Hey, give us a chance to sit down!
Film watched: Horrors of Spider Island
The episode is available in the Gizmoplex here
, and on Shout! Factory here.
The Segments:
Prologue- Crow is running an opinion column in the newspaper. His column is a little lacking in actual opinions, but Servo doesn't seem to mind.
Segment 1
- Pearl is annoyed that she has to pay $50 a year for Bobo's ape license, so she's moved Castle Forrester out to the suburbs where it only costs $10. Brain Guy questions the financial benefit since it cost her millions of dollars just to move the castle in the first place.
Segment 2
- Somehow, Mike has ended up in a giant spider web that has been weaved on the SOL bridge.
Segment 3
- Mike imitates Gary from the movie and has the Mads audition for a show in Singapore.
Segment 4
- The crew wonders if crashing on a desert island causes one to become languid, helpless, and sex-starved (and to also murmur a lot). They decide to test the theory by crashing the SOL.
Segment 5
- Mike claims that he's turning into a spider monster. Crow and Servo don't believe him, but it's okay as Mike just wants to make a braunschweiger melt with them. Pearl calls from a truck stop as she's in the middle of moving Castle Forrester back to the mountains. As it turns out, the suburbs won't let her throw her trash out the window and she doesn't like that.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of Horrors of Spider Island contains these tropes:
- All Animals (And Machines) Are Dogs: Bobo, Crow, and Servo all get caught up in a 'chain bark' just before the movie begins.
- Artistic License – Geography:Servo: From Los Angeles, they take off from New York to go to Singapore.
- As You Know: Servo and later Mike snark at how Bob and Joe went on at length about how they're working for the Professor and making scheduled deliveries.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: Mocked by Mike and the bots during the skinny-dipping scene. The girls were meant to be nude in-universe, but since the actresses were wearing Nude-Colored Clothing, it had this effect.Crow: (As the girls) We're nude and we have no nipples and we're uniformly colored!
- Berserk Button: Crow really hates it when the strength of spider mutants are questioned.
- Brawn Hilda: At one point, Mike gives Babs a deep voice, saying, "Hey, try yourself a she-male, pal."
- Earlier, Babs is described as being a fullback for the Detroit Lions.
- Call-Back:
- Casual Danger Dialog: Related to Plot Armor, when the plane is on fire and crashing at a 90 degree angle, Crow yells, "Does this mean drink service is over?"
- End of an Era: This is the final black-and-white film that MST3K tackled on cable TV. The show wouldn't riff another black-and-white film until The Mask 3D on the Gizmoplex, over 20 years later.
- Failed a Spot Check: The bots invoke this when Mike gets trapped in a giant spider web on the SOL bridge.
- Fanservice: Referenced when one of the women removes her top:Servo: Ah, the movie reveals its true purpose.
Crow: I'm Curr V. Voluptuous! - Hand Wave: Why couldn't Observer simply use his omnipotent powers to move the castle?Observer: I'm not that omnipotent, Pearl!
- He-Man Woman Hater: Joe.Crow: Hah. He saw an air molecule that respects women.
- Historical In-Joke: When the girls try and fail to flag down a passing cruise ship, Mike remarks "Damn Californian, never helps anyone!" The Californian was a ship that was in the vicinity of the Titanic when it sank but didn't render aid for reasons that remain vague. May also count as a
Genius Bonus. - Ho Yay: Invoked: The Sexophone music in the film causes Crow and Servo to come onto Mike, who rebuffs their advances.
- The Internet Is for Porn: During one of the cat fights, Crow notes that usually you have to go online to find this sort of thing, namely "Naked Wrestling Giantesses dot com".
- Ironic Echo: Mike and the bots tend to dramatically proclaim "THE HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND!"—shifting the emphasis between horrors and spider — whenever the movie ratchets up the Fanservice. Likely inspired by the ominous way the title is read out in the movie itself during its own title card (and, as it happens, many times in the trailer).
- This is also a Call-Back (way back) to Manos: The Hands of Fate, where Joel and the Bots spent the first half of the movie doing the same dramatic title drops whenever nothing was happening onscreen (which, again, was pretty much the first half of the movie... And maybe a good deal of the second half, too).
- Lame Pun Reaction:Gary: There you are, Georgia.
