Hoaxes Movie Reviews

As most of your readers will know by now, the BBC, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the show decided to reunite all of the actors who had played the lead role since the show's inception. Alas, the first Doctor William Hartnell, was stricken by a long and debilitating illness and was unable to play much of a part in the proceedings but to his eternal credit he did participate and made a memorable contribution showing just why he was chosen as the Doctor in the first instance.

Although the story introduced a number of elements of Timelord / Gallifrey mythology which added to the plot the main concern was the interplay between the three Doctor Whos. The villain, a larger than life nothing as it turned out pre-empts another Galliferyian renegade in the Brain of Morbius. Here his main job was to provide an opponent who was much stronger than the Doctor.

The combination of the three Doctors together is a masterstroke. Despite being debilitated by his illness, William Hartnell produced a marvellous performance although limited to brief sequences. The use of modern television techniques as well as colour helped to illuminate his Doctor as never before, brining in to question the whole idea of what Doctor Who would have been like had it been introduced in the 1970s.

Despite that level of performance, for me the characters of the second and third Doctors interacting together was the highlight of the adventure. Patrick Troughton endeared himself to many with his pouting and sulking in reaction to Jon Pertwee being arrogant and condescending. Not only did they bring out the worst but also the best in each other.

Mention should also be made of the supporting cast who were often relegated to minor positions. The long suffering Brigadier, clearly at a loss with the Doctor to begin with was all at sea with two.

This was truly a fitting testament to everyone involved in Doctor Who and must be considered to be one of the classics of the show.

The adventure itself was extraordinary, as it involves Omega, one of the founders of the Time Lord society, living in a universe of Anti-Matter that lies within the confines of a black hole, driven mad by the long years of isolation, out for revenge against the Time Lords (believing that he was abandoned). His powers are so great that the time bridge he creates (a frightening blob of ooze) threatens to tear apart the very fabric of the space-time continuum. In order to put a stop to it, the Time Lords break the first rule of time and allow the Doctor to help himself... literally. by removing his previous selves from their timestreams temporarily to assist the present incarnation.

This was a delightful adventure indeed. Upon seeing Patrick Troughton reappear out of midair to retrieve his recorder from the hands of the Third Doctor is simply priceless, and their bickering was also a highlight. And also of great importance was the appearance of William Hartnell. Although he was suffering from an illness that prevented him from being there on the set, he did provide a great deal through brief pre-recorded segments that would appear on the time scanner. My favorite part was when the two Doctors see the first Doctor on the screen, and Jo asks them both who that was, to which they both simultaneously reply, Me! then look at each in anger and say again in unison, ME!

this truly is a classic and a must have for Doctor Who fans, for at the end, the adventure also marks the end of the Doctor's exile. get a copy of this and you'll see what I mean.

I know that this episode is a part of MST3K history and for that I give it respect, but I personally just could not get into this episode. I would suggest it, though, to other fans of the series so they can make their own decisions about it. Like I said, since it's one of the first episodes, it should be watched, but don't expect to be rolling on the floor laughing very much.

i don't like dr. erhardt as much as tv's frank (who does?) and the riffing is more sparse and of a slightly weaker style. but i was thinking, for a new fan seeking to discover mst3k, this may not be a bad jumping off point (although manos is a better start).

this episode is indicative of the true original philosophy of mst3k. most of the best episodes aren't mystery or science-oriented (manos, mitchell, many sci-fi eps such as jack frost or final sacrifice), but the crawling hand is a true, cheesy, BAD scifi/horror movie. and that was the original intent of the show: to riff on bad scifi/horror flicks. and the riffing IS good, it's just not as good as it would become in later seasons.

nobody should miss out on this episode, but other episodes are better, and once you're well-versed in mst3k-dom, you'll revisit this episode less often than the others.

Enter Our Hero - Kenneth Tobey - commander of a nuclear sub that has been molested by the monster. With the help of marine biologists Donald Curtis and Faith Domergue, he is able to identify the beast and go after it, leading to many scenes of Faith in a bathing suit that absolutely boggled my mind when I first saw this as a kid - and still has that effect today. If I could have been assured that I would meet someone like her in the field, I would have devoted my life to marine biology.

Our intrepid team finally tracks the monster to San Francisco, where it tries to come ashore at Fisherman's Wharf. Driven back by flame throwers, it takes its anger out on the Golden Gate Bridge, a scene that must have thrilled the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. (They later complained.) Finally, Tobey and Curtis dispatch the monster with the help of Tobey's nuclear sub, as if we thought we'd never see the sub again.

Sure, we know the octopus has only six arms - this fact is solidly enmeshed in film lore. And, Who Cares? The movie moves along nicely and has several chilling moments. The acting is first-rate and Harryhausen makes the octopus so effective that we hardly notice its lack of the proper amount of arms. Sam Katzman was the producer, and Sam was notoriously cut-rate; the sort of producer a studio loves as he never goes over whatever miniscule budget he is given. In earlier years Sam produced the East Side Kids movies and the Lugosi horror series for Monogram. Just be pleasantly surprised that Kaufman had enough money in the budget to afford a Harryhausen. In his later movie, "The Giant Claw," he didn't have the funds and so had to go to Mexico for cheaper special effects. Anyone who saw that movie still has aching ribs from laughing at the title monster.

Another nice touch for viewers is that the transfer is clear and sharp. No tenth-rate print, as is so often the case with the horror-sci-fi genre. Great viewing at a great price. What more need be said, besides the fact Faith Domergue is in it?

This movie has all sorts of weird scenes. The best without question (also worth the price of the movie) has to be the funeral scene with the simultaneous Bingo game taking place on the second floor. This hilarious combination of sappy funeral speeches with bingo announcements like "B-1" going on in the background is a scream.

And while this movie has a really hot black nylon chick in Musetta Vander (if you're into the Trinity "Matrix" look, get this!), it is truly missing the gratuitous T&A. Musetta (the hot siren from "O Brother Where Art Thou") is hot though, so the movie still survives.

I give it 3 stars on the B-movie scale - T&A would have brought it to a solid 4.

Self-consciously campy, with stop-motion creatures, and (thankfully) good-natured, with no really objectionable stuff to speak of.

If you hear the words "low-budget" and run for the hills, pass this one up. But if you know and love AIP movies of the late 50's, it's a good bet you will enjoy this. This is as close to the feel of those that I have so far found among modern [movies].

This movie has everything: actors who have the talent of a high school play, bad 80's special effects, a drunken vicar, strip club scenes thrown in for no plot development ((just thrown in to try to keep the male audience interested)), ERIC ESTRADA! , and a mini van of death! This movie is great for a good laugh so get it, gather a bunch of friends together, and have a good evening laughing away!