Movie: (1984) Bud-swilling Florida scientists discover a gigantic prehistoric shark.
First shown: 8/15/98
Opening: Mike loses his identity…or does he?
Intro: Pearl’s cruise ship scheme requires M&tB to make ice sculptures
Host segment 1: M&tB learn that dolphins are smart … and touchy!
Host segment 2: M&tB learn not to taunt electricians
Host segment 3: Pearl’s Italian filter malfunctions
End: Crow tries to think of animal combos, while dinner at the Captain’s table doesn’t go well
Stinger: “It’s right underneath us!” “I knowwwww!”
(249 votes, average: 4.43 out of 5)
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• This episode is one of those comfortable middle-of-the-road ones for me. The riffing has lots of laughs, but there are some quiet spots. The segments are also fun and funny but not exceptional. This episode also featured two elements that had internet MSTies talking!
• Kevin offers his thoughts here.
• This episode is featured in Shout’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol. XIX.
• References.
• Mike predicament in the opening bit is reminiscent of five or six action movies that were out at that time, especially “The Bourne Identity.”
• That’s Patrick and Beez as the tourists, Ann and Norm.
• The intro almost has an invention exchange feel to it, which everybody offering a different comic take on the ice sculpture idea.
• Did anybody notice that this movie has two title cards? I don’t think the Brains did. They don’t react when the second one appears.
• A generational thing: This movie’s director, credited as John Old Jr., is actually Lamberto Bava. His father was Mario Bava, director of the movie in episode 1013-DANGER: DIABOLIK (Lamberto was the assistant director on that movie) and cinematographer of the movies in episodes 408- HERCULES UNCHAINED and 502- HERCULES. Lamberto worked on many of his father’s films. Mario was sometimes billed as John Old Sr.
• Marc Cohn definitely seems to be one of those pop stars that earned the Brains wrath. I was never a huge fan, but his stuff never really bothered me.
• Segment 1 is less a segment by itself than it is a setup for the segment 2. It’s not a laugh-riot, but it moves along quickly.
• Segment 2 is the pay-off sketch, but it’s still not hilarious. I feel like maybe it’s Paul’s lowkey delivery that drags it down, but I’m not sure.
• This week Mike is reading Mary Tyler Moore’s book “After All.” Is he a member of the book of the month club?
• There’s kind of an odd moment in segment 2 where Gypsy doesn’t know who Pearl is. Made me go:”Huh?” She used to…
• Peter Rudrud is the voice of Sea World phone representative.
• About a third the way through the episode, one of the characters on the boat climbs quickly down a ladder, and is shot from below. Apparently we could see quite a bit up his shorts because Sci-Fi Channel felt the need to put a digital fig leaf over it, in the form of the spaghetti ball logo. The incident sparked a bit of a debate among online MSTies about censorship, etc.
• Incidentally, this addition to the episode apparently was made AFTER the episode was submitted to Sci-Fi Channel for broadcast, because M&TB do not react to the appearance of the logo, and instead react in horror to seeing what the logo covered up.
• This episode marks two Wizard of Id references in two weeks.
• During the dull scuba sequences, nobody thinks to mention that his lungs are aching for air. Just as well, I guess.
• A few fans conjectured that segment 3 was BBI’s response to some fan complaints (baloney, if you ask me) that the show was overdoing jokes mocking the movie characters’ nationality. By now, I imagine the writers have long forgotten whether it was or not, so we’ll never know if it was intentional.
• The first Richard Jewel joke in a while pops up.
• The long laughing-through-the-end-credits bit is reminiscent of the Jim Backus-Phyllis Diller comedy bit, “Delicious.”
• Why is Crow so hyper in the end segment?
• Cast and crew roundup: In addition to the Bava family mentioned above, assistant director Freddy (Goffredo) Unger was an actor in “Hercules Against the Moon Men.” Screen writer Frank Walker also worked on “Operation Double 007.” Cinematographer Giancarlo Ferrando also worked on “Warrior of the Lost World,” as did costumer/production designer Anthony Geleng.
