Review: Mystery Science Theater Halloween special 'The Mask 3D' is a bona fide treat

REVIEW: The first ever Mystery Science Theater 3000 Halloween special The Mask 3D provides plenty of laughter to go along with the thrills and chills.

Review by Robert Kinsler

Looking to get an early jump on Halloween? I fully recommend the newly-released The Mask 3D, the first ever Halloween special from Mystery Science Theater 3000. Indeed the 1961 Canadian surrealist horror flick directed by Julian Roffman is given the deluxe treatment as Jonah Heston (Jonah Ray) and the bots skewer the film via witty dialogue and song throughout from the comfy confines of the Satellite of Love. 

This writer had never heard of The Mask before its inclusion as the centerpiece of this special but the film itself must have been shocking for audiences six decades ago with its unsettling story about a psychiatrist, Dr. Allen Barnes (Paul Stevens), who obtains a mysterious ancient tribal mask and enters a dark dreamscape when he puts on the mask. He increasingly becomes drawn to the power of the mask and becomes more violent. The premiere of The Mask 3D on Oct. 28, 2022 marked the 61st anniversary of the film's original theatrical release.

The monstrous and spooky events in the film ultimately take a back seat to the sharp wit, satire and comedic skits of the MST3K cast. Indeed, it takes a MST3K special to somehow bring together references ranging from Game of Thrones, Superman II, Lord of the Rings and the B-52's to Night of the Living Dead, The Beatles, conservative talk radio, Morrissey, Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Talking Heads. 

To watch The Mask 3D, head to the Gizmoplex – MST3K's indie streaming platform and the only place to see new episodes of MST3K. The Gizmoplex features all of the season 13 episodes and shorts that have premiered so far, along with brand-new MST3K content available in special livestream events every two weeks. Tickets to livestream events are $8, and new episodes can be rented for $5 – including the new Halloween Special, which is available now.

The Gizmoplex is accessible via a web portal and also on a wide variety of OTT platforms, including apps for both iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and more.

 

For more info visit www.mst3k.com/season13, or follow MST3K on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

'Mystery Science Theater 3000' Live Tour coming this summer

MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 LIVE TOUR

FIRST EVER LIVE TOUR KICKS OFF JULY 6TH IN BOSTON, MA

TICKETS ON SALE EVERYWHERE FRIDAY, MAY 19 AT NOON LOCAL TIME

For the first time ever, join Joel Hodgson, creator of the critically acclaimed “Mystery Science Theater 3000” TV show and its new host Jonah Heston (Jonah Ray) as they bring the first live touring production of “MST3K” to a city near you on the “Watch Out for Snakes!” Tour.

 

Appearing with Joel and Jonah live on stage will be robot companions Crow (Hampton Yount), Tom Servo and Gypsy, along with Synthia (Rebecca Hanson) and her Bonehead henchmen. Of course, it wouldn’t be “MST3K” without the ever-present surveillance of the Mads, Kinga Forrester (Felicia Day) and TV’s Son of TV’s Frank (Patton Oswalt), checking up on their unwilling test subjects via a video screen.

 

The tour consists of two separate, completely unique shows, each with its own admission. Fans wanting the complete tour experience should purchase two tickets, one for each show. Each event will include all the things expected from an “MST3K” experience: a cheesy B-movie, hilarious riffing, wisecracking robots, silly sketches, plus – for the first time – audience participation! Show # 1 is the MST3K favorite “Eegah,” featuring all-new riffs and sketches. Show # 2 is a “Secret Surprise Film!” It’s a fun, sci-fi thriller never before featured on “MST3K” and it will be performed only in select cities.

 

Following its record-breaking #BringBackMST3K Kickstarter campaign, the new season of the show launched on April 14, 2017, exclusively on Netflix. The two live shows are written by the cast and writers of the new Netflix Original Series, which has earned a critics’ rating of 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.. The New York Times hails, “At last, a revival of something actually worth reviving… a different cast but the same outlook and style — and mercifully, the same reliable, giddy humor.”  “MST3K is just as hilarious as ever in rebooted form, turning its bemused eye on old, schlocky fare for some good, old-fashioned riffing,” raves Vanity Fair. And Nerdist says “The references are updated, the sets are snazzier, but the heart and soul of MST3K certainly remains intact.”  

