Joel says “He would have been about 14 at the time.” Uh, no. This movie was made in ’67, a year after the Monkees TV show started. So, although Joel’s reasoning is wrong, he’s right: this group had nothing to do with The Monkees.
It was a group out of Connecticut founded in 1960 by a guy named David John Liska with his brothers Walt (bass guitar, he left the band in 1962) and Richard (who played steel guitar and keyboard). Also in the band at the time of “Hellcats” were lead guitarist Paul Bogel and drummer Bob Vilezanti (replacing original drummer John Urbanik, who left in 1965).
In 1966 the four-piece band went to L.A. to record the songs for “Hellcats.” They made a USO tour of Vietnam. When they returned to Connecticut they built a recording studio in New London called East Coast Sound Studios (no longer in existence as far as I can tell).
In 1970 the group was signed by Columbia Records, had their name changed to Crossroads and had a moderate hit with a song called “Shannon,” but couldn’t follow up. In 1974, David and Richard formed a bluegrass band called “Kentucky Wind” and toured for a while. In 1981, David moved to Nashville and wrote for various publishing companies. In 1991, David and Richard and their families moved to Nevada and formed a country-western group called “David John and the Comstock Cowboys.” They were regulars at the Famous Bucket of Blood in Virginia City, Nev., but Richard died in 2010 and it’s unclear how busy the band has been since then.
• There’s also music in this movie from a group called Somebody’s Chyldren. The group was founded by David Clark Allen. Also in the band were Paul Dobies, Ricky Cameron, Angela Allen (David’s sister) and Dennis Trerotola. After the band broke up, Allen lived in England, and pioneered what he called “flamenco rock.” He formed one band called Carmen and later formed a band called Widescreen. Last we heard from him, he was back in the U.S. Fronting a band called El Tigre http://www.davidclarkallen.net/#!papa-tigre/c1cod. I was able to email Allen and he told me their music got into the movie because it was promoted by their producer, a guy named Chance Halladay. Halliday had a few singles of his own, but Google is virtually silent, as far as I can tell, about his work as a producer.
• Several times the bots reprise bits of the Weiner Man song. Is this the last time we hear it?
• Callbacks: Several variations on “That was number 5!” (“Sidehackers”). Ross Hagen’s name appears in the credits and there are numerous callbacks to “Sidehackers.” Later, “He hit Big Jake!” (Sidehackers) and “Yew and your daughter are doomt!” (Robot Holocaust)
• Kids, in the host segments, that thing sitting on the desk was known as a “typewriter.” It was a very lo-fi word processor and had a REALLY slow internet connection.
• Servo notes that the flashback he introduces happened “before my voice changed.”
• Note that Crow’s arm works in segment 2.
• Toward the end of the movie, Tom spots a fire hydrant and makes a pass. Joel reins him in.
• Okay I know the plot’s in tatters by the end, but how did the biker gang know to go to the docks and not the bad guy’s office?
• In the closing bit in Deep 13, Frank uses a little AA lingo with the line: “work the steps, Doctor.”
• Cast roundup: Coleman Francis’ drinking buddy Tony Cardoza produced this movie, so lots of Coleman’s regulars are in this thing, along with some “Sidehackers” alumni. Assistant director/screenwriter Tony Houston also worked on “The Sidehackers” and was an actor in “Attack of the the Eye Creatures.”
Production manager Eric Lidberg also worked on (and acted in) “The Sidehackers.” In front of the camera, there’s Ross Hagen, of course. Nick Raymond was also in “The Sinister Urge” and “Red Zone Cuba. Warren Hammack was also in “Sidehackers” and “Attack of the the Eye Creatures.” Eric Tomlin was in “The Skydivers” and “The Beast of Yucca Flats. Gus Trikonis directed “Sidehackers.” Frederic Downs was in “The Skydivers,” “Terror from the Year 5000” and “Red Zone Cuba.” Cardoza, of course, produced all three of Coleman’s movies and performed in “Red Zone Cuba” and “The Skydivers.”
