Mystery Science Theater 3000 #423 - Bride of the Monster (1993) - The Hunt for Edward D. Wood, Jr.
MST3K #423 - Bride of the Monster
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MST3K written by Mike Nelson, Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy, et. al.
MST3K directed by unknown
Bride of the Monster written by Edward D. Wood, Jr. & Alex Gordon; directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr.
MST3K cast
Joel Hodgson
Trace Beaulieu
Kevin Murphy
Frank Coniff
Jim Mallon
Wood regulars
Conrad Brooks
Harvey B. Dunn
Ben Frommer
Dolores Fuller
Tor Johnson
Bela Lugosi
Paul Marco
Don Nagel
Bud Osborne
Additional cast
William Benedict
Loretta King
Tony McCoy
Plot
Joel (Hodgson) and the Bots (Beaulieu & Murphy) are subjected to another experiment by the evil Dr. Forrester (Beaulieu). This time, it's the first part of the industrial film Hired! and Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster.
'Wood'-ness
The host segments are fairly lame, with the exception of the first, a musical based on this episode's short. The "monster"/food type segment is a concept that would be handled better in episode #424, the vastly superior/inferior* Manos, The Hands of Fate. The third host segment is bizarre in that it is primarily based on a short, A Case of Spring Fever, that the show wouldn't actually air until their next-to-the-last episode, #1012 - Squirm.
The riffing is okay, but rather nasty. There are a lot of cheap shots taken, especially at Bela, and especially at his drug problems. They seem to really be stretching things in order to find jokes. Particularly lame is the end credits riff by Tom, simply labelling everyone in the cast (except "Drunk" Ben Frommer) a 'loser.' Particularly good, on the other hand, is a running gag about the chief inspector and his bird. So it's not all bad.
I'm fairly certain that it was the very fact that Bride of the Monster isn't really as bad as a lot of the films MST3K did that made it so difficult to use.
* MST3K #424 - Manos, The Hands of Fate is a vastly superior episode to MST3K #423 - Bride of the Monster.
Manos, The Hands of Fate is a vastly inferior movie to Bride of the Monster.
Best Line / Riff
TBD.
File Under
Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
VIDEO RELEASES
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 #423 - BRIDE OF THE MONSTER
This episode had never had a commercial release, although it is readily available from tape traders and bootleggers. Any such copies to be found on eBay or for sale anywhere else are illegal copies, be they VHS, VCD or DVD.
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