Movie: (1985) A smug professor and his students camp out in the rural Arkansas swamp, in hopes of finding a Bigfoot-like creature.
First shown: May 9, 1999
Opening: Crow and Mike’s Cub Scout meeting is crashed by Servo the Brownie
Intro: Now Servo’s a Flemish glass blower; Pearl has a potato-powered evil plan
Host segment 1: M&tB’s flashbacks get fuzzier and fuzzier
Host segment 2: Pearl cooks up a monster legend, complete with haunting, evocative folk song
Host segment 3: Tom takes up whittling in a big way
End: Crow’s tends to his fires; Pearl’s legend biz gets kicked in the ankle
Stinger: “I saw the little creature.” “Nooo!!”
(338 votes, average: 4.59 out of 5)
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• In some episodes, the riffers need a little extra something from the movie to take their riffing from good to great. This is one of those episodes. It starts out as only okay. They keep up with the action with some funny stuff, but it really didn’t have me rolling. But when mountain man Crenshaw arrives, they really have something to work with and they take full advantage of it. The movie itself is stupid but at least it’s watchable. The host segments are mostly good fun. So all in all this one comes out a winner.
• Bill’s thoughts are here.
• References are here.
• This episode was on Rhino’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 5.
• Mike gets the title of the movie wrong in his intro on the DVD version (as he did with his “The Touch of Satan” intro).
• It’s fun to hear Kevin and Bill harmonizing as the sing “On the Wings of a Dove.”
• Gypsy is acting weird again. Did Joel completely fix her?
• The whole IMF accreditation thing was created because the suits at the channel were pushing for a “story arc.” So I only give the Brains partial blame on this. But I have to say that with this episode (or maybe the previous one?) the IMF stuff really starts to feel very invention exchangey. Not sure whether that’s a good thing or not.
• Segment one is a clever idea, one of those segments that practically writes itself in response to something really stupid in the movie.
• Segment 2 is saved by Bill, whose delivery is pitch perfect.
• That’s Kevin’s wife Kathleen’s guitar in that segment. She gets a credit at the end.
• An “s-bomb” got missed by Sci-Fi censors, and Rhino left it in.
• Movie observations: What was that whole “let’s play this out” business when the girls returned to the camp? They walk in and you expect something to happen, but they just say hi and go on with the movie. Play WHAT out?? Also, during the yucky outhouse flashback, I need to point out: If you can hose somebody off, that means you have plumbing. If you have plumbing, why are you using an outhouse?
• I have to say that I don’t really feel the white-hot rage Bill feels toward Old Man Pearce. Yeah, his character is a bit of a jerk, but I just don’t find him that despicable. He’s certainly not the movie’s bad guy. In fact, one of the biggest structural flaws of this movie is that there are no real antagonists (except, perhaps, for the derisive locals).
• Segment 3 is also a lot of fun, a good example of a sketch where they take a simple idea and take it to the extreme.
• Riff that’s a bit of stretch: One of the girls is “Mark Knopfler” because she’s wearing a headband. Sheesh.
• We get another fire aboard the SOL. And not the last one this season.
• That’s Brad Keeley as a tourist kid, in a bit that really goes nowhere.
• Again, no cast and crew round up: nobody involved in this movie worked on any other MSTed movie.
• CreditsWatch: Directed by Kevin. For interns Erin F. Erskine and Josh Huschke, who started at the beginning of the season, this was their last show until they were called back for one more a few weeks later.
• Fave riff: “Why don’t you take the skin chair?” Honorable mention: “There’s a red scarf floating in the air!…oh, it’s her.”
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For me, really, the highlight of the episode is not Crenshaw (though he’s damn close), but segment 2. Mary Jo’s delivery is hilarious, especially the “Traces of his scat, left like small gifts!” followed by that light, not-unpleasantly-surprised “oh!” when she spots a “gift”… and Mike’s deadpan replies of “Bobo.” each time… and topped off with Bill’s performance with the song with the ooooverlong intro. Wonderful stuff.
