Thing’s
aren’t normal. There’s a heaviness and it’s growing. I can feel it...
 |
| The movie's most likeable character. |
Disaster
movies were to the 70s what action movies were to the 80s and 90s and superhero
movies are to the 2000s to today. Okay, maybe not quite that. But thanks
to the likes of Irwin Allen producing hits like The Poseidon Adventure,
there were plenty of movies with famous actors getting trapped in burning
buildings, surviving earthquakes, and dealing with all types of airport
disasters. Airplane! took plenty of air out of the lungs of the genre,
but MST3K only got a few hits in early when it was still on a UHF station. That
is, until Avalanche. So, how does MST3K handle a largely unriffed genre,
especially with the new cast and crew of Season 11?
Rock
Hudson, Mia Farrow, and Robert Forster are the star studded cast threatened by
a disaster this go around. Rock plays a real estate mogul who invites his ex-wife,
Farrow, to his newly opened ski lodge in an attempt to woo her back. But
Forster’s nature photographer thinks Hudson has cut down too many trees for his
buildings, and increases the threat of avalanche. But this movie isn’t called “Incident-Free
Ski Lodge”, so when a plane accidentally crashes into the mountain, well, you
know. Characters reconcile, subplots upon subplots get tossed around in the
snow, and modest special effects showcase a modest sense of awe and
destruction.
 |
| Starring Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow, Robert Forster, and all the ugly browns of the 1970s. |
On
my first time watching this, I wasn’t big on the episode. The movie has some
things to offer, but not a lot. It’s got cheesy melodrama and action, but
nothing out of the ordinary for the time. Despite all the snow bunnies and
skiing stuff, there’s nothing especially dumb, offensive, or goofy about it. Largely,
its them stretching for jokes, especially with all the jokes about the avalance
itself, like Crow asking, during a romantic scene between Farrow and Forster,
“So then the avalanche sneaks up and kills them, is that what happens?” There
are some good jokes in there, don’t get me wrong. In fact, I found more on my
second viewing I enjoyed. And there’s a few jokes at Farrow and Hudson, but not
a lot and thankfully nothing mean spirited (“I brought enough cheekbones for every
one of us,” jokes Tom when Mia Farrow walks onto a scene.) But Jonah and the Bots aren’t really clicking
with the movie.
What
it does have going for it is that it comes from maybe MST’s favorite decade,
the 70s. Even as the cast and crew have switched from kids of the 60s and 70s
to the 80s and 90s, there’s still plenty of room on the SOL for riffs on wood paneling
on cars, disco, and all the brown.
As a crappy band plays and people dance about it horrible yellow and
brown 70s fashion, Jonah says, “1978, you have so many crimes to answer for.”
Later during the party, Servo opines somberly, “Disco Fever affected everyone
back then.” And during a ski race, Jonah says, “Smokers, drug users, and coffee
drinkers?” To which Crow replies, “Oh, I get it! It’s a race to see who’s gonna
live in the 80s.” Oh, and yes, they sneak in a reference to “Stupid Sexy
Flanders”.
But
even though the episode has more than its share of fun, to me, the star is the “Hybrid Disaster Movie”
segment. Ever since SyFy Channel movies hit it big, intentionally cheesy movies
have been a thorn in the side of honest B-movie lovers, and Jonah and the Bots
confront it head on. The Hybrid B-Movie sketch, where they make up tons of fake
intentionally bad B-movie titles, became an immediate all-time classic and
personal favorite. With fake B-movie titles like, “ BruchtapusMastodennui”,
“Pugslide”, and “Volcanosaurus!”, how can you love cheesy scifi movies and MST
and not love this sketch? The other skits are fine, including special
guest Neil Patrick Harris reuniting with
fellow Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog member Felicia Day for a new
song. There are also some small improvements to the show in general, such as
the camera being better positioned on the SOL bridge.
 |
| Jonah and the Bots doing God's work. |
 |
| I swear, Felicia Day actually lands this punch. |
So
while Jonah and the Bots do fumble a little with a genre untested by the show
before, I did enjoy this much more the second go around, and there’s enough to
make MSTies happy on a rewatch. That said, let’s hope they learn a little so
that they’re more prepared for the next disaster movie they cover.
Episode
in a Riff:
During
a figure skating montage: “Patience, sweet avalanche, your time will come.”
-Crow
Random
Asides:
-Kinga:
“How are movies born?”
Max:
“Oh! When When a team of skilled hard
working technical professionals really love each other...”
Excellent
explanation, Max.
-There
are a few Mia Farrow and Roman Polanski jokes early on. Topical!
...that
comments works as both being serious and sarcastic.
-I
love young Robert Forster in this. Glad he’s still getting decent work.
-This
movie does something a lot of disaster movies do, which is introduce minor
characters to have something happen to during the disaster who aren’t the main
characters. And they’re as boring here as they are in every other 70s disaster
movie.
-I
can’t tell if Farrow is really good at playing nervous and shy around her ex,
or that’s just how she i.
-Green
screened avalanche footage is not impressive
-The
joke “ava-lunch” is subtitled, and this makes me happy
-I
like how Jonah tries to start a sketch based around the movie’s lighting, and
Crow and Servo just bulldozer over him.
-What’s
uglier: 70s fashion or 70s food?
-And
now, my top 10 favorite fake B-movie titles;
10.
Blizcanoswordapocalastronaut
9.
T-Rexsplosion
8.
Fraggle Rockslide
7.
Rikki Tikki Tarantula
6.
El-Nino Bear
5.
Raptor Identity Theft 2016
4.
Adobe Flashflood
3.
Spider-Man: But a Monster, Not the Superhero
2.
Cari-BOO! (cuz it’s a ghost)
1.
Will Feral Cats
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