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Episode guide: 606- The Creeping Terror

Movie: (1964) A slow-moving alien rug monster manages somehow to catch and swallow many people in a small town with no dialog.

First shown: 9/17/94
Opening: Tom is a security guard
Intro:It’s laundry day in Deep 13, Dr. F. makes the bots pretentious poseurs
Host segment 1: Crow makes a flag for the SOL, and M&tB raise it
Host segment 2: M&tB stick it to “Love American Style”
Host segment 3: Mike sets up his stereo system
End: Crow and Tom want Gypsy to swallow them, Mike reads letters, Dr. F. “presses” Frank about the laundry
Stinger: “My God! What is it?”
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (251 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)

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• I like this episode a lot. The host segments are lots of fun, the riffing is great and while the movie is gray and tedious, at the same time it is TOTALLY OUT THERE. The questions it raises are endless. What’s chained up in the spaceship? Why does the creature look like a Chinese parade dragon? Why did that guy swallow a basketball? Why a full ten minutes of dance hall footage before the the monster arrives? And on and on.
• This episode appears in Rhino’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 1.
References.
• I love how they added a little drool to Servo’s mouth when they show him sleeping.
• There’s lots of narration and little dialogue, but don’t believe the commonly told story that the soundtrack dropped off of a boat into Lake Tahoe. The movie was shot without sound, with a plan to dub in the dialog later, a la “Manos.” But there wasn’t enough money for that when the time came, so the narration was used instead.
• I’m a little surprised that they chose this movie, and I’m very impressed that they did with it, for this reason: this movie easily ranks in the top 5 of The. Most. REPETITIVE. Movies. Ever. Show some dancing. Show the monster. Then some dancing. Then the monster. Over and over and over. I would rank this right up with “The Starfighters” and “Neptune Men” in terms of a movie that shows you the same thing over and over and over. That they managed to stay funny and come up with a different joke (more or less) every time the movie presented them with the EXACT same image again and again and again, is a real achievement.
• I’m doing these in episode number order, but this was not the next episode fans saw after episode 605- COLOSSUS AND THE HEADHUNTERS. Comedy Central ran episode 609- THE SKY DIVERS the following week, then 607- BLOODLUST the next week, then there was a week break before this episode ran. Then there was another two-week break before the network ran 608- CODE NAME: DIAMOND HEAD followed a week later by 610- THE VIOLENT YEARS. At that point the episodes got back into order.
• This episode aired the same weekend as some 2,000 MSTies from all over the nation were encamped at the Raddison Hotel in Bloomington for the first CONVENTIOCON EXPOFEST-A-RAMA. Unfortunately, the hotel’s TVs did not get Comedy Central, which meant that fans had to find another way to see the episode. I went to the home of a friend who lived in the area.
• This movie has the infamous baby-temperature-taking scene, one of its most commented-upon aspects by bad movie buffs.
• The “Love American Style” bit in segment 2 is sort of meta: a sarcastic premise surrounding a second, intentionally lame, premise. On the plus side, Mike kisses Servo and Crow.
• As Servo notes, it’s a good guess that the director got a pervy little thrill by the image of a woman’s legs (preferably still kicking) being pulled into the monster. I’ve since been told (and I wish I hadn’t) that this is a thing, and the thing is called “Vore.”
• In the ACEG they mentioned that segment 3 was written mostly by Frank, who loves sketches where nothing happens for long stretches. Is Mike’s using a green magic marker on his CD something audiophiles did (or still do?)
• Mike’s line, “another frustrated IBM PC user!” became a widely traded sound file.
• Very neat image with the wringer at the end. Very Joel-like.
• Cast and crew wrap-up: Story and screenplay writer Robert Silliphant also worked on “The Incredibly Strange Creatures…” Special effects guy Clifford Stine also worked on “This Island Earth,” “The Mole People,” “The Deadly Mantis” and “The Thing That Couldn’t Die.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Jim Mallon. Jef Maynard is added to the “set design” credit, along with Joel and Trace. Ken Fournelle gets a lighting credit, or any kind of credit, for the last time. He had been involved with the show since season one. Crist Ballas is back to do hair and makeup.
• Fave riff: “We’re the special unit! Helloooooo!!” Honorable mention: “Now, cough, honey.”