• CreditsWatch: This week’s Creative Pit Boss: Joel Hodgson. “Villians” still mispelled. Additional Music: Michael J. Nelson.
• Favorite riff: “Now Ross can put the star on the tree.” Honorable mention: “They’re all piano tuners.” “I like to shoot heroin straight into my head.” “Looks like she’s into safe walking.”
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Re: Sampo….never mind! I did a little of my own research! Seriously dude, thanks for all you do anyways! :yes:
BBI made an informal agreement with CC back in ’91 to not air any further Season 1 reruns due to collective embarrassment; quoth Jim Mallon “It’s like if someone wanted to judge you based on the work you did in kindergarten.” If you replaced “work” with “poetry” and “kindergarten” with “high school,” I guess I can see where they were coming from. For those who would like to brush up on their history (myself incl.) check out https://www.mst3kinfo.com/history/page6.html.
4 stars. A pretty funny episode which gave us IMO the funniest poopie moment: ‘I don’t fink on soul brotha.’ Great riffing throughout, however the movie is putrid, the drunken bacchanalia is almost unwatchable. In fact, last night was the first time in about 5 tries I’ve managed to make it through to the end. Anyone else think this is the worst movie they’d done to up to this point?
‘now let’s see about getting this young lady some heroin’
Oh, the Hellcats in Whoville – they spanked the denfanklers, they blew the fantoozlers and cranked the grauflanklers.
I concur with Dark Grandma of Death @23. In the stinger, the bugle boy is saying “I bet all of you were only children”… in the sense that each is an only-child and thus bratty and ill-behaved.
Bombastic Biscuit Boy #46, the trumpet player says, “I bet you all were Only children,” as in, no siblings, so not being used to dealing with other people’s habits. Think in terms of a stinky guy being thrown into water by other people who can no longer stand to be around his stench. (Then look at all these people and think how they all must smell, and how VERY stinky the trumpet player must be and try not to vomit…but I digress.)
Okay, Medium, your suggestion of bratty only children makes more sense than mine, but I still can’t get past the idea of the stench being a motive in tossing the guy in the water. Maybe it’s just all that beer being hurled around.
In other words, hijinks vs hygiene!
( Wish I’d thought of that an hour ago.)
Violets are blue, roses are red- I like to shoot heroin in my head.
I like this episode and the flashbacks didn’t bother me since I first saw this episode when Rhino released it and hadn’t seen any of the eps the flashbacks were originally from yet (I missed a lot of early MST). Favorite riffs: “From now on, Steve’s death will be represented by the oboe” & “It’s not like Steve to run off and die!”
Dark Granny O’ Death, et al. It seemed like a natural for me… when I was a kid ( about the time this movie came out. srsly ) being an only child had a material social stigma assocated with it. Single child households were not as common then as they are now, and we felt bad for only children and expected them to behave badly.
Almost an idea for a weekend discussion board: what was the trumpeter dumped in the water saying?
My guess: “I was in the band Somebody’s Chyldren!”
I’d always thought Frank’s line that he kept flubbing was “I don’t think so, un-soul brother.”
No. Just no. I can’t get through this episode. Much like Castle of Fu Manchu, my brain starts to shut down halfway through the movie. And the riffing, save for the first few bits at the bar, do NOTHING to keep my interest.
Well, another special one for me obviously. This is the first episode I glimpsed on TV. It was late at night, I was visiting my family and because I didn’t have cable was switching through the channels with the sound low. Suddenly I saw a 60’s motorcycle movie on. Excitement! Because when was the last time I’d seen that kind of film, even a 60’s film, on TV?
Then I noticed the silhouettes. Turned up the sound a little more, but couldn’t really catch much of what they were saying except they were mocking the film. Made a mental note to check and see if it was a TV show or what later. The rest is MSTory.
