Entertainment
 

Werewolf

From MST3K

904 - Werewolf
Air Date April 28, 1998
AKA Arizona Werewolf
Movie Director Tony Zarindast
Year 1996
Cast Jorge Rivero (billed here as George Rivero), Richard Lynch, Federico Cavalli (billed here as Fred Cavalli), Adrianna Miles, Joe Estevez
Preceded by 903 - The Pumaman
Followed by 905 - The Deadly Bees


Contents

The Movie

Synopsis

A team of archaeologists unearth a skeleton at a dig in an Arizona quarry. The Native Americans on the dig instantly recognize it as the remains of a werewolf, so the team leaders immediately take it to their lab. Yuri siezes on greater ambitions when one of the dig assistants, who injured himself on the remains, becomes infected and turns into a werewolf in full view of hospital personnel. Yuri then conducts an experiment to infect other people in town to see if they turn into werewolves as well. When Paul arrives at the lab to assist in analyzing the remains, Yuri infects him, too. After Paul's transformation, Natalie tries to save him. [1]

This is the most recent movie to be spoofed by MST3K.

Information

  • Several scenes from "Werewolf" were shot on the campus of Glendale Community College in Glendale, California. The lab scenes took place in the old Physical Science building before it was refurbished in the early 2000s. The footbridge that crosses Verdugo Road., in front of the College, is seen in several nighttime shots.
  • Director Tony Zarindast had purchased the stock shot of the car driving into the oil drums and exploding before shooting. He had his personal car painted to match the color of the car in the stock shots. This creates a notable mistake in the film: The original chase car is a Ford Taurus, but changes into a Plymouth Acclaim for the explosion sequence.
  • To help keep the film on schedule and on budget, actors R.C. Bates, Joe Estevez, and Richard Lynch performed their own stunts.

The Episode

Were-Crow!

Host Segments

  • Introduction: After a fall, Mike thinks that he's James Lipton and interviews Crow, thinking the latter is Ray Liotta and interviews him about his film career.
  • Segment One: Crow hits Mike with a clown hammer, restoring him to his senses. Mike attempts to affect an escape, but accidentally lands in Castle Forrester. Mike decides to give up after Brain Guy produces a cannon and points it at him.
  • Segment Two: Mike and the Bots speculate over whom they would cast in their werewolf movies, using famous celebrity relatives (including Spike Knotts and Chip Hitler) as characters. All Crow can come up with is Ray Liotta.
  • Segment Three: Mike, Tom and Crow dress up as a '60s girl group and sing "Where, O Werewolf", about "Cindy" (Mike)'s doomed relationship with her werewolf boyfriend.
  • Segment Four: Mike cuts himself on Crow's head and begins turning into a Werecrow. Servo is horrified, but Crow warms to the idea and tells Mike what to expect from his transformation.
  • Segment Five: Mike is even further along in his transformation, but Servo comes up with an antidote. Unfortunately, Servo is now transforming into a Weremike. At Castle Forrester, Pearl attempts to create her own werewolf, but Bobo produces a cocker spaniel instead.

Stinger: Natalie's flat emotionless delivery of the line "This is absolutely fascinating."

Kevin Murphy's real life dog

Trivia

  • The wolf in the last host segment was played by Kevin Murphy's dog, Humphrey.
  • At the time of its appearance on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" in 1998 it was the most recent film that had ever been featured on the series.
  • Included in the 20th Anniversary Edition DVD set with First Spaceship on Venus, Laserblast, and Future War.

Obscure References

  • "An American Werewolf in traffic!"
  • "...a film called 'Operation Dumbo Drop'. Let's talk about that!"

Operation Dumbo Drop was a 1995 movie starring Danny Glover and Ray Liotta.

  • "...Harold Robbins' 'The Lonely Lady'..."

The Lonely Lady was a 1983 movie based on a novel by Harold Robbins, starring Pia Zadora.

  • ""Louis Leakey in 'Every Which Way But Loose'!"

Louis Leakey is a renowned paleontologist. Every Which Way But Loose was a 1978 movie starring Clint Eastwood.

  • "It might just be the Bumpasses' dogs, we're not sure."

The Bumpasses were the family of "hillbilly neighbors" in A Christmas Story.

  • "E-O eleven..."

From the theme song to the original version of Ocean's Eleven.

  • "A silver bullet." "Is Coors Light in your gun?"

Coors Light beer is referred to as "The Silver Bullet" in a long-running ad campaign.

  • "If it's Martin, shoot to kill. Then *I* can be in Spawn!"

In 1997, Martin Sheen appeared in the movie adaptation of the comic book Spawn. (Probably a double-joke because of Spawn 's reputation of being a terrible film.)

  • "Travis Bickle moved out to the suburbs!"

Travis Bickle was the title character in the 1976 film Taxi Driver.

  • "Flagstaff. I can't believe I'm still in Flagstaff!"

A parody of the opening line from Apocalypse Now.

  • "Can't you see what I'm trying to tell you - I love you!

Groucho Marx said this line in the film Duck Soup

  • "PBR me ASAP!"

Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer used this phrase in an advertising campaign for their beer.

  • I was playing Miss Haversham in the school play when I got attacked by a werewolf!

Miss Haversham is a character in Charles Dickens's novel Great Expectations

  • I'll take a walk! Over to Kirk Douglas's house!

Reference to the actor Kirk Douglas and his often angry/intense line delivery, whom Yuri seems to imitate.

  • This is like the time I hit that reporter with Piltdown Man's thighbone.

Piltdown Man was a famous archaeological hoax of the 1920s, where the skull of a supposed "missing link" between man and ape was found. It was proven to be a hoax decades later.

  • The death of Oliver Sachs.

Oliver Sachs is a prominent British neurologist and author of the book Awakenings.

  • Frederic Remington's Guernica."

Frederic Remington was an American artist famous for his depictions of American history, particularly the Old West. Guernica was a famous painting by Pablo Picasso depicting the Fascist bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

A list of songs sung during the closing credits:

Gags/Continuity Errors

An interesting thing to notice is that Tom Servo, who normally required the assistance of Mike or Joel to enter the theater, is shown entering the movie theater all by himself in the beginning of the movie, as Mike was not on the SOL when the movie started. Since MST3K is a show that encourages viewers to "just relax", this was never explained.

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