• CreditsWatch: Directed by Mike, his last directing effort of the season.
• Fave riff: “You know, just because you CAN edit doesn’t mean you SHOULD.” Honorable mention: “Tiny Medical Center, starring tiny Chad Everett.”
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I wouldn’t really call this a middle-of-the-road episode (I’d easily count it in my favorite top-20), but it’s definitely a case where the ridiculousness of the film overshadows the riffing and host segments. Then again, maybe I’m biased since I love Italian exploitation films. As #14 pointed out, this movie is like a who’s-who of the genre. I mean, Gianni Garko is in this, fer cryin’ out loud! The man’s a legend!
Made it four because I couldn’t do 3 and a half stars. This isn’t one of the best, but it is a good ep and still better than most of the stuff on TV today. Some of my fave riffs:
Mike: ‘It’s the Blue Show, starring Blue.’ Later: ‘Hi, Blue here, my first guest is Teal.’
Tom, along the line of ‘eleventacle’: ‘Although we are having tentacle difficulties.’
Crow, after Davis gets shot: ‘Oh, please, Francisco Franco died quicker.’
Love this Ep – 4.5 stars!
Silly movie(cheap monster, crazy editing, atari 2600 computer graphics, lots of beer and bad dubbing) good riffs and good host segments make this one a fave, In fact I like it better than Final Sacrifice.
My only complaint is they didn’t even react to the line “approximately 320 years ago new forms of fish developed”
Also, the electrician’s ditzy girlfriend is ultra hot, but the skinny blonde is too bony for my tastes.
A. Gypsy is busy running the higher functions of the SOL, so she can be a little spacey sometimes ( this is canon and the fan-kidz say ).
B. Pearl is in disguise as a cruise ship Captain.
Pretty solid episode overall. Did they make any references to the fact that the blonde chick looks a lot like David St. Hubbins in certain shots? If not, they should have.
“This is a movie that constantly assures you: you don’t need to concern yourself with this.”
Another very good episode from Season Nine. As for censoring the shot of the guy’s crotch, I think that’s one incident where censorship is a good thing! Overall, a funny episode, with several memorable scenes, with my favorite early in the film when the guy on the boat cracks a beer and Crow sarcastically says, “What, this isn’t orange juice? Oh darn…” Never fails to crack me up. That, and the multiple jump cuts which prompts Mike to say, “You know, just because you can edit doesn’t mean you should”. Four stars.
Were there any “Jaws” references in this obvious “Jaws” ripoff? I don’t recall any right off. Or would that have been too obvious?
So the evil scientist created a killer monster to protect underwater assets that he didn’t have yet? I think that mission statement could have used a second draft…
“It’s not my fault!”
“It ain’t mine either, so let’s get going.”
They could almost have said “The movie’s riffing itself!”
The area/batch “censorship” was just to meet TV standards, like with the curse word “sound blotted out” effect in “Final Justice.” It’s actually for the best that M&TB didn’t know it was there, because then they might have riffed on something that really wasn’t the movie’s fault…which is exactly what they do in “Final Justice” re the curse words. That also happened for “Mitchell” and “Red Zone Cuba” (just to name two): the edited version left things less coherent, and then they riffed about the incoherence. Not really fair. I found this one to be one of the MOST incoherent ever, but I have no idea how much of that is innate in the movie itself.
This one never fails to amuse me. So many goofy elements and loose ends, there’s plenty for the guys to grab hold of.
I have to admit that I’m as dumbfounded as Mike when it comes to Tom’s repeated “As seen on TV” riff. Am I missing something…or possibly trying to make something deeper out of it than it really is?
I’ve been collecting (via the Internets) various MST3K related materials (e.g. Manos is on Internet Archive), and found the trailer for this episode, listed as Monster Shark – Devil Fish. No, the ‘censored’ shot is not included.
“Were there any “Jaws” references in this obvious “Jaws” ripoff? I don’t recall any right off. Or would that have been too obvious?”
