Movie: (1964) Teeners in a beach community are oblivious when dumped radioactive waste creates a batch of monsters.
First shown: 9/6/97
Opening: Tom harmonizes his overtones with the fundamental
Intro: Servo’s “fundamental” turns out to be pre-recorded; meanwhile “Apearlo” and “Brainguyus” settle in with a delighted Callipygeas and suspicious Flavia
Host segment 1:The manly beach dance is postponed because Mike’s trunks are a bit small
Host segment 2: Apearlo & Brainguyus’ jam becomes a beef commercial
Host segment 3:Tom’s a newsy with very up-to-date news
End: M&TB sing “Sodium;” meanwhile as Callipygeas and Brainguyus bond, Apearlo and Flavia trade…er…pleasantries
Stinger: A less-than-manly beach dance
(270 votes, average: 4.71 out of 5)
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• I was generally a fan of the “chase through time and space” thing in season eight, and I contend that more host segments worked than didn’t. But when it comes to the “Roman times,” story arc we’re now into, well, for me, not so much. Everybody tries real hard, and I bet it seemed funny in the writing room, but many of the Roman Times host segments just don’t come up to the level I expect from this show. Call it the exception that proves the generally witty and hilarious rule. Fortunately it only lasted a few episodes, and fortunately for this episode, the goofy movie, and the terrific riffing of it, more than make up for any shortcomings elsewhere.
• Paul’s take is here.
• This episode was included in Shout’s Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXVII
• References.
• Crow is referred to as a “golden spider duck”—that sounds like something that was in a fan letter, though I don’t think they ever said that.
• One reference the reference guide doesn’t note: Observer mentions “Bitter Dregs,” during segment 2. He’s referring to tune sung in the Star Trek episode “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Watch it here.
• During that bit, they eventually begin playing Aaron Copeland’s “Rodeo,” and Kevin yells “Beef!” That’s a reference to the now-largely-forgotten “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner” commercial campaign that featured that Copeland piece.
• By the way, the music is actually being played by Lisa Fuglie (of the group Monroe Crossing) and Karen Mueller.
• Movie comments: Did the makers of this movie really think the monsters would look scary? Really? Also: The voice of our heroine Elaine is dubbed. But I’ve never heard an explanation as to why.
• When this movie was in theaters, movie-goers had to sign a “fright release” before they entered the theater.
• I hadn’t seen this one for a while, and I’d forgotten Eulabelle. Wow. Were these kinds of characters really still acceptable in 1964?
• The movie was filmed in the Stamford, Conn. area, (although it has some very nice shots of 1964-era Manhattan, when our hero makes his Sodium run).
• According to this bio, the Del-Aires broke up not long after shooting this movie.
• This movie “was billed as ‘the first horror musical,’ but we MSTies know better. The similarly-hyped 812-THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES was released the year before.”
• The great “Sodium” song has one extra joke connected with it—check out the credits where the song’s “lyric” is credited.
• No cast and crew roundup: Nobody involved in this movie worked on any other MST3K movie.
• CreditsWatch: Produced by Jim, directed by Kevin. With this episode Patrick is added to the “Set Design” credit and he will be there for the rest of the run of the series. A Jennifer Turner helped Andrea with hair and makeup. Intern Joseph Olson finished up a four-episode stint. This is the last episode that “The authors of the First Amendment” would be thanked at the end of the credits.
• Fave line: “Look Polish, everyone!” Honorable mention: “Do farts have lumps?” “I had a generally positive impression of white people before this movie.”
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Sodium, baby…. Sodium.
Good episode. Decent riffs and a couple of okay host segments.
It’s that vodoo. “Okay i strangle a chicken if that will make you happy.” It’s catlina cpaer meets a goofy monster. That is what the movie is. I alwyas crack up the woman who is dubbed moaning at the end and then tom servo moans. I alwyas laugh at that. i actually like the host segments of roman time.
(Creepy-headed singer for the Del-Aires does a wail that could be considered either terrified or agonized)
Crow: My skull!!!
