Mystery Science Theater 3000 experiment #423: Bride of the Monster (with short, Hired!, Part One).
Original Comedy Central airdate: January 23, 1993.
This episode is available on the 19th MST3K collection at Amazon.
In part one of the Jam Handy Organization short made for Chevrolet in 1940, we see two new door-to-door salesmen named Jimmy and Henderson, and his frustrated supervisor, Mr. Warren, wondering why they're not panning out. Mr. Warren lives with his parents and complains to his elderly father (who sips lemonade when he isn't swatting at insects and having hankerchief-related "episodes") that the new generation doesn't work as hard as the older folks. Dad sets his son straight by reminding him that he wasn't always perfect and made mistakes as a younger salesman. Part two of Hired! opens MST3K episode 424, Manos.
It's an Ed Wood movie, folks. Bear with us. Bride of the Monster stars Bela Lugosi as mad scientist Dr. Eric Vornoff, who is experimenting with nuclear power with help from his lumbering mute assistant Lobo, played by Tor Johnson. Vornoff is looking to create an army of superhuman soldiers to conquer the world with, and he lives in a house guarded by a giant mutant octopus. The octopus has been responsible for a string of deaths in the region, and a reporter named Janet Lawton (Loretta King Hadler) investigates further into the situation, becoming a prisoner of Vornoff. There's giant rubber snakes, two-foot deep human traps, and stock footage of alligators, not to mention an official from Vornoff's home country demanding that he return home. Oh, and Ed Wood himself might have taken a cameo role as a female secretary in one scene. He loves him some angora.
Opening the episode, Joel utilizes Cambot to analyze Crow's dream. Things are all right until a horrified Tom Servo discovers that he's in the dream as a...candy-striper? Invention exchange: The Mads introduce and demonstrate the Tough Love Seat, equipped with metal studs and painful shocks of electricity. Joel introduces microwavable Faith Popcorn, which predicts upcoming pop culture trends, such as Jerry Reed getting elected to public office (Well, when you're hot, you're hot). Next, the Satellite of Love Community Theater presents the excellent Hired! The Musical which goes off without a hitch until commercial sign, when everyone finally gets annoyed. Later, Joel and the 'Bots discuss how lucky the monster octopus is because its victims literally fall into its grasp, and it segues into a discussion about which other food products could be used as a lame movie monster. Tom Servo next wishes for a world with no advertising, and Willy the Waffle (Crow) shows up to grant that wish. No springs? To end the show, Cambot re-edits the end of the film, Joel and the robots do their best Bela Lugosi evil look, and down in Deep 13, Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank are playing Bela and Tor.
Great episode. The riffing is spot on, and the host segments are great, especially Hired! The Musical. Highly recommended episode!
"He tampered in God's domain..."
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