 

Tickets for “MST3K” “Watch Out for Snakes!” North American tour dates will go on sale to the public Friday, May 19 at noon local time via AXS.com and the venue box office.  Please note where there are multiple performances in a single market, each event is ticketed SEPARATELY.

 

Mystery Science Theater 3000 “Watch Out For Snakes!” Tour 2017

 

July 6   Boston, MA              Shubert Theatre 7 PM Eegah

July 7   Philadelphia, PA       Keswick Theatre 7 PM Eegah

                                         Keswick Theatre 10 PM Secret Surprise Film!

July 8    New York, NY         PlayStation Theater 6 PM Eegah

                                         PlayStation Theater 9:30 PM Secret Surprise Film!

July 9    Washington, DC      Lincoln Theatre 6 PM Eegah

                                         Lincoln Theatre 9 PM Secret Surprise Film!

July 12  Columbus, OH        Speaker Jo Ann Davidson Theatre 8 PM Eegah

July 13   St. Louis, MO         Touhill Performing Arts Center 8 PM Eegah

July 14   Royal Oak, MI        Royal Oak Music Theatre 7 PM Eegah

                                          Royal Oak Music Theatre 10 PM Secret Surprise Film!

July 15   Milwaukee, WI       Pabst Theater 7 PM Eegah

                                         Pabst Theater 10 PM Secret Surprise Film!

July 16   Chicago, IL            The Vic 5 PM Eegah

                                         The Vic 8 PM Secret Surprise Film!

July 18   Denver, CO            Paramount Theatre 8 PM Eegah

July 20   Phoenix, AZ           Orpheum Theatre 8 PM Eegah

July 21   San Diego, CA        Balboa Theatre 7 PM Eegah

July 22   San Diego, CA        Balboa Theatre 7 PM Secret Surprise Film!

July 23   Los Angeles, CA      The Theatre at Ace Hotel 5 PM Eegah

                                          The Theatre at Ace Hotel 8 PM Secret Surprise Film!

July 26   San Francisco, CA    The Warfield 8 PM Eegah

July 27   San Francisco, CA    The Warfield 8 PM Secret Surprise Film!

July 28   Portland, OR            Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall 8 PM Eegah

July 29   Seattle, WA             Moore Theatre 7 PM Eegah

                                           Moore Theatre 10 PM Secret Surprise Film!

July 30     Vancouver, BC       The Orpheum 7 PM Eegah

August 1  Salt Lake City, UT   Kingsbury Hall 8 PM Eegah

August 3  Kansas City, MO     Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland 8 PM Eegah

August 4  Minneapolis, MN     State Theatre 7 PM Eegah

                                           State Theatre 10 PM Secret Surprise Film!

August 6   Green Bay, WI      Weidner Center for the Performing Arts 7 PM Eegah

August 8   Cleveland, OH       Ohio Theatre 8 PM Eegah

August 9   Baltimore, MD       The Modell Lyric 8 PM Eegah

August 10  Richmond, VA       Dominion Arts Center 8 PM Secret Surprise Film!

August 11  Nashville, TN        James K. Polk Theater 7 PM Eegah

                                           James K. Polk Theater 10 PM Secret Surprise Film!

August 12  Atlanta, GA          Atlanta Symphony Hall 7 PM Eegah

                                           Atlanta Symphony Hall 10 PM Secret Surprise Film!

 

 

 

#  #  #

 

HISTORY OF MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: For almost 30 years, the award-winning comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 has been known as one of the top cult TV shows of all time. The story of a human host and his robot sidekicks trapped aboard a satellite and forced to watch cheesy movies by their captor, MST3K has maintained its reputation thanks to its fervently devoted fan base, known as MSTies.

 

Created by Joel Hodgson, the first season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 aired in 1988 on KTMA-TV in Minneapolis. Set on the Satellite of Love, the series follows a hapless host trapped by mad scientists on a satellite in space, who is forced to watch some of the most outrageously unfortunate B movies ever created. To keep sane, he’s built two robot sidekicks, and together they do a running commentary on the films, affectionately mocking their flaws with inspired wisecracks and acting as a lively movie theater peanut gallery.