175 Replies to “Episode guide: 606- The Creeping Terror”

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  1. billybkool says:

    #72..Joseph, ham radio quips abound throughout the entire run of the show and I’m still awfully curious about the genesis of the many, many ham riffs and where they come from (as well as the Eno/Fripp/King Crimson riffs). I suspect they come from Mike as he was the Head Writer. Here at KD5NR, I take the comments in the spirit they are proffered and chuckle perhaps harder than most.

    ” Bobby, grab me a porterhouse “

       0 likes

  2. billybkool says:

    Wubba wubba wubba !

       1 likes

  3. Rotten As British Teeth says:

    This is definitely among Mike’s best during the CC era, and the movie is perfect fodder for MST. The background info about the movie is something of a revelation, between rumors about the sound being lost in a lake, to the director swindling the actors into investing in the movie, to the assistant director knowing and aiding Charlie Manson. Wow! All of this rivals the background info of “Teenagers From Outer Space”.

    To underwoc #61: those particular references were known at BBI as “state park jokes”; during show #420 “Human Duplicators”, there’s a mention of a state park. Upon a review, low-and-behold the scene did involve a state park. (Its mentioned in the ACEG). From that point, such jokes were referred to as state park jokes.

    God, I might love this show too much!!! :roll:

       2 likes

  4. Miqel says:

    Everyone has already mentioned my favorite riffs, but anyhow this is a GREAT episode. Some of the grainy b/w movies make me sleepy, but this one is SO weird and inept that it actually keeps me interested. The riffing is spot-on, especially the stuff said in the narrators voice. The film is so crappy perhaps the only thing comparable is ‘monster a-go-go’ – perfect material for Mike & the bots!

       2 likes

  5. Spector says:

    I also enjoyed Mike making up lyrics for those awful tunes played at the dance hall when the camera zeroes in on some of the dancing ladies.

    “A little more rump here, a little more rump there…”

    “Here is my torso….here is my torso”.

    And of course the gang’s comments about the two old ladies sitting off to the side.

    “I’ve got the music in me”.

       3 likes

  6. underwoc says:

    Thanks, Rotten. I knew they had a name for ’em, but I couldn’t remember it (and my copy of the ACEG is buried in a box in the garage for another month or two at least).

    Oh, and another movie note I’d like to add, as a former military man… Is that supposed to be an eagle painted on the colonel’s helmet? It looks a little more like a headless Gumby…

       1 likes

  7. Dames Like Her says:

    A great episode, given the wonderful ridiculousness of the film. The riffs come fast and everyone is in fine form. The coffee house pretension scene reminds me of my art college days, or any cafe in the Mission.
    Love when Crow breaks up Mike with his Jerry Lewis imitation during the dance hall scene while the dark-haired guy spazzes around on the dance floor.
    Caught a ‘Grapes of Wrath’ reference when Mike says ‘Rose of Sharon’s havin’ a baby.’
    The Bobby and Grandpa sequence ranks as one of my all-time favorite MST3K scenes. ‘Morey Firestein- Kosher Game Warden,’ brilliant! Mike’s last tiny ‘Bobby?’ as the poor Grandpa flails in the stream always kills me.
    The monster’s tiny little arms; the Special Unit soldiers lying prone with their legs in the air, obligingly waiting to be devoured, ‘This is Andy Warhol’s “Driving,”‘ the two old gals in the dance hall scene ‘There is just plain no need for sex,’ ‘Come on, take me to Funky Town,’ Crow’s muffled seductive ‘Well, hello, ladies,’ the laundry-hanging scene with its inexplicable jet rumble, the monster energetically humping the car, ‘the end- say the end- end- we’re going to leave anyway,’ Mike markering his CD, shooting the camera a sweet little take… I love this episode. I first saw it during a dark time, and I have extra affection for it.

       4 likes

  8. Torgo's Pizza's on my speed dial says:

    Love this ep. Ambitiously, fiercely, defiantly cheap monster movie, meet Mike and the ‘Bots.

    The “listening to music” sketch gets funnier every time I watch it – must echo the sentiment of the poster who got a kick out of Mike’s expression of a true audiophile’s bliss as he’s listening to his stereo components; it says, “Sure, the music sucks, but man, dig on the system’s balance and separation!”

