For a movie that's taken this long to make its bow on DVD way back onto DVD after being out of print for years, 1996's Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is a disappointingly barebones disk without so much as a trailer for an extra. MST3K without extras, however, is still MST3K, and for this B-movie junkie that's something pretty special. The film was, of course, based on the then current TV show running on Comedy Central which eventually jumped over to the Sci Fi Channel where it ended its 10 season run (11 if you count "Season 0" which ran in Minneapolis only) in 1999. Basically, you take a guy, strand him in space and stick him in a movie theater with two robots to make fun of cheezy old movies. More often than not, hilarity would ensue.

The Oozing Skull is the first release from Cinematic Titanic, a project that reunites the original cast and writers of Mystery Science Theater 3000 as well as writer/performers from later in the series. Series creator Joel Hodgson is joined once again by Trace Beaulieu, Frank Connif, Mary Jo Pehl, and J. Elvis Weinstein (with a special guest appearance by Dr. Stephen Hawking). MST3K was perhaps the greatest TV show in the history of the medium, at least as far as this B-movie buff is concerned. Each week the program would show a schlocky old flick with the cast, shown in silhouette in the bottom right of the screen, constantly tossing jokes at the screen. Cinematic Titanic does very much the same thing, with all five of the writer/performers appearing on screen and riffing in a style reminiscent of MST3K. Not every joke hits its mark, but there are so damn many of them, you'd have to be inhuman not to find something to laugh at here.

I usually review a recent release for Killer B's, but in light of the holiday season I decided to cast a critical eye at 1964's Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Be advised, however, that this is an ASTONISHINGLY bad movie, and only the most seasoned of B-movie enthusiasts should attempt watching it in its purest form as it has been known to cause brain damage. More to the point, it appears to have been made by people with brain damage. As a service to the Cinematical readership I'll be reviewing the version of the film that ran on the late great television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or MST3K) and is currently available on DVD from Rhino Video.

For those that may not have seen it (and if not I suggest you remedy the situation ASAP), the show ran from 1989 - 1996 on Comedy Central before switching over to the Sci Fi Channel for 1997 - 1999. The premise was that a man (series creator Joel Hodgson at first, later replaced by Mike Nelson) has been trapped in an orbiting space ship with a handful of homemade robot sidekicks by a pair of mad scientists. Each week said mad scientists force their prisoner to watch an incredibly cheesy old movie as part of a diabolical experiment. The bulk of the show dealt with Joel (or Mike) and the 'bots sitting in the ship's theater adding comments and jokes to the movie, usually to hiliarious effect.

All right, I need to be professional about this but... HOLY JUMPING JUJU BEES, THEY'RE BACK!!! THE GUYS FROM MST3K ARE BACK!!!

OK, deep breath, let me explain. I'm a B-movie guy; that's why I write this Killer B's thing every week. Movies with cheap rubber monsters, juvenile delinquents played by guys in their 30s, and space ships on clearly visible wires are what get me out of bed in the morning. As such, Mystery Science Theater 3000 -- the TV show in which a guy and two robots were stranded in space and forced to make fun of the cheesiest flicks this side of a video taped tour of a gorgonzola factory -- was for me a high point of western civilization. It was also funny as hell, and I'm happy to say so is this new project from the former residents of the Satellite of Love.

One of the most hallowed events of my college career was "MST3K Wednesday," which was precisely what it sounds like. All the guys would gather in one dorm room, we'd order numerous pizzas from whichever local was offering the best special, and watch a few MST3K flicks. This tradition continued (although eventually slipped to a different day of the week) through all four years of college, and remains among my best memories for those years. Like most fans, we were all disappointed to know they were no longer producing new episodes, but we enjoyed the numerous creations from the show's long run.

Not so very long ago, Mike Nelson (of MST3K fame, if you didn't know) launched RiffTrax, a website which sold audio commentary tracks which you could download and play along with your DVDs. It wasn't MST3K, but it was an interesting effort. And now, Nelson and his MST3K cohorts Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy are stepping yet closer to their old line of works with the launch of Film Crew, a three man team which is dedicated to providing commentary tracks for DVDs everywhere (starting with inexpensive B movies, of course). Once they get going, you'll be able to purchase DVDs and listen to them with the Film Crew commentary with voices sure to put you in mind of MST3K. I can't imagine these being anything short of brilliant, myself. Swing on by and help them decide which movies to Riff on first.

Read About Nelson's RiffTrax: MST3K Continued ... Kinda

Like many others, I really miss Mystery Science Theater 3000. I think the show could have gone on forever. Not only are there millions of bad B-movies out there that never recieved the MST3K treatment, but I think they could have gone ahead and mocked and ridiculed "good" movies -- Oscar-winners, critical favorites, classics, box-office hits -- as well. But it had to get canceled. So that Comedy Central could run more awful stand-up specials and The Sci-Fi Channel could make their own horrible films in abundance, it seems. Well, at least I have Mike Nelson's Moviecheese to read over and over.

And, now, there's something else: Mike Nelson's RiffTrax. This website sells audio commentaries for the DVDs of movies such as Cocktail, Road House, Plan 9 From Outer Space and The Fifth Element. These can be downloaded and played on an MP3 player while you watch the movie on mute (or with sound, I guess). There aren't too many to choose from yet and they cost a few bucks, but I've heard that a few are worth it -- even without the silhouettes, the MST3K side story, and the robot characters (though Kevin Murphy (aka "Tom Servo") helped out on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.) I know there are other people out there who've been doing DIY podcast or MP3 commentaries for films for awhile now, but nobody does it like Mike Nelson (except maybe Joel Hodgson who should make like a copycat and do his own site).