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Like most college TV stations, the station at my college was a mish-mash of student-produced shows and sporting events that ran over and over and over again. In the time that was left over, though, the station played episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a cult show that became everyone’s favorite—because, well, it was always on. The MST3k guys’ biting commentary over horrible old movies was such a hit that, after a while, it was pretty much impossible to watch movies without adding our own commentary.
Now, three of the MST3k guys are at it again—this time, in a DVD-only series. Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett are The Film Crew—three guys hired by an eccentric billionaire to provide commentaries for old movies that don’t have commentaries of their own. Their first victim is the 1968 B-movie disaster, Hollywood After Dark, which stars Rue McClanahan (of TV’s The Golden Girls fame) as Sandy, a girl who came to Hollywood to become an actress—only to end up making ends meet as a stripper. That’s where she meets Tony (Jack Vorno), a depressive junk dealer who tries to make a little extra cash by helping the strip club’s greasy owner with an underwater heist.
Hollywood After Dark is a great place for The Film Crew to begin—because even if the guys were a little rusty after their years away from MST3k, this clunker is so bad that practically begs to be ridiculed. So it makes for a good warm-up episode. The writing is horrible, and the acting it worse. And though the provocative exotic dancing scenes may have been racy and exciting in 1968 (though, somehow, I doubt it), they’re just really long and boring (not to mention totally bizarre) now. So there’s plenty for the Film Crew guys to talk about here.
From Rue’s gigantic hairdo (which causes her to be likened to Justin Guarini in a dress) to the cheesy soundtrack to the long, nonsensical robbery scene (which is completely lacking in dialog), the guys are all over this one, adding plenty of their sometimes smart, sometimes sophomoric commentary. While the movie’s premise naturally leads to plenty of crude jokes, though, it’s the great pop culture references that make this one fun to watch.
Fans of MST3k will be thrilled by the new Film Crew series. And if you don’t have any smart-ass friends to watch bad movies with you, The Film Crew guys are a great alternative. Be warned, though, that this one isn’t for kids—and sometimes the movie is so very bad that it’s sometimes hard to watch, even with the guys giving their amusing commentary. While I’ve seen some funnier episodes of MST3k, Hollywood After Dark is a good start for The Film Crew—and I look forward to checking out more in the series.