I have to agree with Paul and the Brains, the Del-Aires were actually kind of fun. I don’t know if the movie needed 40 minutes of them but — actually, nevermind. As soon as they’re off the screen all of the joy is sucked out of the movie.
The two weirdest parts are Elaine, who is clearly a good 10+ years older than her friends and her dubbed voice. I’m guessing she sounded a lot older or couldn’t act. The other was Eulabelle. Maybe they felt better about the stereotypes (“It’s voodoo!”) because she was the only one with half a brain in the film.
And I feel bad about it, but I did enjoy Elaine’s rather odd way of implying she was in pain at the end of the of film. :)
The Monty Python grandmom motorcycle gang would have made mincemeat of the motorcycle guys in this movie. :smile:
Love this episode! Features some of my favorite music in an MST3K episode! But dear god, that sinewy dude prancing around and dancing in the mankini was brain searingly awful!! :shock:
I actually enjoyed the Roman Times bits; the only story arc I didn’t like during season 8 was the space children; I just didn’t find it very funny, for some reason.
This is a perfect movie for MST and the crew make the most of it. Also, this is one of those that I want to own uncut (I already have the Arch Hall and the Ray Dennis Steckler and several others; no, I’m not a masochist, why do you ask?)
As a New Yorker I love the completely arbitrary drive around a deserted Manhattan late in the movie; there’s no logical sequence to it at all.
And it sure looks like our scientist/chemist/pharmacist is dispensing sodium out of his apartment, doesn’t it?
This is easily one of my top five episodes. When I was in seventh grade, I couldn’t get enough of the sodium song. I love how M&TB keep prodding Dr. Gavin to actually get some sodium after he makes the critical discovery. He just stands around yapping about radiation!
@Gummo: Right! Even Mike notes, “And down to Greenwich Village for no reason.”
There’s so much I love about this episode, it’d take me all day to make a list. Briefly: the “Look Polish” riffs, Johnny Mathis and the Conan O’Briens, the drunk guys, the three ladies from Noo Yawk and Hank’s needless Confederate-era Southern accent. Eulabelle, of course, stands in a category above all.
Echo the love for the weird NYC sequence.
Eulabelle had a clipped line when asking for her voodoo doll back. Was that a deliberate edit?
And though the line is wrong, the delivery and timing of “Here, let me throw a gay man at you” cracked me up. That, and “Eet was right to zoorenda, ze Germanz were veddyveddy meen!” won me over to Bill as Crow. :lol:
Shinola and Brian — Another movie that has a great throw-the-bits-of-film-in-the-air-and-edit-them-as-they-fall New York City chase sequence is Schwarzenegger’s horrendous first movie, Hercules in New York –something the CT or rifftrax crews should tackle sometime!
Could the actress who played Elaine not speak English? Maybe that’s why they dubbed her voice. That was the case for Claudia Cardinale in “The Pink Panther”. Except there, Blake Edwards was smart enough to find a woman who had a voice that sounded like Cardinale’s. While here, the dubber for Elaine’s actress doesn’t fit her at all.
And ditto to Kenotic’s comment about Elaine. :twisted:
Ah, another episode that I’ve never seen. Looking forward to it!
Where to begin.
Elaine’s strange non-shock at the fates of the fifteen or so friends who died at the slumber party?
The fact that a sea anemone is not a protozoa, and various other gobbledygook Elaine’s father goes on about?
The drunk guy who only notices the guy’s face is ripped up when it’s turned away from him?
Hank very casually looking for sodium in the yellow pages, getting petulant about the concept of driving an hour to New York, despite the fact that deaths are occurring all around him?
Elaine’s orgasmic moans as she’s been led off the scene?
“He’s burned badly, but he’ll be fine”?
As for Eulabelle, I thought M&tB handled that whole delicate issue of the racial caricature pretty well. My favorite riff on that was “Oh, and the Woolworth’s lunch counter? Not that great, don’t bother.”
