Lifting up my week is Rhino's newest installment of their MST3K box sets. They are sticking to the standard format of four movies per volume and are still including a few goodies here and there. I always have high hopes on these sets and this one is no exception.

Ring of Terror is the first episode on the disc and is the weakest of the bunch. This season 2 episode was unfortunately too dull for my tastes as it's obvious that the gang is still getting the knack of writing the riffing. The real saver here was an episode of the incredibly rediculous Undersea Kingdom serial.

The Indestructible Man has Lon Chaney Jr. in the roll of "the Butcher" who is a killer brought back from the dead thanks to some goofy amateur scientists with a station wagon. The film is total garbage but the riffing is top notch. I also loved the end segment with Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy as cops.

Tormented is actually the best source film of the four. Bert I. Gordon actually wrote a rather interesting little ghost story and despite the lack of budget this film holds up quite well. The only problem that I had with it was that I did not seem to blame the lead as much as the movie seems to have wanted me to and I found myself hating the ghost as much as he did.

This disc also has a great interview with Bert I. Gordon, his daughter (and Tormented actress) Susan Gordon and the guy who played the beatnik sailor. It's quite informative and while there is some back-patting by all throughout the interview I will agree with them that Susan Gordon was quite the child actress and her performance as the cute little sister was first rate.

Finishing out the set was the absolute best episode that Mystery Science Theater 3000 ever did. Horrors of Spider Island was the third to last episode Best Brains did before closing down for good and was one of the few episodes I was able to watch on its first broadcast. Ever since then I have nearly worn out my VHS (and later DVD-R) recordings of it.

The brilliance of this episode is two-fold. First off the film is a total turkey and yet is completely watchable by anyone with a warped sense of humor and a love for Eastern European women showing their breasts (and there are many of you, I'm sure.) Secondly the riffing has some of the greatest lines ever. I find myself quoting the film at times when appropriate or inappropriate for that matter.

If you need a reason to buy the set, then I question your status as a MSTie. Buy this set today!

Highest Recommendation!!

Labels: Comedy, MST3K, TV Shows