    And:

    “His date is so humiliated right now!”
    “I’m only 35.”
    “They have everything – I have nothing!”
    “Now that we need a narrator, he clams up!”

    ——

    I loved “Love, Satellite Style” from the first time I saw it – I thought it was a particularly pointed and clever shot at the powers at Comedy Central (much like the “Renegade” sketch in “Angels Revenge”).

    “And they say there’s no hard-hitting satire on television anymore.”

    BTW, I thought that there was a reference during the town hall dance scene that gave root to “Love, Satellite Style.” It’s a line by Crow, when a random shot of a guy between two women appears onscreen: “Girls, I can’t marry both of you…”

    Seemed like it would have been a reference to what could have been a real plotline from one episode or another of the anthology series.

    Or any doofy sitcom from that era, for that matter.

       5 likes

  9. MikeK says:

    Another I like is:

    “Bulls win!” Mike says that as the monster attacks the car with “23 Skiddoo” written on it. It’s a then-current reference to the silly rioting after the Bulls won their first two championships.

       1 likes

  10. losingmydignity says:

    This is one that intially disappointed, but has grown on me. There are still not enough laughs for me to rate this highly, but the film’s monster is a scream. My fav scene is when he “creeps” up on the woman with the kid and the whole baby thing. Still, great riffing in this one is sporadic with moments that are just hilarious followed by so-so riffing for long stretches.
    I’m not sure why this one doesn’t hit it out of the ballpark for me. Maybe the narration to often gets in the way…I’m not sure why.

    It does have excellent host segs, and one of my all time favs…like Frank I’m a big fan of host segs that stretch on without much happening. The knew well enough to just let the music be funny on its own.
    B

       1 likes

  11. Nick says:

    Alright, someone else got the Akbar and Jeff “Life in Hell” reference!

    This is one of my favorite episodes, or at least one I constantly rewatch. It’s hard not to fall in love with a monster comprised of parts from Radio Shack and a soggy bath mat. It also has my favorite naughty reference: “Now cough, honey.” :shock:

    Oh, and did anybody else notice that the early cinematic gore in the lovers lane killing? You know, the car that gets turned over?

       0 likes

  12. Brandon says:

    Don’t know if this has been mentioned yet, but the guy who plays the old fat grandpa was actually a porn star! Get that image out of your head, now.

       3 likes

  13. bobhoncho says:

    Love the girl in the hot pants at the dance party, hate that unbearable screaming(?) noise that the monster makes when its moving from one place to another! I’m surprised no one mentioned that. Also, in the scene at Lover’s Lane, correct me if i’m wrong, but i’m positive that in that heavily graffitoed car, the guy basically kills the girl before the monster reaches them, just by pushing her to the other side of the car! I HATE THIS MOVIE!!

       0 likes

  14. bobhoncho says:

    Oh, I forgot to mention, (stupid Jim!) has anyone else noticed that all women of the 60’s (i.e. “The Creeping Terror,” “Monster A-Go-Go,” and even “Manos”) had perfectly shaped hinders?! Ah, the good ol’ days!

       1 likes

  15. bobhoncho says:

    #18, my father happens to have a copy of the Golden Turkey Awards book (1980) and it does not have the story on “Grandpa Brown.” For all my fellow MSTIES, this movie was nominiated for worst movie monster. However, “Robot Monster” (ep #107, I think) won the title. If you look at the book, there is a picture of the bottom of the monster and you can see one of the poor college kids inside it with a huge grin on his face. Poor dope!

       5 likes

  16. Lyon says:

    Near as my ears can decipher, Crow names the founder of the SOL as “Jacques Cooper John-Juan I.? Canopis D. Debois”.

       2 likes

  17. Eric says:

    This is one of those episodes I started out indifferent to, but now it’s one of my favorites. The riffing is spot on every step of the way. For some reason I notice much of my favorite riffing on MST3K occurs when there’s a very prevalent narrator (most of the shorts have one). It gives them an overarching persona to get behind as they make their general-observation comments.

    “What do you think it is?”
    “Well, it’s no airplane!”
    “Ben never asked Martin another question.”

    Also love the “He started crying” riff (can’t remember the comment preceding it).