I really liked the Roman Times sequence, though I doubt anyone would announce “Welcome to Roman Times” once you got there (or speak English, but I should really just relax). Mary Jo and Bridget’s insult swap at the end is gutbustingly funny.
“Rodeo” was also covered by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Perhaps Gypsy didn’t want that reference to be made. ;)
From the main topic: “… many of the Roman Times host segments just don’t come up to the level I expect from this show.”
To be candid, I found this to be true of many more host segments after Joel departed than while he was there. When Joel was present the host segments almost always “popped” and I was (and still am) laughing the moment they began. A lot of the sheer jubilance and comedic direction, focus if you will, seemed to be missing from host segments after Joel departed. There are notable exceptions of course, such as in the show Outlaw or Alien From L.A. where everything worked beautifully from beginning to end inside the theater as well as in the host segments, but the percentage of host segments that were merely amusing rather than outright hilarious definitely increased for us after Joel left.
Unfortunately, Eulabelle passed away not long after this film was released. I fact, I think it was noted on This Day in MSTory, yesterday or the day before.
Love this episode. It’s one where the riffs just keep firing on all cylinders. And I love that they use Eulabelle to just make fun of stereotypes. Also it leads to one of my favorite riffs, “So many toenails, doesn’t even have this many toes,” which I always think of whenever I see a vacuum commercial. I can still remember when the episode first aired I missed about 5 minutes of it because I was laughing so hard at the following:
Woman: Hey Handsome. What’s the fastest way to New York?
Tom: Rocket car.
Ok that’s it, I’m going to have to listen to this episode at work in a couple of minutes.
Mmm Bop!
I enjoy watching these episodes with people who have never seen them before. I watched this one with my girlfriend with a few months back, and she couldn’t understand why that despite having discovered the secret weapon that would kill the creatures, they took so much damn time getting it.
Oh, about the Del-Aires… they’re actually quite talented with their own material (“Drag” is actually a good surf instrumental, really). The outside material, like “The Zombie Stomp” and “You Are Not A Summer Love” (“You Are A Summer Sausage”) is pretty awful, though. Still, I really loved the jokes at their expense. I must be awful.
Oh yeah, I have hit up every web site I can think of searching the reason Elaine was dubbed and can’t find anything. This of course simply invigorates my curiousity all the more.
“Sodium, won’t you?”
You can actually hear what Elaine really sounds like at one point. When she says “Hi, daddy.” the actual voice creeps in for half a second.
Was’nt “Bitter Dregs” from “Plato’s Stepchildren”? I thought Spock just did a jam session with Adam in “Eden”.
A good episode. The riffing is usually funny and the movie itself is pretty good. Strange choice to have bug-eyed fish monsters with hot dogs in their mouths as the “horror”.
As for the host segments they did nothing for me other than denoting Crow as a “golden spider duck” and Servo as a “squat crimson pig”. That was funny.
Love love LOVE this episode! It’s got everything I love in a movie – goofy monsters(does anyone love pickles more than I do?), nightgowns (Ok, everybody focus on sticking your fannies out), and rockin’ tunes (AHHHHH! My skull)!
My fave riff:
“Do farts have lumps?”
Re: silentseason (#21)
Yes, the “Bitter Dregs” song was from “Plato’s Stepchildren”, the TOS episode notable mainly for the interracial kiss, a good role for Michael Dunn, and some really cruel villains whom Kirk lets go with a stern talking-to.
As for the ep, I wonder if a soundtrack was released. The Del-Aires are pretty good. Movie’s awful, though.
As for the host segs, they’re mixed, I’d say. The “Beef!” one was merely OK, but the part with Mike’s (thank Heavens!) unseen swimsuit was funny. And Bridget is great as Flavia.
“Toenails, toenails, toenails” is muttered around our house whenever we vacuum.