And once again, Brad pulls off a hilarious little kid impression.
The movie? The one-two punch of “Suddenly, I was attacked by a Muppet!” and “Where’s my money you son of a bitch?!” always gets me. Always. Mister Pierce comes across as… well, yeah, kinda smug, far too smug all told. Not the smuggiest smug bastard in the entire MST library… I’d say a level 3 Smug Alert. Enough to not really like him at all.
Speaking of not liking… only Tom’s repeated insistence that the girls mud-wrestle makes that truck scene bearable. Good lord.
All I can say is, “The cheerleaders suggest that we go.” “I’m going, the cheerleaders plan is working.”
This exchange still makes me laugh.
Best ep of Season 10, although only slightly over Moon Beast.
#46 & #47 -If you don’t know how to use a wench, there’s nothing I can do for you.
I realize Chuck may have been pushing his son as a hunk what with his serial shirtlessness… but all things considered, well… he comes across as something else that ends in “nk”. Probably not what Chuck wanted.
re: Outdoor plumbing, but no indoor plumbing.
When I was a kid (1960s) out here in the wild Northwest, I knew several families in (very) rural areas that had no indoor plumbing yet; but they DID have access to irrigation water under pressure to water their fields, plants and lawns. The water wasn’t considered clean enough for indoor use, like washing or cooking.
“Can I borrow a cup of shirt?”
Not a classic, but plenty of good lines in this one. This follows on from Revenge of the Creature, riffing a sequel that was inferior to the original. Were there more examples of this?
#53
When I first read the comment I thought he meant “wrench.”
See, some of us don’t have dirty minds. Well, not quite as
much. Okay, marginally so. ;-)
#55 – Yeah, they don’t really run sewer water through the same lines they would hose-water. Eyuw.
And septic tanks are a LOT of work to install and maintain if you’re not a professional, it seems…
One of the best episodes of the final season and in my top 10 of all episodes. Great riffing throughout the movie. Saw Jimmy Clem in “The Town that Dreaded Sundown”. He plays a cop so with his uniform on he is a lot less hairy(Thank God) than in this movie.
Classic sci fi era episode. Solid riffing from start to finish. Favorite riff: “Ok, call off your dogs.” Floors me every time.
#20 John Wayne did spank Maureen O’Hara at the end of McLintock.
I was thinking about the outhouse scene. Not a good thing to be thinking about,anyway maybe the wife wouldn’t let the husband have a toilet inside. The way he was running around could you blame her? God what a horrible scene,worse than Salo.
Crenshaw goes down as one of the best performances supporting character. He is top 5 with:
Pitch from “Santa Claus”
Kline from “Sinister Urge.” (Kidding)
Joe from “Racket Girls.”
Torgo
Without this characters, we wouldn’t even care about these movies.
As for Doc Lockheart, he isn’t as pompous or as smug as any John Agar “character.”
The whole Deputy Williams flashback is great although my favorite riff(s) besides the “Muppet riff” is
“Now Bobby give the nice man back his fish. I’m sorry we just started him on the ritalin”
Mainly because I have ADHD and the fact that they chose the name “Bobby”.
In keeping with the discussion:
Favorite Riff: “Lucy Bra-less.”
Shazam! This is a great episode. Tim’s habitual shirtlessness is so distracting that I often just spend this movie shaking my head. Who’s idea was that anyway? Did Charles Pierce think his kid was hot, or did they just not have a shirt budget for Tim?
The other question I had is about Leslie. Was she supposed to be a romantic interest for the professor, then they just didn’t get past the awkward peeping stage? It just seems at times that’s the direction their relationship is intended to go, then they flashback to poop stories.
There’s a legend of a beer in these swamps…
“Can I borrow a cup of shirt?” might be my favorite riff from anything ever.