       5 likes

  18. robot rump! says:

    there’s so much craziness to this one.
    the non-stop and unecessary ‘Monster a GoGo’ -esque voice over in lieu of actual dialogue
    Opie and his giant therapist
    the extremely bizarre and slow moving monster
    the clueless deputy and his touchy feely wife
    a rectal thermometer
    and so much more!

       3 likes

  19. Sitting Duck says:

    Three stars from me. The riffing is solid, but the film’s unrelenting tedium drags it down. Plus, with the exception of the coffeehouse sketch, the host segments are rather meh.

    The narrator tells of how Dr. Bradford was younger than Martin expected. He must have been expecting the doctor to be a doddering geezer, since he’s noticably greying (unless that’s a result of the film being overexposed which frequently happens throughout the movie).

    When the housewife goes out to hand laundry, one of them riffs how it’s switched to a Kurosawa film. While I have seen some Kurosawa films (Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Hidden Fortress), I’m not sure I get it.

    You got to wonder why the soldiers were all bunched up when attacking the monster, as the only purpose for doing so is to make it easier for the monster to chomp them in one fell swoop.

    Favorite riffs:

    “I don’t think we have anything this big.”
    I know that from our wedding night.

    It’s nice how they’re so playful after the day’s murder and meyhem.

    Well here’s another satisfying part of my day. Hanging laundry. Maybe I should hang myself!

    Meanwhile, Opie and his therapist go fishing.

    Even the AV Club laughs at these people.

    If my deepest, darkest despair had choreography, this would be it.

    You fragged yourself, you knucklehead!

       4 likes

  20. Blast Hardcheese says:

    This was one of the first episodes I watched, and still a favourite. If someone could explain the fight scenes in the dancehall sequence, I’d be eternally grateful. Heck, if someone could explain anything about this movie, I’d be eternally grateful.

    I watched it again last night, and realised that the body count is actually quite high in this film. You’ve got at least four smooching couples (two on blankets, two in cars), the sheriff, Jeff (poor Akbar!), Laundry Mom, Bobby and his Therapist, the hootenanny crowd (including, I assume, the Tom Paxton/Pete Townshend wannabe), plus maybe half a dozen at the dance hall and almost all of the “thpecial unit.” I probably missed a few. Not that it makes it horrifying or anything–but usually in these monster movies you get one or two bodies and that’s about it. So here’s my question–is this perhaps the highest body count of any MST movie? Could this maybe be a topic for a weekend discussion-which movie has the highest number of people who get shot/blasted/disintegrated/eaten/somehow offed?

    Also–did Laundry Mom in the movie inspire Clay and Frank’s washday bit? If so, I’m glad they chose that activity over the *other* major part of her day that we see in the film (shudder).

       8 likes

  21. big61al says:

    Happy Turkey Day!:eek:
    This is a great episode…..when I pop this into the DVD player it never gets old…..I still think this is the worst monster of all the monster films they did….:smile:

       6 likes

  22. jjk says:

    I love this episode. Truly one of the goofiest movies they ever did. My mother who didn’t usually watch sci-fi/horror movies thought this one was hillarious. This movie was made to be on MST3K.

       7 likes

  23. Watch-out-for-Snakes says:

    This is an old favorite, and a great episode. The movie (and monster) is just so weird and approaches Coleman Francis-like levels of crumminess. Anytime a movie relies on narration, you know you’re in for a chore… I find that the middle part of this episode drags a bit (somewhere around “BOBBYYY!”), but the baby scene and the dance hall scene make up for it. The riffing is solid throughout most, and the Host Segments are pretty good, HS#3 with Mike’s stereo equipment is pretty funny, if just for how crushingly long the scene runs, and HS#2 is so-so, but notable for Mike kissing Servo and Crow. :-*

    RIFFS:

    Crow: “I think he’s self conscious about his big ol’ butt.”

    Mike: “The Unbearable WHITEness of Being.”

    Mike: “C’mon honey, let’s crab walk outta here.”

    Servo: “What’s she doing??”
    Mike: “Now cough, honey.”

    Mike: “Meanwhile, in a Kurosawa film.”

    Crow: “Huh. Cannabis.”

    Crow: “Have the Army send in bass and drum!”