Horror of Party Beach has been a favorite movie of mine since MST3K was just a glimmer in Joel’s grandpa’s eye. Mike and the Bots make this movie even better than great. The riffing is spot on, and I really don’t mind the host segments as well. It’s all good, and “Sodium” is a classic. Now if only Amok Time would finally release their Party Beach figure. I did recently purchase a gorgeous mask of one of the beasties in this movie, a hotdog-mouth version. Was a soundtrack ever released?
I personally love the Roman Times host segments. They’re probably my second favorite location, after the wormhole. Anyway, good episode. Movie’s lots of fun, real goofy.
Host segments are nice, always get a kick out of them.
OK, I really REALLY love this one. It has to be one of my most-watched episodes, and my most-quoted. “Just got in on a riverboat!”
There’s just so much in this one. So much pure strangeness. Notes:
– I do, in fact, also have the hots for sexy Romulan girl.
– The dubbed moaning from Elaine and the bots’ reactions may be the funniest thing ever on the show.
– WHY IS SHE DUBBED? This drives me crazy to this day. I must know.
Also, I cracked up that you brought up that stupid Coke commercial. “Yo, D – it’s all good”. Does it make it a good commercial in that I remember it more than ten years later, or a bad commercial because I remember hating it so much? They played that to death.
Silent Season: D’oh! Good catch! Now fixed.
You have to say this in favor of The Horror of Party Beach, at least we get to see the horror early on. It isn’t one of these old monster movies where they figure the best way to build suspense (and save some money) is to keep the monster offscreen until the last ten minutes of film.
Waste of good sodium, though. Think of how many Birch reductions you could have done with that.
One of my favorite episodes. This movie was made for MST3K,monsters,bad music,goofy people dancing around etc.
Mike”Do you have to do that now?” Tom”YES!”
I love Tom’s reaction to Elaine “moaning” in pain. I couldn’t believe it the first time I heard that. I always thought the film makers put that in as a joke.
MC #28 – I agree with you completely about Elaine’s moaning after she places her leg against a rock. Since all of her lines were dubbed, did she actually do that in a studio? Or did the filmmakers resort to more dubious methods to get that particular bit of “dialog”? Either way, it’s about the filthiest thing I’ve ever heard.
Another solid outing from the Brains in Season 8 with solid riffing throughout. I do concur with Sampo that of this season’s story arch the Roman times segments were the weakest of the bunch. They give it a good try and some are amusing but most just fall flat.
Fortunately their moving riffing was as sharp as ever as you can see by the second half of the season they’d really hit their stride and Bill Corbett was definitely fitting in well by this time.
For me the funniest riff was when the first monster appears with that weird-ass head looking like it has a mouth full of pickles and Crow exclaims with a goofy lisp, “Doth anyone love pickleths ath much asth I do?” Priceless!
Sodium. Won’t you? Indeed! 4.5 out of five.
@Spector – I love that goofy Crow voice! :lol:
Also in “Terror From The Year 5000” – “I like milk!” :lol: :lol:
I need to watch this again and chart our hero’s wandering tour of New York City when hes supposed to be getting sodium.
Love the movie and the riffs were spot on. The host segments were kinda meh, but we did get the ‘Sodium’ song out of this.
I have fond memories of this episode, becouse this was the third episode and the first Mike era episode I ever saw, on YouTube. Needless to say, after seeing two Joel episode, I was baffled by the opening segment. This is one of my favourite episode, and I can still find riffs I missed before.
With Bobo being the chatacter that goes missing, I can’t help but wonder if that was an excuse for Kevin to not put on the Bobo costume for a few weeks.
I thought the Roman Times segment was quite good, but the Space Children segment just did nothing. It seemed to be quite uninspired and generally not very funny (at least until Pearl drove them back to their rather impressive parents).
Btw, note that Mike was NOT responsible for the fire that burned Rome. Perhaps Mike should have defended Bobo in an arson fire trial.
one of my favorites – & i am in the pro-Roman sketches camp. i actually loved kevin’s “welcome to roman times” precisely because no one would have in fact said something like that. the actress here has always been the female counterpart to the “dare to not act” psychic researcher in She-creature.
