History Film / TrackOfTheMoonBeast

** '''PAUL ISN'T PAUL ANYMORE!!!'''

[[TheStinger "Moon rock? Oh, wow."]]

* DontExplainTheJoke: After Longbow and his students play a prank on Paul at the movie's start, Kathy goes on to explain the prank and how they came up with it in '''excruciating''' detail. She even starts describing his ''reaction to the prank''.

--> [[MysteryScienceTheater3000 Pearl Forrester]]

* DawsonCasting: Kathy's actress is probably about ten years older then her character, although the film is so washed out and faded it's hard to tell.

* HeAlsoDid: Writer William Finger? ''Co-creator of Franchise/{{Batman}}''. If you're wondering what he was doing writing lame movies, Bob Kane conned him out of the royalties for the character.

-->'''Crow''': And they proceed to ''do it'' because they love each other!

->''"Your movie this week stars nobody and features nothing. I hope you gag on it."''

'''''Track of the Moon Beast''''' is yet another transformation movie where radiation from a meteorite strike causes a professor to be turned into a murderous monster. This time the bland, uninteresting white scientist is some guy named Paul; beyond that, no one knows anything about him, including the screenwriter. There's also a bland, uninteresting LoveInterest dressed in terrycloth named Kathy. Their bland, uninteresting romance is hampered by Paul's refusal to just stop transmogrifying into a killer lizard, meaning the intrepid, stew-making shaman Johnny Longbow has to step in and move the plot along.

* FanDisservice: The movie for features a good look at the drunken bowler's asscheeks.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Paul would presumably have become one if not stopped in time.

--> [[MST3K Pearl Forrester]]

* MundaneMadeAwesome: The prank and Johnny Longbow's stew, made with corn, chicken, green peppers, chilis, *sigh* onions... [[spoiler:Hair...]] rattlesnake... Velveeta...

* HeAlsoDid: Writer William Finger? ''Co-creator of {{Batman}}''. If you're wondering what he was doing writing lame movies, Bob Kane conned him out of the royalties for the character.

''Track of the Moon Beast'' is yet another transformation movie where radiation from a meteorite strike causes a professor to be turned into a murderous monster. This time the bland, uninteresting white scientist is some guy named Paul; beyond that, no one knows anything about him, including the screenwriter. There's also a bland, uninteresting LoveInterest dressed in terrycloth named Kathy. Their bland, uninteresting romance is hampered by Paul's refusal to just stop transmogrifying into a killer lizard, meaning the intrepid, stew-making shaman Johnny Longbow has to step in and move the plot along.

!!Tropes present in TrackOfTheMoonBeast:

* BasementDweller: Paul still lives with his mom in what appear to be his early thirties, and Kathy feels he's a very lonely man.
** Early thirties? Not quite. According to the APB that plays on the radio in the Wheat Penny & Glock shop that Paul visits to buy a shotgun, "Here's a description of the man being sought. His name is Paul Gene Carlson. He's 24 years old, Caucasian, about six feet tall, weighing 160, brown hair, blue eyes."

''Track of the Moon Beast'' is yet another transformation movie where radiation from a meteorite strike causes a professor to be turned into a murderous monster. This time the bland, uninteresting white scientist is some guy named Paul; beyond that, no one knows anything about him, including the screenwriter. There's also a bland, uninteresting LoveInterest dressed in terrycloth named Kathy. Their bland, uninteresting romance is hampered by Paul's refusal to just stop transmogrifying into a killer lizard, meaning the intrepid, stew-making shaman Johnny [[strike:Longbone]] Longbow has to step in and move the plot along.

* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: Were-lizardman!
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: The prank and Johnny Longbow's stew, made with corn, chicken, green peppers, chilis, *sigh* onions... [[spoiler:Hair...]]
** Actually, try Johnny's recipe. It's delicious. The [[spoiler:hair]] is best left out, but can be added to your tastes.
*** You're forgetting the rattlesnake and Velveeta.

* DontExplaintheJoke: After Longbow and his students play a prank on Paul at the movie's start, Kathy goes on to explain the prank and how they came up with it in '''excrutiating''' detail. She even starts describing his ''reaction to the prank''.

* Don'tExplaintheJoke: After Longbow and his students play a prank on Paul at the movie's start, Kathy goes on to explain the prank and how they came up with it in '''excrutiating''' detail. She even starts describing his ''reaction to the prank''.

* Don'tExplainTheJoke: After Longbow and his students play a prank on Paul at the movie's start, Kathy goes on to explain the prank and how they came up with it in '''excrutiating''' detail. She even starts describing his ''reaction to the prank''.

->''"The scene in which Johnny names ingredients in his stew quickly became a running gag and one of the writers' favorite moments from the series. Writer Kevin Murphy stated that his world-weary sigh of "onions..." made Johnny Longbow one of the "best" characters they've ever encountered."''
-->--'''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_of_the_Moon_Beast Wikipedia]]''' on '''''Track of the Moon Beast'''''

Can Paul be cured? Can Longbow save the day? Do we really care? No, yes, and no, respectively, but [[MST3K Mike, Servo and Crow]] prove that the whole silly affair makes for great SnarkBait. And don't miss a special performance from The Band That Played California Lady -featuring the talents of The Fish-Lipped Guy, The Eskimo and The Friendly-Looking Backup Singer- playing their #-1 hit "California Lady." Or do; whatever's cool.

Note that, rather improbably, this is actually the ''third'' movie the show featured about a guy named Paul turning into a monster, preceded by ''{{The Projected Man}}'' and ''Film/{{Werewolf}}''. Shares many odd similarities with ''Werewolf'', in fact - guy named Paul, Southwestern US, Native American folklore, ditzy girlfriend...

--> '''Mike''' (on Kathy's vacant stare): "Brain has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down."

* FanDisservice: Crow sarcastically thanks the movie for giving him such a good look at the drunken bowler's asscheeks.

--> '''Servo:''' Drink me in, world! I'm freshly oiled and ready to rock!

!!Tropes present in the MysteryScienceTheater3000 presentation:

* AreYouPonderingWhatImPondering: After Longbow's slideshow presentation of the lizard myth:
--> '''Longbow:''' "I know what you're thinking..."
--> '''Servo:''' "I'm boring and my slideshow eats."
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything, DoubleEntendre: All of the allusions about Johnny Longbow.
** "She gets off the ground saying 'What happened?' a ''lot''."
* HeyItsThatGuy: Mike spots [[WheresWaldo Waldo]] in the crowd watching The Band That Played California Lady play "California Lady."
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: "How do you light your own back on fire?"
* HoYay: Servo broaches the topic briefly.
--> '''Longbow''': "If Paul calls me during the night..."
--> '''Servo''' (As Longbow): "I'll roll over and say, 'What?'"
* {{Mondegreen}}: The gang loves calling him "Longbone", with plenty of DoubleEntendre jokes.
* RunningGag: Johnny's Stew and "California Lady" both get mocked savagely throughout the movie.
* SanitySlippage: After the prank (like in the movie) goes wrong.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Mike gives us a complete summation of the meteoric rise and meteoric-er fall of The Band That Played California Lady in a sketch parodying VH1's ''Behind the Music''.
** Also counts as a CrowningMomentOfFunny.
** For the record, the lead singer was Frank Larrabee.
* WunzaPlot: "He's a cop. He's a rabbi. They're cops. Except for the rabbi."

[[TheStinger "Moon rock? Oh, wow."]]