    Servo: “Her hinder is out of control.”

    Crow: “Gotta find a petting zoo… Times when a man needs the touch of a llama..” :laugh:


    yeah, it creeps,
    but at a brisk pace,
    4/5



    Oh,
    and
    HAPPY THANKSGIVING, ALL!!!

       6 likes

  24. Brandon says:

    Easily, the best Season 6 episode IMO.

    I’m sure I’m repeating riffs that have already been mentioned, but “It’s like a Brazil nut, there’s no getting into it” still cracks me up. That whole sequence where the monster keeps flipping over the car trying desperately to get the humans inside, is hilarious.

    “I think I hit on something! Stay away from his mouth! Don’t let him eat you! That’s it!”

    “Safe!”

    Love the barefoot woman who tortures her poor baby with the thermometer.

    The sheriff’s wife in this movie is hot.

    “Officer Third-Wheel”.

    “Don’t make me stand up, Bobby!”

       3 likes

  25. touches no one's life, then leaves says:

    #36: Uh, new to the internet, are you? ;-)

    #41: “I mean, they wouldn’t necessarily enjoy cannibal movies”

    No, that’s an entirely different fetish. For easy and relatively safe-for-work knowledge of this, you can go to Amazon and look up a book I chanced across some time ago, “The Cannibal Cabaret.” The front and back cover alone pretty much sum it up.

    Ever notice how it’s almost always MEN who come up with fetishes like these? Men can’t (*metaphorically* speaking, it’s not as if any of it’s *real*) abuse women’s bodies in ENOUGH ways, but women’s fetishes rarely return the sentiment. I don’t say NEVER, I say RARELY.

    “Really makes you think, don’t it.” — Tom Servo in Tor Johnson’s voice (Bride of the Monster)

    #48: Well, they are ALIENS, after all, we’re not EXPECTED to understand their thought processes.

    #65: Well, yes, but did Quick-Draw McGraw actually qualify as a PLAYER of guitars or more sort of a misuser of them?

       1 likes

  26. touches no one's life, then leaves says:

    #112

    Speaking of fetishes…

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_fetishism

    Be sure to check the bottom of the page for more. ;-)

       1 likes

  27. Keith Palmer says:

    I can add one more “one of my favourite episodes” comment, I suppose. “The Creeping Terror” may have stuck with me in no small part because I was surprised by the movie’s hilarious ineptitude: I will also admit to liking the “Coleman Francis trilogy” and other bottom-of-the-barrel genre pieces from the 1960s in the show’s canon for much the same reason, but there I had more of a sense beforehand of what to expect.

       4 likes

  28. sol-survivor says:

    I enjoy this episode, but I can’t help but wonder what happened to the baby. Did the monster “hear” it crying and go in the house after it? It did somehow manage to make its way into the dance hall, so with the proper editing it could have gotten into the house. Either that or the poor sick baby was all alone and crying until unknowing widower Mr. Johnson got home however many hours later. Bobby apparently got eaten, so the “terror” didn’t have any qualms about going after a child.

    On that depressing note, hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

       5 likes

  29. Dan in WI says:

    This starts out cute. I like the security guard bit and I can relate to the laundry day as well. Meanwhile there are a couple moments in the coffeehouse where Mike looks like he is going to loose it but her recovers quickly.

    Great callback riff “well I don’t understand it so let’s start shooting.” (Jungle Goddess)

    Say what you want about vore, when I was watching the girl-eating scene all I could think was it looked more like a rag doll than a human the way it was flailing about.

    The SOL flag was cool. I envy the person who got that in the eBay auction.

    Okay so which monster was less ridiculous: the one from this film or It Conquered the World? They kind of remind me of each other.

    Does the stereo host segment go on too long? Yes. But it still finds a soft spot in my heart. I remember assembling my first stereo system and how I could feel myself getting more and more cool by the minute.

    I suppose there is a comparison to be made with another film using off screen dialogue: Beast of Yucca Flats. This film had some lines dubbed to the actors whereas Yucca had absolutely none. Of course Yucca had Tor and in my opinion Tor beats the monster in this film.

    Someone explain the alien spaceship to me. Earthlings have to uncomfortably craw on the ground to get in and out. How did the much larger Chinese dragons do it?