 

MST3K’s national broadcast life began in 1989 on the Comedy Channel (later to become Comedy Central), where it ran for seven seasons. The show’s final three seasons aired on the Sci-Fi Channel. Series creator Hodgson originally played the stranded man, Joel Robinson.  When he left in 1993, series head writer Mike Nelson replaced him as the new B-movie victim, and continued in the role for the rest of the show’s run. The format proved to be popular, and during its ten seasons and 197 episodes on the Comedy Channel and later, the Sci-Fi Channel, it attained a loyal fan base and critical acclaim, including a Peabody Award and two Primetime Emmy^® nominations.

 

In late 2015, Shout! Factory and creator Joel Hodgson formed a new partnership known as Satellite of Love LLC, to acquire the global IP rights to MST3K with the aim of producing new episodes and managing and developing the IP in other areas. The highly successful Mystery Science Theater Kickstarter campaign to #BringBackMST3K, spearheaded by Shout! Factory and Hodgson surpassed its goal by funding the production of 14 new episodes and set the world record as the highest-funded Film and TV crowdfunding campaign in history. The new episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 debuted as a Netflix Original Series on April 14th, 2017.

Christmas has come early for fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (including yours truly!)...

Joel Hodgson, Creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Successfully Funds Kickstarter Campaign

To Bring Back MST3K

Campaign Raises $6.42 Million to Produce Full Season in 32 Days 

The award-winning comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, one of the most beloved TV shows of all time, will be returning for a new season after a 15-year hiatus, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign helmed by series creator and former host Joel Hodgson, and supported by legions of devoted fans.

The campaign, which concluded at 10 pm PT on Friday, December 11, raised over $6,420,000 in 32 days—$5,764,229 on Kickstarter alone, and more than $660,000 of additional contributions on MST3K.com. In the final hours of the campaign, MST3K’s supporters raced past previous record-holder Veronica Mars ($5,702,153) to set a new record as the highest-funded Film, TV & Video crowdfunding campaign ever.

In total, over 50,000 fans contributed to support MST3K across, with hundreds more making additional contributions after the official end of the campaign.

“When we launched with Kickstarter, it wasn’t clear what was going to happen,” Hodgson admits. “But I did know that we’ve always been a show that relied on our fans. If we were going to come back, we needed to start by making our case to the fans. We wanted to know if this was what they wanted. And over the past month, they’ve sent a really clear message: they want MST3K back just as much as I do.”

In fact, fan demand for MST3K exceeded even Hodgson’s estimation. The campaign’s original goal was to raise $5.5 million, the number needed to cover campaign expenses and produce a full season of 12 brand-new, feature-length episodes. But in the campaign’s final 48 hours, as fans raced past the original target, Hodgson announced two “stretch goals,” and fans responded, passing the final goal of $6.3 million during the final 60 seconds of the campaign.

The additional funds will allow Hodgson produce two more episodes, including a holiday special, and will bring MST3K’s next season to a total of 14 episodes.

Hodgson adds, “It’s just so crazy to see what our fans did when we gave them the chance. And it’s impossible to find the words to explain how humbling this is. I’m so grateful that the fans were still there for MST3K, and am really excited to get back to work. Which, by the way, starts January 4th at 10 am.”

While Hodgson will oversee the new season as creative director, supervising and participating in all facets of production, MST3K’s new episodes will feature comedian Jonah Ray as the next host (“Jonah Heston”), actress and comedian Felicia Day as the next Mad (“Kinga Forrester”), actor and comedian Patton Oswalt as the next evil henchman (“TV’s Son of TV’s Frank”), comedians Baron Vaughn and Hampton Yount as the newest voices of “Tom Servo” and “Crow T. Robot,” respectively, and of course, more cheesy movies to riff. Hodgson is partnered with Shout! Factory, who has been releasing classic episodes of MST3K on home entertainment platforms since 2008 and who recently purchased the intellectual property of MST3K from Best Brains, to bring the show back to life for a new generation.

Throughout the process, Hodgson and team will keep MST3K’s backers informed and involved with regular updates on Kickstarter and MST3K.com. For more information and news, fans should follow @MST3K on Facebook, Twitter,Instagram and Tumblr.