THE FILM CREW: HOLLYWOOD AFTER DARK (2007)

The Film Crew: Hollywood After Dark (2007)

Actors: Film Crew, Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Language: English
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Run Time: 90 minutes

Movie: * * *
Disc: * * ½

The whole Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or MST3K in short) concept is revived by three of that show’s stars with the straight-to-DVD release of The Film Crew: Hollywood After Dark. Upon the original show’s cancellation Best Brains, the outfit originally responsible for MST3K, apparently remarked that they would love to have done the series forever and that there were still loads of bad movies out there to skewer even though they have done almost 200 episodes.

And right they were. Hollywood After Dark is a very bad “drama” from 1968 in which Rue McClanahan (of Golden Girls fame) plays a wannabe actress who makes a living as a stripper instead.

By now the MST3K format should be familiar to most site visitors: a trio of commentators “riff” — i.e., make jokey remarks — whilst a movie is running. The “Film Crew” consists of the stars from the show’s later run, namely Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett. Only minor changes are made to MST3K’s original format.

In The Film Crew the stars supply DVD “audio commentaries” to movies which don’t have any, doing away with the whole “evil scientist showing poor guy bad movies as an experiment” plot line. The Film Crew also has far fewer stand-up comic routines (called “host segments”) in-between the riffing. The silhouetted figures are also history, but the net effect is exactly the same as watching an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, except the pop culture references are more contemporary and up to date . . .

WORTH IT? If you’re a die-hard MiSTie who has somehow collected all 198 episodes of the cult 1988 to 1999 Mystery Science Theater 3000 TV show and were looking for some new material, then you’d probably be popping out of your skin out of pure excitement by now. Anyone unfamiliar with the concept would be better off checking out funnier episodes such as Manos – Hands of Fate or Eegah instead.

RECOMMENDATION: Any new Mystery Science Theater 3000 material is always to be welcomed, even when the material isn’t as funny as it could be. The Film Crew: Hollywood After Dark would have been a pretty decent MST3K episode though is worth checking out. It is perfect viewing for those late lethargic Sunday afternoons.

One caveat though: parents might think twice before having their youngling MST3K fans check out Hollywood After Dark. The jokes and sexual subject matter are a whole lot more risqué than during the MST3K years, no doubt a product of not having to submit this new show beforehand to any TV censors.