    Favorite Riffs:
    Crow as special unit guy investigating the rocket ship “I’ll go first. After he’s done eating me, Joe you go in. Sooner or later indigestion will set in.”

    The monster is heading toward the dance. Mike “Well finally here comes somebody with some rhythm.”

    Narrator commenting on the role of the Sheriff’s deputies in relation to the military special unit “they were to be part of a second line of defense to used only if necessary.” Crow “Also known as desert.”

    The Sheriff is beating on the spaceship transmitter. Crow “Hey, hey take it easy. Roger Corman needs to use this set later.”

       4 likes

  30. Creeping-Death says:

    A favorite episode, five stars. All the morons in shows who aren’t able to run from something coming at them incredibly slowly I now call “Creeping Terror Syndrome”. My personal favorite sequence is when Dr. Bradford is almost eaten. They do numerous very funny jokes in a row and it doesn’t help that Bradford is corpsing badly.

    (when Bradford has been injured and his face is bloody) Servo: (as Bradford) I’d walk a million miles for one of your smiles.
    (as Bradford slowly crawls away from the Creeping Terror and easily outpaces it) Mike: (as Bradford) Huh! Moving away from it to not let it eat me. I think I’ve hit on something here!

       7 likes

  31. trickymutha says:

    While Monster a Go Go drives me to drink, this one drives me crazy- with laughter.

       3 likes

  32. MSTie says:

    This is one of my favorite episodes — it combines a goofy monster, horrible special effects, bad acting, and great riffs, yet the movie has some of that 1950s/60s innocence like “Teenagers from Outer Space.” I love bad b&w monster movies when they’re given the MST treatment.

    And it has a hootenanny!

       7 likes

  33. Patrick says:

    There was actually an effort underway to make a documentary about this film. I just checked out the site and notices that the last update was in 2011. Bummer. I’d really like to see this film. See link below.

    http://www.creepfilm.com/

       5 likes

  34. Tom Carberry says:

    The “director” of this steaming pile was also the newlywed “hero”. Not much else to say about it.
    Favorite lines:

    Yes, they did the nasty.
    [the “monster”] It’s a Chinese funeral procession…It’s from planet dreadlock…the pontiff has arrived.
    [alien spacecraft] Well, whatever it is, it appears to have lowered their intelligence level…if I could find a windshield I’d give it a ticket.
    We push more logs before 9 a.m. than most people do all day.
    [couple making out] The unbearable whiteness of being.
    Ah, the Menendez Brothers come home.
    It’s a Federal Law to keep your monster in a car seat.
    Well, how’s my little boat anchor?
    The first director to realize the dramatic potential of a rectal thermometer.
    Meanwhile, Opie and his therapist go fishing.
    Making Alan Sherman an action hero was not a great idea.
    Oh no, they’re about to be attacked by a point of view shot.
    You know, everyone was 40 back then.
    Even the A.V. Club laughs at these guys.
    If my deepest, darkest despair had choreography this would be it.
    Hey, even the chemistry teacher can shake his booty.
    Another frustrated IBM PC User.

    Final Thought: This one has the same patina of incompetence as Monster A-Go-Go. I give this one 2 out of 5 stars.

       0 likes

  35. Blast Hardcheese says:

    Patrick:

    Since we’re posting links, here’s another one, presumably also defunct, that seems to provide some kind of insight into the movie. Warning: viewing the videos on this site means seeing “The Creeping Terror” UN-RIFFED! Proceed at your own risk.

    http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCreepingTerror

       0 likes

  36. Warren says:

    Creeping Terror is perfect fodder for MST3K. It is gray and dull much of the time, but the sheer ridiculousness makes it funny. I remember laughing out loud the first time I saw the ending when the car comes out of nowhere and quickly slams into the ‘terror’. The movie was so slow and creeping (get it?!) up to that point that the scene was totally unexpected. I don’t care much for the host segments, they’re average, not great. All in all, a near-classic episode and if it wasn’t on dvd already it would be a good choice for release.

       1 likes

  37. Larry says:

    I haven’t seen this ep in a few years but it really is time to revisit it. I do recall it dragging after awhile, but you can only do so much with a flick like this.