#16, it’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it ;). The scene where Leslie crams her ass into the shorts goes on longer, where Doc tells them they may see the Creature at any time. The Creature’s never been seen in a drought year, and they’ve had a lot of rain lately, so he’s likely to be out and about, as the high water pushes TC out into drier areas to look for food. So after breakfast that first morning, they go down country roads looking for abandoned homesteads. They stop at one and look around. Tim spots a dog which comes tearing off, beating cheeks and busting a hump straight at him. Tim yells “Mad dog!”, and everyone runs into the house, while Doc gets his gun from the Jeep, shooting at the dog while running. As a little something for the gentlemen, there’s a close-up of Tanya’s cheeks sticking out of her cutoffs. Doc sends Tim to look out the windows and the md, with whipped cream all over his mouth, lunges in the window at Tim. Doc, ineffectually of course, shoots out the window and keeps yelling “Quiet!” The dog gets under the floor, where Doc, again ineffectually, shoots at the floor. The dog gets in, Doc shoves Tim out of the way, but his gun is out of ammo. Tim saves Doc by shooting the dog with the gun he gets from the jeep. At one point Tim asks Doc if the dog’s dead and Doc says, “He’s dying if he’s not dead”, which is good, as the dog is clearly panting in the next few shots of the dog. They head back to camp, and Doc studies reports of Creature sightings, and mentions the foul odor.
As a native Arkansan, this episode is near and dear to my heart. I can take my lumps as well as Mike did for “Giant Spider Invasion.” I take comfort in Paul’s write-up, stating that we are NOT all like that. Really. Really and truly.
Side note: In the University of Arkansas scenes (my alma mater, where they certainly do NOT have a Department of Boggy Creek Creature Studies) you can see Reid Hall, which was my dorm freshman year. The Saturday morning football games were a bitch to wake up to, as the stadium was next to it.
Oops, that would be Bill, not Paul. I was stunned by recollections of seeing the little creature.
Oh man, this is a 5 star episode if ever there was one. The riffing throughout the movie is tip top, but reaches full MST3K apotheosis when Crenshaw appears.
It’s amazing to me how Charles B. Pierce made himself the fulcrum for this entire film, yet is so utterly incompetent as a writer, actor, and director that the proceedings are a complete disaster. The man had absolutely zero charisma, god rest his soul. Professor Brian has got to be in the top three of most loathsome heroes in an MSTed movie.
Favorite riffs:
“And the legend continues … to be not heard of by anyone.”
“Are you the one they call TIM??”
“Dictator for Life, Charles B. Pierce”
Great episode!!
Blush!!??
What the hell is blush!!??
“This is the story of fried pork rinds.”
I don’t know that anyone’s done a better acting job in one of these movies than Jimmy Clem. I genuinely wondered the first time I saw this episode whether or not Dictator For Life Pierce had just filmed an actual mountain man who had been told what to say. As others have noted, the movie really picks up when Crenshaw shows up. Lots to like in this episode, from Servo’s Flemish Glassblower costume (“What, should I have chosen the Spanish Courtesan getup? Come on!”) to Crow’s flashback (“Servo and I were arguing about God-knows what”) to Mike’s deadpan delivery of “Bobo” in the Legend of Forrester Swamp sketch. A very solid episode that had the misfortune of being on the same DVD set with Time Chasers and Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders, both of which outclass it. It’s unfortunate, because there were a number of Rhino box sets where this would have been THE episode.
Alright. First, Tim, “Put On A Goddamn Shirt”.
Second, all other weirdness and lack of an ability to pick a genre or successfully combine the several it flirts with aside: if the professor ultimately decided to keep the creature a secret, why did he release his documentary footage as a movie?
*****!
fyi, robot rump!(#12)—if you live anywhere NEAR Arkansas, then you might as well live IN Arkansas!! Having lived IN Arkansas myself for a short, disturbing period, and having family in OK, MO and TX, I can tell you its all the same!!
Favorite riff — “How many gallons do we have?” “E gallons.”
@Colossus Prime, #3
I may be misremembering, but was it the call from Williams in the beginning (during the football game) that got them all to go down to the swamps to begin with? The thing is, I can’t remember if they mention him by name (Williams) at the beginning, which feeds into your argument…
Pixiesnix @ 68/69-Any chance Stickboy’s lack of a shirt is somehow Arkie related?
