Every country has a monster...
...and Denmark has a turkey - in the guise of the monster movie, Reptilicus.
This episode is the first of the crowd-funded 2017 reboot of Mystery Science Theater 3000... and it's a gem. There are great riffs aplenty - it's almost as if the Joel Hodgson crew never left... except this time the movies are in the widescreen format and Tom Servo can fly around the screen to reach the bits that he couldn't in the past.
I stopped watching the original series when Michael J. Nelson took over. It just wasn't the same... the good-natured messing about and the heart and soul that was a hallmark of the Joel years seemed forced and insincere. But it's back now and if you were a fan of Joel of the past, you're sure to take to Jonah of the now!
The 1961 Danish movie, Reptilicus, is so bad that it almost doesn't need riffing on. It rates as one of those phenomenal movies that is so awful it's actually good. When the MST3K team takes on a movie you expect the effects, writing, and continuity, etc, to be bad. But this movie is a stand out because of the acting. It is HORRIBLE! All the acting is a disgrace and scores 10 gold stars for entertainment value because of that.
But... a special mention must go to Dirch Passer as the comic relief security guy, Peterson. If you're from Denmark you can hang your heads in shame for a few seconds! This alleged comic actor (who actually had a busy career in Denmark) gives the worst performance of his life and it's a hoot!
After a slow-ish first few minutes of unnecessary exposition, hold on to your hats! The gags start to come thick and fast so you'll be watching this a few times to get them all... and there are also well-measured silences where we can simply enjoy the terrible-ness of the film.
Best 'laugh out loud' gag for me: "Cut! Come ON, Ralph!"
MST3K (Hodgson style) is back and it's as awesome as ever. Well worth the wait.