Also the first ep I bought on DVD. Watched it on New Year’s Eve for the first time some ten years ago. It is now a New Year’s Eve tradition to watch it.
The non de plume business is obvious…
But how does it hold up as an ep? I’ve never thought this their best work or anything. Basically, I think the first half is great. Right up there with the best of Season Two. Then something happens. It’s almost as if half the writers left and poor Mike was working by himself. Or maybe the film is to blame. The last twenty minutes in particular give them little to work with. Also, the host segments don’t help much.
So it’s half an great episode. The bar scene is still one of my favorite parts. I love the music and vibe of the first half of the film. And the music. Not so much “I can’t take a chance on losing my baby” as the theme song which the Hellcats themselves hardly live up to. I always make up my own words each time like:
Hellcats, can’t remember my name
Hellcats, can’t get into their game
Hellcats, what’s that sound?
They like to run around
Like Hellcats….wa wa wa wa
I don’t think Quentin T. stole from this film as a poster suggested. He’s a big fan of the much more sleazy seventies Swedish exploitation film They Called Her One Eye (it goes by other titles) though its possible the Swedes saw and stole from Hellcats. Who knows…
Long time favorite riff: “I hope that’s beer!”
A-
“I don’t fink on soul brothers.” Once again I say, thank you, the ’70s, for being you. :-D
209 – The Hellcats
Plot: A bunch of drinkers and druggers party and race and… I don’t know…
Host Segments:
Opening: J&TB have colds.
Invention Exchange: Joel’s sign language translator. Dr. F and Frank are still riding their hobby hogs.
Segment 1: Tom’s flashback: J&TB do Shatner with the crawling hand (from #106)
Segment 2: Crow’s flashback: Zero gravity humor lesson (from #201).
Segment 3: Joel’s flashback: Binocular matte lesson (from #203).
Ending: Gypsy writes to Richard Basehardt.
Stinger: Trumpeter shouts something out.
Memorable riffs:
Servo: “Oh, smart. They’re in the middle of nowhere, making a drug deal out in the open, while a car passes by!”
Joel: “Why do you think they call it dope?”
Crow: “Let’s park the Barbiemobile right here!”
Servo: “Hey, he’s the guy from the beginning of the film! Detective Plotpoint!”
Woman: “Are you hot?”
Servo: “Nah, it’s the humidity.”
Crow: “Her back looks like a Klingon’s forehead.”
Crow: “Hey, can we borrow your towel?”
Crow: “Mass confusion. They’re talking about the plot, Joel.”
Crow: “I just don’t get algebra, Man!”
Fav. Riff:
*girl finds boyfriend dead in her car*
Girl: “NOOOOOO!”
Joel: “My seat covers!”
Best segment: I like season 3’s flashback. That’s one of my fav. Host segments from season 2. It was good to see it again.
Worst Segment: The flashback to 201. That particular segment just doesn’t work.
Comments:
-Ew. In the opening bit, Crow coughs up… something that actually bounces off the desk. Looks like a small creature or something. Also, Joel makes Crow blow his nose into a tissue. Even though in season 1 he was unaware that Crow could “smell”.
-Joel still has the season 1 mug.
-Satellite News mentions there being no dialogue during the opening segment. Strange, I counted at least 8 lines.
-We finally get to see Joel’s invention from the previous episode which he never got to present.
-The Poopie reel includes some funny outtakes from the invention exchange. Gotta love Frank repeatedly blowing the line, “I don’t think I’d so brother.”
-There are two people involved with this movie with the last name “Tomlin”. Can you say “nepotism”? And are they related to Lilly Tomlin?
-J&TB seem to be paying closer attention to the credits, and connecting writers or producers to earlier films. They really didn’t do this much later.
-I’ve heard fans critisize the use of a season 1 clip for one of the flashbacks. I don’t know why. I know some comment that Servo’s voice being different in the flashback might confuse viewers. Why would it? Servo specifically mentions that the flashback takes place a year before his voice changed!