    The Creeping Terror, though, is a longtime “favorite” of mine. Such an incredible, mind-blowing mess of a movie. I first saw it (fittingly) on a local independent station in the late-90’s; I remember finding the “go to hell!” line the funniest thing ever and re-watching the scene on VHS (yeah, I actually taped it) more times than appropriate.

    Anyway, the story behind this film is positively fascinating. The guy behind it, Vic Savage / Art J. Nelson, was a con-man that upped-and-left town, so one of his partners rescued the abandoned film & finished it. It’s seriously in doubt if the film was ever even theatrically released; It may have had verrrry limited showings, or went straight to TV, or didn’t show up at all until TV airings in 1976. Check these links out:

    http://www.junkcinema.com/content/super-size-me-story-behind-creeping-terror1964?page=2

    http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/3053/The-Creeping-Terror

    I love this movie for all the wrong reasons.

       7 likes

  38. MSTie says:

    P.S. Thanks to this wonderful discussion, I pulled out my TCT disc for a watch last night and enjoyed it all over again. Also, my husband watched it with me and I’ve never seen him laugh so much at a MST3K episode (he normally doesn’t find them funny…. yet I married him anyway… go figure).

       9 likes

  39. Mutant Turd says:

    I love this episode. It is easily my favorite episode of them all with “Track of the Moonbeast” in close second. The absurdity of the movie just cracks me up so much. Unfortunately, out of all of my volumes of the boxed sets, this episode was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. Does anyone know of a way to purchase just this episode without having to buy the entire box set again? I miss this episode dearly and would love to watch it once again. Or if someone knows of a website where I can watch it in it’s entirety I would love that too. Hopefully a very nice person on this website will help me out.

       3 likes

  40. Sitting Duck says:

    It’s been a while since Shout did any of their single disk rereleases of Rhino titles. If they start up again, I would think this could be one of the easier titles to nab (it has to be in the public domain).

       0 likes

  41. sol-survivor says:

    @139 The entire episode is on YouTube. I’ve been listening to episodes that way while I’m at work, and that’s one of them I’ve done more than once. It is not one of the episodes available on iTunes, or at least I couldn’t find it listed.

       1 likes

  42. FordPrefect says:

    Mutant Turd @139: Some fans run websites where they offer to burn episodes of MST3K on DVD that aren’t commercially available. At least one of them has gone back to offering The Creeping Terror since it’s been out of print for so long. I’d mention a specific one, but I don’t know if the guys who run this site are OK with that sort of thing or not. For now I’ll just confirm that it IS possible to obtain this episode on DVD without having to buy the entire box set again.

       0 likes

  43. casterberus says:

    MattG #11 – You’re not alone. I like the dance music, too!

    I’ve often thought I should use it (or Crow’s Epic Grateful Dead Guitar Solo from “The Dead Talk Back”) as a ring tone.

    Mike setting up his stereo system and standing there listening is one of my all-time favorite host segments. It’s like a moment of Zen or something.

       3 likes

  44. schippers says:

    Just to say something nice about the movie, the premise reveals a bit more thought than was the norm for this level of filmic science fiction of the era. The idea of “space monsters” really just being big calorimeters/spectroscopes/whatever instruments is pretty interesting, although it begs the question (which I can’t remember if the movie asks/answers): Do the creeping terrors transmit data back to their wherever planet/masters on the fly? Or are the terrors supposed to, you know, fly back to their wherever planet after they scarf up enough lifeforms?

       2 likes

  45. Strummergas says:

    I taped a lot of Season 6 episodes back in the day, but I can’t remember if I saw this one before this week. I’ll have to go into storage and sort through the VHS to see if I snagged this one. Anyway, my first(?) impression of this one is pretty good but not great. I laughed really hard and really loud when there was actually something happening in the movie, but I also had to fight the urge to stay awake during the slower parts. Once again, the Brains make the best of what they’re given, but it also reinforces my belief that while a movie of this type should be perfect fodder for riffing, the dragging pace of some films drags down the riffing too.

    But what I will say is that I feel that this is the episode where Mike really comes into his own. Perhaps the shift occured in an earlier episode, but it’s at this point that I notice the entire tone of the show changed. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first episode with darker lighting on the set. The riffing also takes on a much different quality than in episodes past. I’m having trouble elaborating on how or why it seems different, but for the first time I’m noticing a change in the way the riffs are delivered. The rhythm and and tone are just different and I think would remain that way not only through the duration of the series, but also into Rifftrax as well. Anyone else get the same vibe?

