While all the movies on this list are great, most fans put two at the top, starting with Space Mutiny. The 1988 sci-fi thriller stars Reb Brown, a generic hunk of muscle, as Dave Ryder, a soldier who resists the villain Kalgan’s (John Phillip Law) attempts to take over the massive ship on which his people live. Also, there are space witches, and B-movie icon Cameron Mitchell, looking like Santa Claus.
Directed by David Winters, Space Mutiny has ambition to spare. It does not, however, have much in the way of budget, resulting in all sorts of mistakes for Mike and the ‘Bots to laugh at. They make jokes about everything from space witches who look like Stevie Nicks impersonators to an editing error that allows a character killed in one scene to reappear on the bridge in the next. But the best gag comes with the ridiculous names that Mike, Servo, and Crow give Brown’s character, calling him Blast Hardcheese, Crunch Buttsteak, and, uh, Bob Johnson.
Werewolf
Season 9 Episode 4
As this list shows, it generally takes at least a decade for a movie to show up on MST3K. It’s a lot more fun to mock an older film than it is to tease a new one, as the dated elements lead to better gags. Yet, the 1996 horror movie Werewolf was so bad that it only took two years for Mike and the ‘Bots to start making fun of it, showing up on a 1998 episode of the show.
On a plot level, there’s nothing particularly awful about Werewolf. It follows a guy who starts turning into a wolfman after being scratched by the skeleton of someone infected by the same curse. But the execution of the movie leaves everything to be desired, including its awkward attempt to integrate Native beliefs, the presence of Martin Sheen’s brother Joe Estevez, and every garbled line delivered by Adrianna Miles. Her mush-mouthed performance earns enough laughs by itself, but are even funnier when reinterpreted by the hosts.
The Final Sacrifice
Season 9 Episode 10