-Wow, there’s two MASH-related riffs in just one minute. Servo mentions Sally Kellerman at one point. Then later, Crow references Father Mulcahey.
-Somehow, the music played at the party sounds like a weird 60s instrumental version of Roy Orbison’s “Anything You Want” to me. Even though Orbison didn’t write that song until years later. Some of the music in another scene also sounds like music from Catalina Caper.
-Uh… Gypsy seems really stoned in the closing segment.
Overall: I’ve heard plenty of negative comments about this episode. I think the riffing is pretty funny, and the flashbacks add a nice touch. But, “cheater episodes” are usually hit or miss for people. The movie itself is the only weak part of the episode. It’s really not enjoyable to watch at all. No real plot to speak of, not to mention a couple of slightly disturbing moments. I’ll just give this two stars: **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W63etBCen7k
>>>the trumpet player says, “I bet you all were only children,” as in, no siblings, so not being used to dealing with other people’s habits
That’s actually sort of high-concept for this movie. ;-)
@27 pondoscp: as losingmydignity @ #64 said, Tarantino took inspiration for Hannah’s eyepatch in Kill Bill from Swedish revenge movie They Call Her One Eye aka Thriller: A Cruel Picture but I will go on to add he also took influence on that from Jack Hill’s Switchblade Sisters. He also took liberally from Japanese revenge film Lady Snowblood. Knowing he’s a rabid film geek, I’m sure he’s come across The Hellcats. He’s probably got a 16mm print of it. OH, and I can’t say for sure, but I think Tarantino is an MST-hater, just like Harry Knowles and Rob Zombie. But none of this is either here, nor there….
THE HELLCATS! What a mediocre episode. After a some triumphs, this one falters. I blame the lackluster Host Segments, despite #2 & 3 being funny segments, they are still recycled and therefore, kinda boring. Also, the movie itself is a chore and a bore. I think my mathematical equation about MST biker movies from Season 2 holds up, WILD REBELS>SIDEHACKERS>HELLCATS. With all that said, it’s not the worst of the season (that’s still Ring of Terror) and I’ll give it a generous 3/5 rating.
RIFFS AND THINGS:
as Dan in WI way up at #3 said, we have a callback to SPACOM during the opening.
Joel calls to two cops “Sgt. Exposition and Det. Plotpoint.”
Joel: “If this is a “Slatzer” film, it might be really bloody.” (a pun about “slasher” films)
Joel: “I’m a stranger to my own soul.”
Refering to the jukebox, Servo says: “It’s Question Mark before The Mysterians,” reference to great 60’s Michigan garage rock band ? and the Mysterians, credited as the first Latino band to hit it big in America as well as being punk rock pioneers. They took their name from 1957 Japanese sci-fi films, The Mysterians aka Earth Defense Force, released by Toho Studios who did all the Godzilla movies, of which we get two at the end of Season 2. It all comes back around.
Crow: “He’s got really nice skin, for a junkie.”
I like when Servo sings, “I’m losing my dignity.”
Crow shouts, “I’m Huge!” at one point. That’s not a first, is it?
Love that drug humor. Crow: “While dad’s not looking, Conky(?) tokes up.”
At the end, after Ross Hagen punches that dude in the face, Joel says: “And that’s for putting me in a movie.” Is the guy he punches the director or not? I am confused.
At the end, Joel reads a letter from Italy. Servo responds by saying “Hiroshima, mon Amour” which is a reference to the great 1959 film of the same title. Too bad it’s a FRENCH film. OOOOH, too bad Servo, better luck next time…….
@45: You’re right that, “I don’t think on soul brother” doesn’t make sense. But to someone who wasn’t alive in the 1970’s, “I don’t fink on soul brother” doesn’t either. It’s one of the reasons why I prefer the later seasons of MST3K to the earlier ones. During the Joel era the episodes are often packed with old timey references that don’t resonate with my generation.