Crow: So they just played the Jaws theme backwards
I always laugh hard when they add sound effects to something that’s going on in the background. The sound chugging beers was right up there with the old man cleaning his glasses in Riding with Death or the Daphne swiveling her hips in Hobgoblins.
Does anyone know who played Fernando Cortes, the ‘roided deputy? He had a speaking role, but I never see him listed anywhere.
Sampo – Thanks for the quick update to Daddy-O’s DID, but it’s still wrong: s/b
Florinda / Cinthia Stewart a.k.a. Cinzia de Ponti (New York Ripper)
Dr. Janet Bates / Darla N. Warner
And, hey, when did you switch the comment numbers over to the left side? Looks better, I think.
For me this is one of the best Sci-Fi Channel era episodes. Good, consistently funny host segments, great riffing and a movie that is fun and funny on its own.
Ah, a cheesy movie from the 80’s from Italy that’s a ripoff of one of my favorite movies of all time. Why yes, this episode is right up my alley and in my top ten of all time. I find this to be very underrated, the riffing and host segments are quite solid.
For whatever reason, only “I KNOWWWW!!” sticks out in my mind for this episode.
Count me as someone who assumed segment 3 was a “Take That” directed at ratmm-er Derek Janssen.
@10 Really? It’s the scientists that are stupid?
Helping, not hurting…but, then again. ;-)
I tried repeating to myself it is just a show, I should really just relax…
Couldn’t, April Fool’s Day got me all bugged.
Dear fellow MSTie #10; you are right, nothing lives that long. It is not the specimen that is millions of years old, it is the species.
Sorry for the harsh words earlier, I apologize, my mouth(?) is a size 9-1/2. :oops:
Always helpful, rarely hurtful….class is over, on with the frivolity! :mrgreen:
I an surprised Sci-Fi of SyFy (Give me a break!) hasn’t shown this movie un-Mistied. It fits in with all those “People being stalked, attacked and eaten by creatures that are slightly larger than normal” movies that show up by the thousands. And these monsters can always out-think a human…even Electricians!
“Sorry about that Electrician crack earlier, My father’s village was once attacked by an Electrician.”
And here’s an observation for discussion (or just to upset people):
Early in the movie the camera lingers on the dolphins hauling ass away from the stick-figured lady, I was waiting for Mike and/or The Bots to say:
“So long, thanks for all the fish!”
Does anyone else have a scene from an episode where there was a missed opportunity for a great rif?
@ smirkboy, that thread would be anarchy…real flame-war potential…
Space Mutiny & the B S G footage are obvious, perhaps too much.
Not so much a missed riff, but the gas station scene in Soultaker where the Tommy(?) character, AKA the kiss-assaulter, grabs a Coca-Cola from the cooler to throw but the broken glass bottle is clearly a Pepsi.
Guess that’s more of a continuity thing. Tons of errors like that abound in these movies.
Smirkboy – unfortunately, I doubt Ski-Phi wouldn’t be interested in Devil Fish unless they did a George Lucas and threw in a pant-load of really crappy CGI…
Hi everyone. My Name is The Bolem. Or at least it used to be. You see, until recently I was just like you. I posted here regularly, and went off on the occasional tangent. And then one day I found myself pursued by agents of a secret government project who…
…well, actually it’s more like one cowardly troll who keeps posting in MSTory with my username plus a lowercase “t”. At least this time it was on the same day we discussed the ep with Mike’s “The Net” bit, so when ya got lemons…
And speaking of rip-offs, if Spielberg really was taking legal action against Jaws’s cash-ins (@14), then maybe Bava and co. were taking Roger Corman’s advice about how they can’t accuse you of ripping off 1 particular movie if you rip off 10 at once by going so far as to make the actual monster a Frankenfish cobbled together from different creatures, none of which were sharks. That would make it all the sweeter that the Cor-Man himself is making “Sharktopus” (@21). If not, it still makes me miss “The Wuzzles”.
And yes, “Frankenfish” also actually got made a few years back.
