The first two movies we’ll be riffing in Season 13 are Robot Wars (1993) and Demon Squad (2019)!
Robot Wars is a Charlie Band feature that was clearly designed for cable, but the producers really decided to go for it anyway, and created a low-budget film with scope, attitude, and some nice stop-motion robot vehicles that occasionally fight. I gotta tell you that for a few minutes, it starts feeling like The Love Boat… if the “Love Boat” was a giant mech that was fighting another boat that was also a giant mech, and they were both sinking. And on fire.
Our second movie, Demon Squad, screams “indie feature.” The producers work hard to create a film noir/fantasy vibe, without ever once acknowledging Ridley Scott’s seminal Blade Runner. It appears to take place in New Orleans. It also has more than its fair share of After Effects lightning bolts and purpley, swirly clouds from another dimension, and basically looks like the producers got a lot of their friends and family together and glued costume shop masks onto their faces. But the real attraction is the star, Khristian Fulmer, and his on-screen “Girl Friday,” Erin Lilley, behaving like they have history and chemistry.
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I don’t think I’ve seen either one of those, so I’m going in cold. They sound like good choices, though.
robot wars is dream come true stuff to me. can’t wait.
I don’t know. I miss the pre-’70s earnestly bad movies, the kind that only The Mads are riffing now, along with a few of the Bridget and MJ Rifftrax releases. If the new season is going to be all newer, bad-on-purpose movies geared toward children and young adults I’ll definitely feel left out.
Robot Wars. So, the Mads want to put Jonah, or whoever gets this one, to sleep eh?
And boy, is Joel’s description of Robot Wars accurate.
Robot Wars is not bad on purpose. It’s just bad.
Both sound like good times.
I dunno about “bad on purpose” being a disqualifier, stuff like Birdemic are some of RiffTrax’s best.
One thing I’m curious about with the new show is how will it work with 2 different “Teams” of performers? Until now it’s been Jonah=show Emily=live but I’d really like to see both. Maybe they’ll co-host? But doesn’t resolve the 2 sets of ‘Bots.
Abd more importantly, they’ve passed the 9 movie goal line, and Joel will be putting back on the red jumpsuit for an episode.
Bad on purpose is a disqualifier for me. I can’t stand the riffs of Birdemic and similar movies, including Atlantic Rim.
Where’s the fun in riffing a movie that’s trying to be bad?
As long as it brings the funny, nothing else matters.
I agree about Atlantic Rim, but Birdemic was not “bad on purpose.” I’ve watched interviews with the director. He tries to make good movies.
Ditto. I won’t go through my screed again about the ghastly films that ruined The Gauntlet for me. I don’t know Robot Wars or Demon Squad, so I’ll keep an open mind till I see them.
Both films sound terrific.
However, I’m what many of you would consider old.
How does one view the movies?
Joel mentioned some kind of Gizmotronic theater.
Are the films downloads? Does one need a Roku player?
Perhaps it’s some other kind of technology?
Thanks for the info.
I hope I can watch the whole season.
Congrats to Joel and crew!
Regardless, ‘Birdemic’ sure feels like a “bad on purpose” movie. The acting, the stock music, the cinematography, the GOD-AWFUL gci… I could go on. I find it hard to believe anyone could say with a straight face “yeah, that’s good enough”.
We could argue for hours about the nature of certain films and the the filmmakers intent, and as to whether or not it lends itself to a show like MST or RiffTrax. Although RiffTrax seems to not be very picky in their choice of films. Even well-regarded blockbusters aren’t safe.
As far as I can tell, the only films that are really of limits are either already comedies, or religious stuff like ‘God’s Not Dead’, ‘Saving Christmas’ and ‘War Room’ which are oh-so-ripe for riffing. But, that’s what YouTube reviewers are for.
Just finished going over the cast and crew of Demon Squad for inclusion in This Day in MSTory. Only a handful had birthdays listed on IMDB. The vast majority are member of the Single Digits Club, with only one person having another MST3K film credit.
Erin Lilley (born 6/6/80) Daisy O’Reilley, writer, executive producer, makeup artist, props
Thomas Smith (born 9/2/83) director, writer, executive producer, editor
Eric C. Schmitz (born 10/2/71) The Stranger
Nathan O’Neil Smith (3/23/73-11/23/18) Monster Doc
Bennett Wayne Dean Sr. (born 12/11/42) Edwin
Alli Wolfe (born 6/30/94) Party Girl
Jennifer K. Dawson (born 6/6/72) Bar Maid
Eric C. Schmitz appeared in Atlantic Rim as a street musician
I hope we get some more ’50s film noir/teen rebel movies. That’s a genre the show hasn’t tackled for a long time that I kinda miss.
These two movies sound like fun, but please oh please riff Night of the Comet! I love this sci-fi, end of the world cheeseball.
Forgot to mention in my previous post that the listed premiere date for Demon Squad is June 25, 2019. Up next, birth and death dates for Robot Wars, as well as notes of involvement with other MST3K movies (which are noted with production code numbers).
Robot Wars (premiered 4/28/93)
Albert Band (5/7/24-6/14/02) director
Charles Band (born 12/27/51) story, producer; 110 executive producer; 706 producer; 1204 executive producer
Don Michael Paul (born 4/17/63) Marion Drake; 516 Robbie
Barbara Crampton (born 12/27/58) Leda Fanning
James Staley (born 5/20/48) Stumpy
Lisa Rinna (born 7/11/63) Annie
Danny Kamekona (11/15/35-5/2/96) Wa-Lee
Yuji Okumoto (born 4/20/59) Chou-Sing
Peter Haskell (10/15/34-4/12/10) Rooney; K15 Doug Collins
Sam Scarber (born 6/24/49) Lt. Pritchard
Steve Eastin (born 6/22/48) Boles
Burke Byrnes (born 12/9/37) Technician
Benjamin Sitzer (born 10/18/69) Gun-Toting Centro
Letitia Knight (born 5/6/64) line producer, production manager
Perry Bullington (5/29/47-12/19/12) casting director
Robert MacDonald (died 9/12/11) casting director
David Allen (10/22/44-8/16/99) effects supervisor, stop motion animation; 706 animation effects; 1204 dimensional animation, technical advisor
Jim Danforth (born 7/13/40) additional stop motion; 1204 matte artist/photographer
Chino Binamo (born 6/22/58) stunt coordinator
Kenny Endosa (7/22/40-8/10/10) stunts; 622 Beach Thug
Jeff Imada (born 6/17/55) stunts; 322 Bodyguard
Cynthia Gates Fujikawa (born 10/17/61) production accountant
Scott Woodard (born 4/17/69) puppeteer