Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie Directed by Jim Mallon Written by Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Mallon, Kevin Murphy, Mary Jo Pehl, Paul Chaplin, and Bridget Jones With Beaulieu, Nelson, Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason, Faith Domergue, and the voices of Mallon and Murphy.
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The kind of humor that characterizes the Mystery Science Theater series has existed almost as long as the teenager has existed as a marketing concept–that is, since the early 50s, when television started becoming widespread. Talking back to the screen has probably been around much longer–especially in the cheap second- and third-run houses that proliferate in cities–though there’s something about the snugness of a car at a drive-in or the privacy of a den or living room that encourages this behavior.
Of course making up your own wisecracks and passively listening to the wisecracks of ersatz spectators aren’t precisely the same activity. The potential creativity of the audience has been usurped, which reminds me of United Artists’ recent efforts to remarket Showgirls to gay audiences after failing to attract many heterosexuals. In New York, and perhaps elsewhere, publicists have manufactured a supposedly spontaneous cult by encouraging drag queens to turn up for midnight screenings and call out rejoinders to the screen dialogue, as audiences do with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, though in this case the studio has thoughtfully provided some of the one-liners. The flacks seem to be saying, you too can climb on the bandwagon of a hip subculture, and leave the driving to us. (According to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 press book, the original series “spawned a MST3K fan club that numbers more than 50,000 strong”–though whether it too was created or helped along by publicists isn’t clear.)
I’m not trying to argue that This Island Earth is any sort of masterpiece or that it doesn’t have a silly side; I recall being aware of its risible aspects at age 11–even without the relentless prodding of writer-director Jim Mallon and his half dozen cowriters. (Were they required to come up with, say, 20 wisecracks each? How much did they get paid for each one?)
