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So our first request has been received for topics on RL, and this comes from the always esteemed fuckyeahmst3k tumblr. They ask, and you all shall receive.
Today's picking is one of my fav (ahhhhh almost all the eps are my favs XD) episodes from early Mike era: season 6's The Dead Talk Back with the short "The Selling Wizard".
The short, while not as beloved as "A Case of Spring Fever" or "Mr. B Natural" has its charm. The titular character, a woman Servo exclaims at one point as "a pizza dominatrix!!", shows off Anheuser Busch's freezer cabinets for merchants. Its from the 1950s. That should tell you enough. I always found the wizard's checkered, be-caped outfit something odd enough that prop diva Beez McKeever might toss onto Mike's wife Bridget for a skit. Sadly, unlike Mr. B or the shapely witch from STAAAAY: the movie The Undead, or Flavia, the Selling Wizard never again made an appearance outside of the short.
And you thought Anheuser Busch only did beer.
The PIE dee RESISTANCE, the film has some odd things going on. Forget that its "taken from a recent psychic research file" (so...like...1800s i guess), forget that there are so many unecessary scenes that fade in and out with little to no impact, forget that the acting is sometimes really ACTING!!!!!, and forget that Krasker sounds like Kermit the Frog. What you have to know are for the first act of this unimpassioned play that Renee, a young sharp tongued blonde who lives at a boarding house with a collection of renters that Real World only wishes they could film for 8 weeks, is going to die in 30 or so minutes.
The film, as it were, opens (I mean REALLY opens, because the very first scene does NOTHING for you except show you a crossbow) with Dr. Henry Krasker, showing off his supernatural lab and insisting his work is valid. While the crystal radio that allows one to talk to the dead appears here, it doesn't come into play until the last scene. For those who play Fatal Frame, we know that crystal radios are pretty dime a dozen, but this one....looks nothing like Dr. Asou's radio. After this odd intro, we jump into the movie with yet another disembodied voice, who turns out to be actually a character IN the movie, one of the detectives. Youtube commenter ChankkSaotome points out: "Anyway, how does he break the 4th wall with the Ray Bradbury introductory exposition and then jump into the movie as a character. I'm pretty sure that's illegal unless your name is Deadpool." I haven't seen a movie where such things happen before, especially since the voice over doesn't properly introduce himself until almost 20 minutes into the film. He doesn't even APPEAR until after Renee is crossbowed to her porch--after his countdown to murder for that entire time--and we're already almost 30 into the film. Maybe I'm fudging my numbers, but that's fairly accurate. First Krasker then the detective. Its like competing narrators, and the first one to scene reveal is the winner.
Also. Bongo players. You really should be aware they are here, in this scene that doesn't go very far or do much. I say this because they're billed in the opening. So I guess they had some weight or something.
Most of the scenes in the beginning before Krasker appears again are meant to lead you to suspect different renters in the boarding house, from the staring creepy foreigner Kreuger, to religious fanatic Christy Mattling (an over acting guy with bulging eyes that are Rodney Dangerfield Lite.) They're all red herrings.
You can try to guess who the murderer is, and after the many viewings I've seen, it actually does make sense. I'll be honest. The mystery here isn't badly arranged. There aren't many good clues to get you to figure it out properly, but I won't say that the movie is unsuccessful in at least giving you the illusion of a murder mystery a la Kindaichi. The only huge flaw are the badly paced and transitioned scenes, which end up fading from one awkward suspect to another, with few smooth transitions. Don't go into this with an Agatha Christie mindset. This doesn't even stack up to a second-rate detective manga, but its a good attempt, with a pretty decent parlor scene at the end. The twist to catching the murderer was, in my opinion, kinda clever, if unethical and totally would never stand up in court. Still i liked it.
Also, Krasker. That vocal delivery. I can't tell you if the guy talked like that normally, or he just went to town on whatever he thought a "real" supernatural PI would do. Either way, its almost Kermit the Frog-esque. Trust me. Its amusing in its own right. One of my fav characters in all the eps of the series.
The host skits to look out for are the ones where the gang dresses up as an homage to The Grateful Dead, and Crow, being Crow, takes it too far with a multi-host skit long guitar solo. It still makes me laugh to this day.
A cameo in this skit are Crow's brown slacks. They're so cute. XD
In any case, The Dead Talk Back isn't a horrible movie. Its not that great, and its paced oddly, but I still stand by the fact that if it were more competently handled, it'd be a pretty decent movie (or NYPD Blue episode). Hollywood, with its Remake Madness, might be able to pop out one that can't be any worse than this one. If you're looking for a good MST3k ep for a halloween evening, look no further than this one. Click image to go to Club MST3k, for streaming episodes.
"Young lady, my only complaint is that they look just like me!"
By Dio 10/13/12
All screens capped by me. MST3k belongs to Best Brains.
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