K04 - GAMERA VS. BARUGON

Genre:  Japanese Monster (1966, Color)

Synopsis:  This particular movie is riffed again on the show during its cable run, so read the write-up for ep #304 – Gamera vs. Barugon for a plot synopsis.  

Don’s Review:  This is the first extant MST3K episode because fan recordings of the previous three KTMA episodes were never tracked down and the brief pilot episode never aired.  This movie features the Japanese Monster named Gamera, who is a giant mutated flying turtle and who will sub in a pinch for Godzilla on any talk show.  As for the riffing in this episode, it’s okay for a KTMA experiment, but not nearly on the level of later cable era episodes.  Of particular interest is the still developing Tom Servo, who has a high-pitched Pee-Wee Herman style voice here, instead of the deep bass voice Josh “Elvis” Weinstein will give him later (which, by the way, is actually Josh’s natural speaking voice).  Instead of fan letters, actual phone answering machine messages are played and are the highlight of the host segments here.  One viewer didn’t understand the concept of the show and complains about the talking during the movies, while another message simple says “More! More!! MORE!!!” (maybe the first true MSTie!).  While this episode is of interest for seeing the earliest days of the show, the later cable experiment featuring this same movie is much better (although, unlike that episode, the movie is uncut here).  So I only recommend this historic episode to the truly curious fan.
Trivia Note: The segment with the “More More More” message is also seen on the MST Scrapbook tape.

Don’s Rating: