Entertainment
 

The Undead

From MST3K

806 - The Undead
Air Date March 8, 1997
Movie Director Roger Corman
Year 1957
Cast Pamela Duncan
Richard Garland
Allison Hayes
Preceded by 805 - The Thing That Couldn't Die
Followed by 807 - Terror from the Year 5000


Contents

The Movie

Synopsis

Our movie begins with a researcher (Garland) hypnotizing a streetwalker (Duncan) in an attempt to record her past-life experiences as a condemned witch in the Dark Ages. After numerous silly attempts by Garland to save her -- including regressing himself into the same period, where, by remarkable coincidence, he also lived as a soldier -- Duncan decides not to alter the course of history and resigns herself to her fate. [1]

As with almost all Roger Corman films, actually looking at the screen is unnecessary and, in fact, quite distracting. Important plot elements are carefully and dryly explained during the course of the movie.

Information

  • Features an infamous quote, spoken by Quintus towards the end of the film: "STAY!"
  • Filmed in a converted supermarket.
  • The film was completed in six days.
  • Inspired (as was the film The She Creature) by the interest during the 1950s in reincarnation especially the book The Search for Bridey Murphy by Morey Bernstein which was itself filmed in 1956. But by the time The Undead was being made, the popularity of reincarnation was starting to dwindle. Therefore Corman decided that they needed to change it up a little and added the time travel elements of Quintis, and a title change.
  • The "bats" that the imp and witch continually change into, were left over from another Corman movie, "It Conquered the World."

The Episode

Host Segments

The Sultry Witch
  • Prologue Mike attempts to bring the viewing audience up to speed on the show's current plot. Instead, the Bots make him provide the past. Mike goes back so far he recalls a bitter temp job he once had.
  • Segment 1 The Observers send everyone intelligence tests to determine their fates. Professor Bobo is less intelligent than most mollusks, leading him to make...something...out of boxes. Crow sleeps through the test, Mike is still stuck in the past, Gypsy does moderately well, and Tom Servo turns out to be smarter than Observer. His brain gets to go to the Enrichment Chamber.
  • Segment 2 As a result of his test scores, Servo is invited to join the Observers. He ends up getting chased and expelled after he forgets to fill out his non-existent forms, can't read Pearl's mind, and steals all the spoons.
  • Segment 3 Lydia, the witch from the movie, appears by accident. She can't control her powers, but tries to conquer the Satellite anyway. She ends up stuck in the form of a bottle of bleach.
  • Segment 4 Mike gets Digger Smolken's cover album. He takes popular songs and replaces the words with "rat", "corpse", "filth", and other death references. He has a nice straight cover of "Greensleeves", though.
  • Final Segment Crow is a creepy imp while Mike helps Tom expresses his outrage over the fact that Leonard Maltin rated The Undead three stars. Meanwhile, Bobo makes a nice sandwich with rye, lettuce, tomato, a little mayonnaise, and, courtesy of the Enrichment Chamber, Observer's Brain.
  • Stinger The Observers offer you their brains...again.

Other Notes

Guest Stars

Obscure References

  • "Amongst our weaponry..."

Reference to the Monty Python "Spanish Inquisition" sketch.

  • "I swallowed a bug."

Possible reference to Marlon Brando in the documentary Hearts of Darkness.

  • "Rivendell...", "I have to help Strider move a couch", "Bought some land on the edge of Mordor, it's really coming back"

All references to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

  • "Rob!", "Rob, I'm telling Alan what you're doing!"

References to the Mel Cooley character from The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Retrieved from "http://mst3k.wikia.com/wiki/The_Undead"