I watched this one a few weeks ago. It was the only one from this season I had not seen in some time. I’m gonna agree it is a middle of the road episode. The only good thing I’ll say about the movie is the bookend of Doctor (?) going on vacation then having a monster attack and then resuming said vacation. The edits were so crazy, that was the only part of the movie that made sence. As is par, the riffing is great. I gave this bad boy 3 stars for it’s MOR quality.
All I remeber is the guy going up the stairs and the “I hung one out just for fun” with the Mst3k Logo covering it. I laughed my butt off. I can’t rem. much else except the effects weren’t very special. :shock:
“You know, just because you CAN edit doesn’t mean you SHOULD.”
This was the very first MST3K episode I ever watched and remembered – because of this line.
Great episode for me.
I love how Bobo tries to comfort Ann by just shaking her head.
Why does the girl who works with the electrican always mumble in the background?
“I wouldn’t want to rub it the wrong way.” “Well I would.”
#14 There is an interview with Michael Sopkiw on the dvd of Massacre In Dinosaur Valley. It’s pretty good actually. He talks about being at a friend’s house and and someone calling to tell them that he is on M.S.T.3.K. Must be the same interview online.
^ Yeah, I heard that commentary track. I didn’t like the movie, though. I love the police/crime/action stuff..those BS cannibal movies, not so much. “2019” and the commentary for that one is much better and entertaining.
#15…”Blastfighter” rocks. It’s not on DVD, but VHS tapes are easily obtainable. Sopkiw signed mine after I sent him some fan mail and a copy of the episode late last year. Since I live in Los Angeles, he even said he’d invite me over to him and his wife’s house one of these days after he’s done travelling around the country. He sounds like a really smart and nice guy. Iris Peynado (Sandra) is sweet, too. C’mon Shout!…Get the rights to this so we can have a quality release with plenty of extras…and so Mike can get that $$$, too! I don’t think he gets any royalties, which is a shame.
I missed the best credits routine thread a few weeks back, but I’d have to say Devilfish had my favorite. The forced-group-laugh-ending has been an irritating staple of sitcoms, cartoons etc. for at least half a century, but never gets as much clever derision as it deserves because it’s kind of hard to properly make fun of. So when the Brains found they had an opportunity cued up for them in freeze frame, they committed to a single gag, ran with it, and hammered it home beautifully. I’ve heard “Delicious” on a Dr. Demento CD, but a connection never occurred to me; I’ll have to give that another listen.
Mountains? Hah! That’s even funnier than when people say they don’t want tea, and then they do…
“The Annotated MST,” where you sent us for references, got one slightly wrong.
“Kraftwerk!” is a German electronica band founded in 1970, which was most popular in the mid 1970s. The band DID have a radio hit with “Autobaun,” and the edited edition was a solid 45 hit. This was a time when bands like Kraftwerk and Focus (Hocus Pocus) were making inroads to the American music scene.
Minor, but the record should be set straight.
Otherwise a solid episode and another good one to introduce someone to MST3K.
Since I have “too much time on my hands” I’ll talk about this episode. Took me YEARS to get that Styx reference, when I finally actually heard the song for the first time. This episode is reliably funny, I really want this in a future dvd set. The riffing is top-notch (sloooooow daaaay huuuuh?) and I watch it on a fairly regular basis. That’s great continuity during the opening devilfish attack, from bright sunset to nighttime to bright sunset again in just 2 or 3 minutes. “She displaces no water at all”
Does anyone else think the dark haired gal has kind of a B movie Bailey from WKRP look? :???:
The opening segment is at least partly a parody on the opening credits of a contemporary UPN series, “Nowhere Man.” My comments seem to get blocked when I put in an URL, so if you want to see it, search YouTube for “Nowhere Man Intro 1.” I think there’s more to it than what was posted, but you get the idea.
@82: Woah, I completely forgot Nowhere Man, but I remember liking the few eps I saw. That theme music’ll be in my head all week. Geez, there really were a ton of movies and shows about people pursued by huge conspiracies in the wake of the X-Files. Those shows are one distinctly ’90s genre I actually miss, partly because the antagonists were such generically evil government organizations that it made it seem like Americans were less polarized in our paranoia than today.