“But to someone who wasn’t alive in the 1970?s…”
Oh, now I really DO feel like Granny o’Death! (nice nickname, Medium, thank you!)
Don’t give me no jive-talkin’…..
@69: Well, considering Clarence Williams III actually declared that in 1968, so it’s older than you think. It’s also interesting to learn that the verb “to fink” and/or “soul brother” are lost on The Kids Today.
This is where we run smack up against one of the guiding principles of the Joel Era, if not the entire run of the show: “The Right People Will Get It.” (And are you sure it’s your generation, and not just you?)
Even when the show was new there were references to things from long before the show was made and even before any of the cast or writers were born. It’s what many of us in the original fan base loved about the show, the eclectic, well-read nature of it. If you didn’t like that sort of thing or get any of the references you probably didn’t like the show then or now.
References were so wide-ranging even if you saw everything they joked about you couldn’t remember it all. The jokes were the results of the memories of many different people, not just one and the result added up to more than any one or two writers could possibly have done on their own. I watched Mod Squad as a kid, but I didn’t remember where the “I don’t fink on soul brothas” reference originated. I’ve been trying to figure it out for 20 years! It’s a throw-away line from one episode of a show that was years old even when the MST3K episode was new. Thanks to those who finally cleared that up here.
I’m roughly the same age as Joel Hodgson and much of the original cast of the show, so I will admit that some of the references on the show got “inside my head” early on which is one reason I got hooked on the show so easily. But it was the intellectual and wide-ranging nature of the humor as well as its affection for cinema that also played a part. I’m a history buff so sketches like those in Rocket Attack USA were near and dear. I’m a cinema buff so when they started talking about Kurosawa or Leone that also was something much appreciated.
Some (note, I said SOME, not all) of the comments I see in these discussions from (mostly) newer fans often indicate a lack of cognizance of the fact that the MST3K shows themselves are roughly 10-20 years old now. And even when the shows were new 20 years ago there were jokes that were in some respects, “dated”. That’s part of what made the show great and what makes it timeless. If you’re looking for edgy, current, topical humor, MST3K was never the show for that and if that’s what you’re seeking then you’re watching the wrong show. The show is old, the original cast and fan base are getting old, but “hip” was never what the show was about even when it was new. MST3K is a lot more like SCTV than say Saturday Night Live. As the MST3K fan base has grown clearly there are people who watch it and find it amusing, but based on their complaints they don’t really “get it” fully. That’s fine, it means the show has survived much longer than anyone probably expected and it’s why the DVDs sell well enough that we keep getting new sets. However, it does make for some odd and unexpected comments in these discussions sometimes. The next closest analogy I can think of is The Simpsons in its glory days. The show worked on two completely different levels, one where the dark, sardonic mult-layered jokes caught the brighter viewers and one where the simpler, sillier jokes and gags held the interest of a wider, mass audience.
First MST3K DVD I ever owned! I, too, am glad to see Sampo’s change of heart on this episode. Yes, the retread host segments aren’t the best, but I’m not a fan of those early season host segments anyway…it’s all about the movie riffing with me, and the riffing was top notch for this movie. I always scratched my head reading the last review because I believe it was said that this may be one of the worst, if not THE worst episode of the series. Aside from season one (except for Women of the Prehistoric Planet), I’d have to give Castle of Fu Manchu that honor, in my opinion- the ONLY episode I’ve never been able to sit through in one sitting.
I’ve seen this one about 4-5 times since I bought the DVD and should re-watch it again because I really have no memory of it anymore other than the host segments and the movie’s theme song. Though I never even did attempt to try and figure out just what the heck was going on, either.
Mass confusion? They’re talking about the plot! This is a “meh” episode for me. Not a bad show by any means, but not a particularly memorable one either.
Some of my favorite riffs:
“You gettin’ this Zapruder?”
“Utah. I can’t believe it, I’m still in Utah.”