    Oh, and 3 stars from me, although I think this one may be a grower.

       0 likes

  46. Depressing Aunt says:

    Wow, I have seen this one millions of times! Love when the narrator goes off the rails as the swingin’ bachelor waits with increasing boredom for the newlyweds to entertain him. M&TB mutter about the narrator’s motives and end with, “but, he gets results!” Just wonderfully absurd.

       3 likes

  47. Johnny's nonchalance says:

    Linus is in dire need of a comb.

    Man, we ain’t found shi#!

       2 likes

  48. MSTie says:

    jjb3k:
    Looking at the “baby temperature taking” scene, it becomes apparent that the crew had no immediate access to a real baby. Hence why we only see the tot in stock footage cutaways and the mother never picks the damn kid up. Geez…

    Actually, whether there was an actual baby in the scene or not, mothers of the movie’s era were told rather severely NOT to pick up their babies very much, generally only for feeding and changing, etc. Picking the baby up just to play with him or cuddle him was considered spoiling and would lead to juvenile delinquency, cheating, and other riffable short films.

       6 likes

  49. Sitting Duck says:

    The Creeping Terror fails the Bechdel Test. The only time we see two women talking to each other is at the dance hall, and the sound is out. It was likely rhubarbing anyway.

    I’m not sure that they really needed to show Servo drooling as he slept.

    Wait, Dr. F. wears garters with his socks?!?!?

    In the scene where Dr. Bradford arrives, it does rather look like Brett is fondling Martin’s batch.

    For that matter, why was Brett tagging along the whole time? I never got the impression that she was employed by the sheriff’s office.

    The way those soldiers were bunched together when fighting the monster, you’d think they were extras in a Doctor Who serial.

    @ #16: Perhaps said vault will also have a complete recording of the Doctor Who serial The Power of the Daleks. A guy can dream.

    @ #41: Regarding the people who find coat hangers sexy, perhaps they’ve read/seen Mommy Dearest once too often.

    @ #133: I checked that link, and it looks like they finished it. Since I’m posting this from work, I can’t watch it at the moment.

    @ #148: There’s also bad posture, getting lost at fairs, poor hygiene, and the inability to discern love from rough sex.

    Favorite riffs

    Barney smoked in the garage, and look what happened?

    Now that we need a narrator, he clams up. What’s going on?

    While we’re waiting, I might point out that Angel County has great opportunities for light industrial development.

    I was afraid the alien was going to be goofy.

    “I don’t think we have anything this big.”
    I know that from our wedding night.

    We push more logs before nine AM than most people do all day.

    Twas beauty fed the beast.

    It’s nice how they’re so playful after the day’s murder and mayhem.

    “What will you have, Barney?”
    Your wife.

    The other guards don’t understand you like I do, spaceship.

    I should have gone to DeVry instead of Harvard.

    Cruelty to small animals is one of little Bobby’s few outlets.

    I’m surprised we got this good a turnout, what with everybody being dead and all.

    You can see why the British Invasion was so easy.

    If my deepest, darkest despair had choreography, this would be it.

    Sorry folks, should have told you about the subplot. Even caught me, the narrator, off guard.

    When a monster and a small car love each other very much…

    Get out of the way. I want to see the smoochers.

    Actual dialogue startled everyone.

    “They were to be the second line of defense, to be used only if necessary.”
    Also known as desert.

    What kind of memorial do we build for those guys?

    Mr. Monster, could you spit out our rifles, please?

    You fragged yourself, you knucklehead!

    Only after the monster died did people think of running.

    Take it easy. Roger Corman needs to use the set later.

    Hey Crispy, hands off my wife!

       5 likes

  50. Bruce Boxliker says:

    @schippers

    I was going to say the same thing. It’s literally the only interesting thing about the entire movie, so obviously the director/writers MUST have stolen the idea from someone far more competent. As for your question, the creepers transmit to the ship that then transmits back home, which is why the guy was trying to destroy the ship’s controls before it automatically sent the data off.

       3 likes

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