As for the conspirators in Devilfish, much lamer villians have been MSTed, but it seems like a bigger than usual letdown when we learn that this conspiracy that’s produced so many murders and a monster that could overrun the oceans was enacted by people with the motives of your average Scooby-Doo villian. It’s so ridiculous that…part of it’s actually coming true, what with those asian carp escaping from farms in the south, smothering all other life in our major rivers, and about to invade Lake Michigan. Why couldn’t we have gotten those alien infiltrations instead?
Cheers to the great comments! This has been my favorite episode since I taped it off of Scifi back in the summer of 2002 (I was 13 then!). Too many good riffs to mention, but I gotta say….
“IS THAT BOAT POWERED BY HIS FACE?!” (referring to the Lou Reed look-a-like goon driving the boat)
Classic stuff!!!
Like a few other season 9ers this one didn’t impress me on the first viewing but has grown on me quite a bit.
A really solid, fun ep. I like when they do foreign-y movies…
B+
RE: Jeff in Denver…
read #42
you are right on about that. same type look… could be a clonus of her…
81/86: Bailey – yeah, I mentioned that in post #2, above. Glad to see other people caught the resemblance. You’d think they could at have at least given her a “W K R P in Cin-ci-naaa-ti” jingle in 3-part harmony.
That’s why I nitpicked the discrepancy in the cast list: she’s more central to the plot of the film than the secretary played by a former Miss Italy (who, granted, had most of her scenes deleted for the US edit we have of the film).
Prof. West’s cuckolding wife was played by Dagmar Lassander, a grande dame of the eurocult era, best known for roles in Fulci’s The House by the Cemetery, Mario Bava’s Hatchet for the Honeymoon, and the 1969 classic Femina ridens/aka The Frightened Woman.
Dr. West’s wife could have inspired a very esoteric riff. She bears a resemblance to former president of Cicero, IL, and convicted felon, Betty Lauren Maltese.
One of my fave episodes, and one that I go back to often.
“C’mon beer get in my mouth!”
I love this episode!!! It is one of my top 10 Mike epps and I really wish Shout! Factory would release it on an upcomming volume (hint hint). So in closing we need this released on dvd, I was surprised for some reason to hear its not going to be on 18, but hey I definetly can’t complain about finnaly getting “Jack Frost”. C’mon “Devil Fish” and Shout! Factory!!!!!!!
wondered if I made a big mistake!
The cruise ship bit falls flat for me. While Brain Guy looks sharp in his uniform I have to agree with Mike. This is a little out there since it is located in a castle to be funny. Meanwhile the ice sculpture bit is a tad predictable.
But I did like the talking to dolphin host segment. Here it is the delivery. Mike sells his insults really well.
In the follow up electrician/dolphin solidarity segment, I find the electrician is working a bit too calmly seeing how he himself called in the death strike on the very jobsite where he is working.
Dated telephone long distance riff “Okay what is it again? 10-10-10-10-321-10? Remember when interexchange carrier commercials where saturating the TV air waves? Now long distance calling has pretty much lost meaning in the age of cell phones.
This was another one I just can’t get very excited about. The movie genre is not really one I enjoy and the riffing was again pedestrian. Your mileage may vary.
Convergence 2009 bonus panel: Joel sure was pretty playful on this one. It starts off with the random event of sending the staffers off for blizzards. Once it gets going he sure goes out of his way to give Jim Mallon his due pointing out if he hadn’t had access to the TV studio this likely would have never been anything more than an idea. He also drives home the now familiar refrain that it took the brand new start up Comedy Channel needing programming as the happenstance which gave the show a national stage. The best question was someone asking Joel why he didn’t reshoot the KTMA opening credits after he cut his hair. I’m pretty sure this was an irreverent question riffing on those who ask questions that are so specific that a creator typically doesn’t remember the details years later.