5 Stars
Pretty much agree with all the high points mentioned. The characters are SOOO odd, the riffing is top-notch.
Love the singing. Love the riffing chez Crenshaw. No Twins fans loving the Kent Hrbeck riff ? Missed riff, over the opening or closing credits: I am Shirak ! when the cinematogragher’s name is displayed.
Jimmy Clem is so good, it’s like he’s from a different movie.
The Creature is supposed to be eight feet tall, but he only tips the scales at 350-400 pounds ? sounds a little on the lanky side for a brutal ape monster.
The host segs, both castle-side and sat-side were very polished and very funny. MJP mugging through the scat bit. Hank Brainguy Junior on the guitar, potato smoothies. MJP getting all depressed.. just hit yourself.
Think of me as a Shebelo !
On a personal note, the Professor reminds be of a certain ex-in-law of mine. It’s perfect.
I refuse to sit through this one. :x
I couldn’t even read all these comments.
All of this talk about Jimmy Clem has made me reconsider his role in the movie. As I think about it, the movie does get a lot better during that third act with Crenshaw. Prior to that it’s just a few characters meandering through Texarkana in a kind of cinematic fog. Once we get to Crenshaw, Boggy Creek II is like a real movie.
I love this movie. It’s so annoying. :)
What always bugs me is that the friend (Leslie?) is asked, “Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?” And she’s like, “Oh, yes, I’m totally prepared for our journey into the heart of darkness.” Then as soon as she gets out there, she’s suddenly furious that the trip involves camping, nature, and searching for the Boggy Creek creature. Perhaps a little more questioning was in order, there?
Good episode. Four stars.
#62- you forgot two others- Sam the keeper from Werewolf, and JC for Sidehackers.
I find this episode to be a rather cozy one for me. A nice littl “in the middle” episode where they come in, riff and then leave. It just feels very comfortable.
To each his own…
@Bart Fargo: Nothing specific, but if it was early in the school year, say September or so, it probably hot as hell. And the heat/humidity only gets worse the farther south you go. So we all have to suffer for the Stick’s comfort.
What I find amazing is they are going to remake the original.
@ Trickymutha #84
You are right. I forgot about Sam the Keeper. And JC for Sidehackers. Maybe it’s just me but I should also add The Coroner from “Zombie Nightmare.” Of course, this should a thread on the boards. May have to take it there.
Is it just me, or does Crenshaw remind anyone of the late Captain Lou Albano of WWF fame? I think Crenshaw even had some weird rubber band thing going on as well, although it was on his arm, not in his beard.
Great episode, 5 stars.
Oh yeah, I forgot this one … good times, good times. Solid material mostly but for some reason I haven’t thought about this one for a while.
Not much new to add. Like most others, I find this to be a better than average episode, but not one that I enters my regular viewing rotation.
Things that drives me nuts because I’m starting my career in academia: How do you get tenure in a Boggy Creek Studies Department? Can you take scantily-clad coeds on camping trips without getting prosecuted? And why would you bother getting a FRESHMAN as a research assistant? Where do you get funding to conduct Boggy Creek Studies?
As for people criticizing the idea of an entire course (or field of study) in cryptozoology, I think that this criticism is off base. No, it wouldn’t fly in a biology department, but many English and humanities departments have courses devoted to folklore. On the other hand, folklore professor would travel to Boggy Creek to collect stories about the monster–not the creature itself. So, I’m still a little stumped, I guess.
5 stars! This is one of those comfort episodes for me too. So many classic moments, and just the right amount of pretentiousness to push it over the borderline into perfect riffing fodder territory. Have to agree, though, that while most of the movie zips along fairly smoothly, Tanya and Leslie’s infamous “jeep-stuck-in-the-mud” scene is pretty excruciating, and I have to excercise a lot of extra patience while I “let it play out”.