“These are great lyrics! You have real talent!”
“I’ll give *you* an emotional memory!”
“Adding dice really speeds up the game, Kasparov!”
I just thought of something about the movie’s “plot”. The story seems to be one of revenge. The revenge, however, plays out completely by accident. There was no action of the part of Monty (Ross Hagen) or Linda (Dee Duffy) to initiate this revenge. They were fortunate enough to be captured by the mobsters, and took action then, but there was almost no effort from them prior to that.
Good episode, although I think Sidehackers was better. They both have Ross Hagan, so that’s a definite plus. Haven’t seen it in a while since I have it on VHS and my VCR is dead.
Joel’s sign language translator is probably in my top five of invention exhanges. Its so clever.
Also love Joel’s take of The Girl from Ipanema
Oh yeah, and I’m losing my dignity!
@68 – I’ve heard that Tarantino is a MST hater too, along with his buddy Eli Roth. But those guys do seem to love the movies featured. Supposedly, Tarantino owns a print of “Manos”!
This week’s discussion has been one of the best in a while. Very interesting posts, and the whole “I don’t fink on no soul brother” debacle I’ve found fascinating. You all are going to make me watch this episode again and appreciate it more!
I forgot to mention my favorite part of the movie: when they tie Ross Hagan’s knees to the table. WTF was that about?
#79: “But those guys do seem to love the movies featured.”
What they may not realize is that, if not for MST3K, a lot of those movies wouldn’t be nearly as well known as they are now. Many of the episodes that I find super-enjoyable feature movies that I’d have never watched (at least not til the end) on their own.
Love the biker party sequences the most “I gotta admit it looks like a fun party”. I have to wonder how much of it was method acting versus genuine biker bacchanalia. There’s a shot of some rabid greasy looking guy egging on Six Pack (who looks like John Doe from X) to spray some biker chick with beer and when Joel sees this guy he violently shidders and shouts “EEEWWW!” Hilarious.
Does anyone elses Rhino DVD have warped video tape looking glitches at the top of the screen every so often?
I’m going to add that I always thought Frank said “I don’t think I’m sold, brotha”. BOY IS MY FACE RED!!![/Joel Pilot Pete Shame]
Forgot to mention special thanks to Sampo for all the band/music info. Interesting that the soundtrack listing someone gave a link to mentions the Arrows as doing the main theme. Interesting, too, that one of the guys in Somebody’s Chyldren is named David Allen as there is, of course, the much more famous and vastly superior David Allan and the Arrows who contributed much to the motorcycle genre–in fact as far as I know he created the genre with the score for Roger Corman’s fun but turgid Wild Angels, released a year earlier than Hellcats (and Hellcats would not have existed probably without the success of Corman’s film). Anyway a strange coincidence or rip off that there is a band called The Arrows on the Hellcats soundtrack? I can’t believe it’s the other David Allan’s Arrows (confusing isn’t it?)
I would love to get my hands on that soundtrack.
Sorry, meant torpid not turgid…
as much as i like some of tarantino’s flicks(roth’s not so much), the fact that they don’t like mst lessens them in my eyes. i mean, come on, how can you not appreciate the fact that mst exposed thousands of people to some of the most obscure crap that would not have been seen, much less ever appreciated in any way? tarantino is good when he’s on, but he’s really a pretentious hack. flame me if you will, but his batting average isn’t that good. to me, roth seems the coattail rider type for some reason. like he’s doing it because it’s “controversial”.
I love how there was actually more discussion and controversy about Frank’s “I don’t fink on soul brother” comment than there was about the incoherent shouting in the stinger. I didn’t see that one coming.
In my top 5 episodes for sure – love this one!
I don’t know how people heard Frank say anything but, “I don’t fink on soul brothers.” ?:-) It’s been clear to me the few times that I’ve watch The Hellcats. It’s also easy to come to that conclusion, considering the context in which it was said.