Favorite Riffs:
Atari 2600 submarine game is played. Tom “Man Abyss 2 isn’t very good.”
Crow as Stella with a blank stare “What do I think?”
I tend to think they made Mike a little too dumb in host sketches over the ages, but he delivered so perfectly that sad little explanation that he welded his ice cubes that I can’t fault them that.
As for the third host sketch … well, I didn’t find the sketch bothersome when I first saw it, but it’s been many years and there’s been a lot of ironic racism foisted on popular culture since then, so I think I’d view it today, maybe, not as offensive but at least as less fun than the Brains meant.
Devil Fish passes the Bechdel Test. Stella and Sonja briefly talk about tracking down the Devil Fish. This is a correction from the previous listing, when the only female to female conversation I caught was when Stella and Sandra were commenting on how Bob and Peter were bickering.
Could anyone make out what Crow said as Cambot entered the theater for the first movie segment? Because I couldn’t.
To anyone who has seen this uncut, did this movie also have a rape scene edited out by the Brains (specifically when the ugly goon killed the secretary)?
Shouldn’t the doctor be shouting, “Clear!” before he zaps the guy?
Count me as one of those who found the Italian filter sketch to be hilarious.
The forced laughter over the movie’s end credit are another matter.
Even with the explanation given, I still don’t get how WOI will turn a profit by creating a prehistoric shark/octopus thing. Still better than GenCorp in Time Chasers, who seemed to be evil for its own sake.
While there have been instances where I thought other scenes in the movie would have worked just as well or better than the one they chose for the stinger, Devil Fish is not one of those. It’s just the way Bob says, “I know!” as if he’s having an orgasm that makes it perfect.
@ #69: Another such instance in this movie occurs when Bob says that he wishes to speak with Mrs. Bates, I was surprised that there wasn’t a single, “Norman?” or anything similar.
@ #92: I noticed that too. I imagine it was Joel’s way of saying that, whatever hard feelings there may have been between the two when he left the show, it’s all water under the bridge now.
Favorite riffs
Feeding the whole ocean is hard.
Hang on, old chum. Ha, I kid the dead guy.
Just because you can edit doesn’t mean you should.
Of course I am American and not Italian. I drive a truck.
He’s enjoying the bold, adventurous life of a TV repairman.
Welcome to downtown Shackville.
“Two geniuses should never work together.”
But these two guys will be fine.
Sorry about that electrician crack earlier. My father’s village was attacked by electricians.
That Allen Funt turns up everywhere.
Oh right, our mission and stuff.
I thought you were the octopus in disguise.
Permission for Ugly Face to board.
That’s quite enough male hiney shots for me.
I will seek my revenge. But first, I’m going to snag me a Charleston Chew.
We’ve done been et, over.
A good but not great episode for me. The awkward cruise ship sketches leave me cold and are the kind of things that really made me miss Dr. Forrester & TV’s Frank. However, some good riffing, especially (forgive me) about the lead female character’s skinny build and her sun-fried hair. And all the beer and editing jokes are pretty good. “Just because you can edit doesn’t mean you should” became something of a buzz-phrase with me and my kids for several other horribly edited MST’ed movies.
“Its a hoochie-coochie fish” makes me laugh every time I watch this episode. Every. Single. Time.
“I KNOOoooow…!”
IMDB says there are Americans in the cast but it looks like the only American I see is Bud Weiser. He should have gotten a cast credit.
This film suffers from an editor who thinks he can edit.
The plot makes no sense. I wonder if the dubbing is the guilty for the confusion.
Missed riff – the Dr. says fish developed teeth 320 years ago. I guess real biology was not required for your doctorate.
“I wonder… if I can order cocktails online.”
“Here’s the adrenaline, doctor.”
“I’ll squirt it in the general area.”
Don’t forget the Prince of Space callback, when Crow has the moaning amputee guy say “Macken,” like the scaredy-cat scientist from PoS. But Crow’s mouth doesn’t move, so I guess they only thought of it after filming had wrapped.