Servo: Just north of Florida.
Mike: D'oh! - Minsky Pickup: At the start of Bobo's dance audition.
- Never My Fault: After Gary inexplicably blames his kissing another woman on the heat.Servo: "Yes, I've been unfaithful, but it was like 87 degrees."
Crow: "It's also kinda windy. That, too. And high humidity..."
Servo: "You see, if it was in the low '70s, I would never have jammed my tongue down her throat." - No Accounting for Taste: None of the riffers get why Gladys is head over heels for a guy who introduced himself by grabbing her while she was skinny-dipping.
- Plot Armor: When the plane hits the water at a 90 degree angle and explodes, Servo sarcastically quips, "I'm sure they're all fine."
- Sure enough, next thing we see of them is the whole group sprawled languidly in a liferaft.
- Power Creep, Power Seep: When Pearl tells Observer that he could have teleported the castle instead of an arduous and expensive move, he huffs, "I'm not that omnipotent, Pearl!"
- Raging Stiffie: When one dancer is nearly nude dancing for the promoter, Crow quips, "Try crossing your legs now, pal!" Earlier, Mike has film Mike thinking, "Suppress it! Suppress it!"
- Remember the New Guy?: Lampshaded as being a rare location variety.Crow: Oh, right! The quicksand! Remember?
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Pearl spent several million dollars to move the castle in order to save $40 a year on Bobo's ape license. And then had to move it back because she couldn't be bothered to leave her trash out on the curb like a normal person.
- Running Gag: Twice during the film, Tom Servo faints from the fanservice/cat fights.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When the movie abruptly stops and flashes "THE END" at Mike and the bots:Servo: (annoyed) So, you wanna end your movie that way, huh? Okay, get bent! We're outta here.
- At one point during the "climax", Crow decides to go take a break. "It's been ten years, I think I'm owed one..."
- Sexophone: Invoked, as a dancer (voiced by Servo) said she wasn't even going to do anything sexy til the dirty sax started playing.
- Shout-Out:Servo: (confused about Spider-Gary's abilities) So, is he strong?
Crow (enraged): LISTEN, BUD! HE'S GOT RADIOACTIVE BLOOD!- Also: "I see a tall Spaniard in a white suit with a midget!"
- Tom compares the shadow of a palm tree to Sideshow Bob; Crow responds by saying "Bart..." while imitating Kelsey Grammer.
- During one of the host segments, Mike roleplays as the audition manager and has Pearl, Bobo, and Brain Guy do acts for him. Brain Guy's act is a parody of the "Maniac" scene from Flashdance.
- Servo and Crow listing off shrimp-based dishes (and more) a'la Bubba from Forrest Gump.
- Show Some Leg: When Mike-As-Gary asks Pearl to show him some leg, she obliges - by having Observer rip it off and teleport it to him. Mike is less than amused.
- Skewed Priorities: Mike is incredulous over Gary saying he'd rather be at a bar in Singapore than stranded on the island with the dancers.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Referenced; the film often plays jazzy music during what's supposed to be a horror or action sequence.Mike: (chuckles) You know, the Dukes of Dixieland also did the Psycho soundtrack.
- Earlier, the skinnydipping scene is accompanied by what sounds like a busy '50s stock piece.Servo: Ah yes, the hustle and bustle of city life.
- Earlier, the skinnydipping scene is accompanied by what sounds like a busy '50s stock piece.
- Take That!: One of the women in the film is from Minnesota, so Mike and the bots make many Self-Deprecation jokes about it, including referencing the passive-aggressive Minnesota Nice.Crow: Their governor is a huge, bald Nazi!
- The Talk: Pearl gives one to Bobo after he buys some condoms from the Men's vending machine, but mistakes them for balloons. She does this off-camera, telling Mike and the Bots they're too young for it. We can't hear what Pearl says, but Bobo makes Squick noises.
- Ambiguously Gay/Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?:Observer: [takes the condoms for himself] My many lady friends will appreciate my caution.
- Ambiguously Gay/Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?:
- Technology Marches On: A series-long running gag about how huge cars were 50+ years ago. Crow: Hey, that guy took his boat on land!
- Too Much Information: As the women relax on the porch and the man walks by them:Servo: (as the guy) "Hehehe. I'm impotent."