“I think a lot of film makers have issues with women.”
Ain’t that tha truth! In fact, horrible as it is, I think a good weekend discussion would be “most debased view of women in an MST3K film.”
Between this movie and The Creeping Terror alone you’ve got some seriously whacked views of women. Totally inappropriate but a surprisingly common theme here.
Still a great episode, and one of the first sci-fi shows I ever saw. Love the Shelby Foote mention at the end too. Is there anything the MST guys didn’t know?
This was the movie that drew me into MST3K permanently, particularly the triple-teamwork of Bill, Mike and Kevin during the dialog between Elaine and her Father just prior to Tina’s funeral:
Elaine: “I have such feelings for Hank.”
Dad: “What kind of feelings?
Elaine (perplexed): “I don’t know!”.
Mike (as Elaine): “So, lay off!”.
(The Dad shown rocking his fist back and forth into his palm)
Crow: “I’m gonna have to work you over”.
(The Dad leaning in to kiss Elaine)
Servo: “I’ll just smell your forehead goodbye”.
@#40
As amusing as that would be as a weekend discussion thread, in my mind it starts and ends with Project Moonbase. They give us an incredibly accomplished female astronaut who is surrounded by men that constantly belittle her and treat her like a housewife/secretary. :)
Eulabelle was played by Eulabelle. Wow that it is just odd. Still I think she is the glue that holds this movie together. Without her it would have been silly. As for the segments they are good…not great but good. and of course the new hit song sodium. Just love that lyric. As for the riffing it’s good. Favorite riff would be “and all the flesh dripped off my skull!” I remember watching this with the whole family at dinner once and my dad at the end credits of the movie said “lets see if any of these people survived this movie?” Oddly enough I don’t think any of them did. Save for the del aires
I suspect that Elaine is Canadian, thus the dubbing.
Or, maybe she was a bit of a low-talker.
Perhaps she couldn’t control the rage in her voice, like the secretary in TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000.
Or she talked like Cindy Brady.
She’s Australian, and like the original Road Warrior, overdubbed.
Paging Mr Herman! Mr Pee Wee Herman!
Thomas K. Dye@#13: I don’t know how common that sort of shot is, but for a similar scene where a character notices someone’s facial mutilation as the mutilatee turns to the audience and away from the reacting character, see the church scene in Umberto Lenzi’s “Nightmare City”, perhaps better known in the States as “City of the Walking Dead”, which is ironic as it stars the first ever fast-moving zombies who can also run, jump, play with their dogs, use sophisticated weapons, and finish up their sculpting projects. I guess some directors get so pressed for time they can only shoot a scene from one angle. Or they missed a class on blocking.
Anyone know some other examples of mis-blocked reveals?
Perhaps my favorite riff comes shortly before, once it’s painfully obvious these two Otis wannabes are nothing but random victims/uninspired comic relief,
“Um, excuse me, could the monsters please kill these guys 4 or 5 times?!”
Then again…nah, my favorite riff is delivered by Mike after the newspaper montage:
“THE MONSTERS WIN THE PENNANT! THE MONSTERS WIN THE PENNANT!”
“Great, I’m dead and I’m breaking out!” :mrgreen:
Has anybody figured out yet what the heck that Albert Vitti Permitee sign meant?
Yeah, I’m not a fan of the Roman Times storyline, either. But I really like this episode otherwise. I hope this episode comes out on DVD soon, so I can skip the host segments.
Horror of Public Beach! My copy of this is really, really degraded. Hope Shout!Factory puts this out soon!
Ah, Elaine, my favorite “dubutante” of all time. I bet she didn’t go to the slumber party because she was having hot flashes.
Re #40 and #42, I think that the attitude toward women in MSTied movies would be an interesting topic, though I must say that the worst, hands down, would have to be Hobgoblins. Project Moonbase has the excuse of merely magnifying the prevalent attitude toward women at the time…Hobgoblins has no excuse.
“Burn in Hell, Dad!”
This one has really grown on me over time.