…of course, I always make it a point to “get on the bed” first…
5 stars-It’s a cheesy southern bigfoot expedition but the riffing doesn’t disappoint. All the scenes cut from the episode were on youtube at one point (mad dog, etc) but they seem to be gone now. At least the ending is not depressing. There’s still no excuse for the ‘weight-detecting radar’. Good night Tim, wherever you are.
Oh, about Boggy Creek studies, it’s probably supposed to be the anthropology department. I don’t think there’s a ‘bigfoot’ department in Washington state or Oregon’s universities, but if any studies are done I imagine it’s done through something established like anthropology. The chance of a large hominid mammal unknown to science is VERY remote but it’s not science-fiction. I’d hate to think that all the witnesses are lying or are so dumb that they can’t distinguish between a bear with a snout and a bipedal primate with a face. Anyway, that’s my two cents.
I remember when I (and my then wife) moved to Nashville from the great Northwest. As we drove further South we started noticing these Waffle Houses. We’d never seen a Waffle House before, sheltered as we were. By the time we got to Nashville it seemed there were Waffle Houses on every corner!
Flash forward a few months. Boggy Creek is playing and Tom starts singing “We’re drivin’ down the road, looking for a Waffle House, drinking lots of Wild Turkey!” and we about died laughing. We now “got” the joke and Boggy found a special place in our hearts and souls.
Overall, we guffawed and chortled steadily from start to finish. 5 star experiment!
“We’re going camping and you’re gonna watch”
“Mike, his batch!” – the way the bots say this with such horror is hilarious. It is pretty scary though so I can’t blame them.
“Driving down the road looking for a waffle house drinking lots of wild turkey – hoo!”
“Have we got the mic sensors?” “Mike’s right here.”
Being from Texas I’ve got to set something straight. I’ve lived in Southeast and Central Texas so I don’t have firsthand knowledge of what it’s like in North Texas but I’m pretty sure this ain’t right. Everybody knows that when you wear overalls with no shirt the proper etiquette is to always have both straps buckled and you never wear your ‘around the house’ headband when you have company. It’s also polite to offer lemonade to your company on a hot day and then you offer them a dip. You can’t drink it and fully savor it’s tart goodness with a mouth full of chaw. Not only did he offer a dip first but he didn’t even have any lemonade. Didn’t Crenshaw know anything? Parents must not have raised him right. :roll:
Other than the incorrect portrayal of people along the Texas/Arkansas border ;-) , this is one of my faves (as are many from the scifi years) and it has strong riffing throughout. The riffing on Crenshaw is great but I think it was going full steam up until that point as well.
Lemonade? Are you sure? When I did my stint up on the cap around Lubbock-way the drink of choice was sweet tea.
I wonder if Master Thespian Jimmy Clem has been in other films? I couldn’t find much via the internet(the Al Gore Highway)..
“It’s when Chuck’s got a gun on Crenshaw, who tires to fire his shotgun, only to discover that the shells are missing.”
And then Crenshaw immediately demanded, “Gimme them shells, boy!” In the “crisis” sequence, he just kept giving orders as if it was a GIVEN that people would obey him, and he was sort of stunned and puzzled when they didn’t. I remember thinking “Crenshaw doesn’t adapt very well, does he?” Sort of like the sheriff in “Village of the Giants,” who just kept barking orders at the gigantic teenagers who could’ve picked him up and thrown him across town like a baseball…
Sampo (and others): “An ‘s-bomb’ got missed by Sci-Fi censors.”
I’m 99 44/100% certain that this was restored on the DVD, and is not in the televised version. I don’t have a tape of the televised version anymore, but I saw it several times before the DVD came out, and I remember that line striking me on the DVD as a change. (Maybe someone here with a tape can confirm/refute?)
Which, if true, raises a question: if they can restore cut swears on the DVDs, should they? Does it go against the (at least initial) intention that MST3K is family viewing? (Of course, there are some that would be silly/confusing to restore, because J/M & TB make a joke of the deletion.) Think about it, won’t you? Thank you.
Favorite riff (one of my all-time favorites): “I sent Tim ahead to absorb the first hail of bullets.”