@86 – Exactly. The MST haters don’t seem to understand that we don’t hate these movies, we actually like them and just roast them. How else could we be sitting through them over and over again for 20 years? And without MST, many of us would have never seen or heard of some of these flicks. I’d be willing to bet money that Tarantino had not heard of “Manos” before MST discovered it. On a side note, I can’t wait to see what Elvira does with “Manos” when she gets around to showing it in a few weeks. (PS – Manos is not a misspelled word, spell check! lol)
I figured that Frank was saying, “I don’t fink on soul brothers”, but now I finally know what he was referencing. It’s been years since I’ve seen “Mod Squad”.
As for the movie, yes, it’s pretty bad, but at least the bikers are shown as stupid and misguided, rather than stupid and evil like the other MSTed biker movies. And the “Courageous Cat” music does bring back fond childhood memories.
Interesting how the bikers instantly stop fighting just because newcomer Ross tells them to. “It’s Ross Hagen, the Prince of Peace!”
Like many this week, I’m also happy to see the show of grudging support for this episode. I’ve always preferred this film to the other season 2 biker filcks (tho Wild Rebels isn’t far behind – it’s got the same sixties social-conciousness-obscured-by-insane-goofiness feeling that Mad Magazine had in it’s late sixties heyday. Yes, it has some icky scenes (the goons playing chess and giggling at a girlie-peep keyring while their love-slave(?) suffers heroin withdrawal comes to mind), but it doesn’t cause me the same visceral revulsion as the the ugly scenes in Sidehackers or Girl in Lover’s Lane. Wild Rebels is a close second, but this one leads the pack.
And we should all be fortunate the Brains avoided The Pink Angels – now that’s an icky biker flick…
What’s sort of mindboggling is that for almost every film MST3K riffs (and I’m thinking more specifically of the without-SF/fantasy-element films like “Teenage Crime Wave,” “The Girl in Lovers Lane,” “The Violent Years,” and this one, among many others), there are DOZENS more of the same (non-)genres that probably could be rendered just as entertaining by riffing if only they had the chance. But MST3K never dug them up, and so they languish in obscurity still.
This one’s not bad, it was never a favorite but it’s watchable. I always wondered what the artist-dumped-in-the-water was babbling, now I know. And knowing is half the battle. Maybe someone can help me, the odd instrumental music that plays when the character (who they said looked like Buck Henry) is lying on the floor having a bad trip, I swear I’ve heard that music in some other show or movie but I can’t place it. It’s been bugging me, really bugging me.
#82 My Hellcats dvd doesn’t have any tape-like glitches, though my Hobgoblins dvd did have one, that was a horizontal line across the top of the screen. I checked one of my sci-fi channel tapes with Hobgoblins and it didn’t have that line glitch. Finally, I remember the actual electric typewriter that my family had. It was a bulky, heavy thing with its own large carrying case.
Is it just me or does the Hawaiian music played during the gratuitous strangling have a tune similar to the muffled Pork Song (quality, freshness, and flavor) from the Rifftrax Holiday shorts special?
MikeK,
Maybe, just maybe, some of us have never seen that episode of The Mod Squad? :-((
I never before considered “fink” as a verb.
I’ve never seen the Mod Squad at all. There were reruns when I was a kid, but I never had any interest in that show.
@96: Well, then you learned something this week, didn’t you? :-)
Great episode, one of my favs. for Riffing alone. But also endearing is in the Invention exchange. Just before it cuts, you see Trace starting to corpse. It’s just a smile, but if you’ve seen the Poopie track. You know how hard it had to be for him just to keep from laughing. His smirking to fight back laughing, just made that segment endearing.
You know, until I saw the original trailer for this movie that was included as an extra on the MST3K DVD, I never knew this movie was supposed to be all about the “biker chicks”. I guess it was just the way they wanted to market it back then… I like this episode a lot, even with it’s underhanded marketing ploy (that had nothing to do with the MST version.)