It's been a while since Mystery Science Theater 3000 had a massively TERRIBLE movie to show to Jonah and the bots. We had close ones in the Gauntlet like The Day Time Ended or Mac and Me, but Munchie is.......AHOAAAAAAUGH!
Before the latest edition aired over Memorial Day weekend, Jonah Ray, Felicia Day, Emily Marsh and others commented on writing for this "movie" and how it broke them. Even the MST3K crew tried to refuse to see act two, but Kinga had the oxygen button. It also showed the robots didn't care about that for obvious reasons. After act two, it was just another day in Hell for them.
Before we get to the movie, fans are noticing more changes. The full show has the official version of the episode (with ads by Pearl and Pearl II aka Synthia), followed by a trailer for the next episode and the post-game show (in this case, a meeting of Munchie Anonymous). Now, there's also a shortened version that people can watch before the live premiere. This is a first, with people getting a chance to get a jump on the deep hurting.
Also, MegaSynthia (Yvonne Freeze) finally got face time, along with Donna St. Phibes (Deanna Rooney, wife of Jonah). Pearl still seems to be determined to be a better grandma to Kinga, OR ELSE. No doubt Kahbal (that's his real name) may find himself in the middle, but he did improve the show with a second host.
So....the movie.
Actually, turnout for this was fine considering it faced competition from Obi-Wan, Stranger Things 4, and the new Top Gun movie
BUT, blame Roger Corman for this kiddie horror show. It's about a kid named Gage who's having problems at school. He's been bullied, has bad grades (only because he's been the new kid for two months), wishes he was dead (complete with a terrible funeral with worse mourning) and can't get the attention of a pretty girl played by Love Hewitt (a few years before she bought a slightly used Jennifer).
Gage finds a box with something inside that sounds like Dom Deluise...and it's horrifying.
Anyway, this...thing...claims he'll solve Gage's problems. It does, kind of. At least Gage gets some revenge against his bullies and attention from his crush. Sadly, though, it causes more problems at school and even with his mom, played by Loni Anderson. Some guy is trying to marry her, but his approach is terrible. He's also a scientist, but this movie doesn't show that.
There's also a neighbor played by Arte Johnson, sounding like his German character on Laugh-In.
The script is terrible. There are some ways you can salvage a decent story here, but it was clearly edited by a blender. Why not have the sleazy doc be suspicious about Munchie sooner and attempt experiments on it, or the German guy be an expert in Munchie's kind and try to keep him under control.
How about proof Gage has a dad? Well, since this is a kid's movie, that was unimportant.
Corman thought Loni's cleavage, Dom's voice and badly used cliches were enough. He clearly lost a bit after Avalanche.
Not only that, the puppet was terrible. It was more badly dubbed than an El Santo movie.
The riffing was not bad, but the gang had problems fitting them in.
Gage daydreams he gets an award for fractions
Cue the bucket filled with pig's blood
Loni comes home with her boyfriend
Loni Anderson has that Real Estate Agent from Dallas look
Munchie is laying in Gage's bedroom
What have to done with Teddy Ruxpin?
Sleazy boyfriend tells Loni "What he (Gage) needs in a man's influence
Know any?
The gang turns on the movie...as it should...because of a pointless chase scene
I wish this movie was gone in 60 seconds.
There's also riffs on The Beatles, Harry Potter, Judy Tenuda, Sparks (the band) and escape rooms.
Back to the show, it featured a pretty good invention exchange about an environmentally-safe rock band complete with a guitar that repairs itself (sound familiar, Joel?). Dr. St. Phibes also talked about how the Munchie may be a movie-monster mutant variant, but the one she has looks like a Mutant Alvin.
Trying to pummel bad family movies is not easy. There were two examples two seasons back. Taking on Munchie was a noble effort, and they did their best. It didn't have as much snap as the previous three movies. Still, a lot of fans liked the riffs and how the deep hurting flowed. The new season has proven MST3K is back in a big way, and maybe it'll get a lot of business from newbies and lapsed fans who have been in Rifftrax Land for a while.
By the way, the show had a short bit with Emily thinking her Crow was dead. Let's say she wasn't happy with what was really going on. The post-game support group included comments on whether Munchie was the worst, or there's something...else.
The show will have two movies in June, including a movie tries to be Marvel without the proper rights, and a horror movie whose budget is about 30 cents higher than Lycan Colony. YIKES!
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