Sunday, November 6, 2011

Turkey Day Part 3- Cave Dwellers

Turkey Day (or is that Turkey Month?) continues with a beloved episode from Season 3- Cave Dwellers. It's the second in a series of Conan knock-offs (The Barbarian, not O'Brien), and the only one of the series given the MST3K treatment.

First, there's the credit sequence, as it actually contains scenes of an entirely different movie. Many of the films from Season 3, such as Pod People and Stranded in Space, have something similar going on (all three as well as a few others, were all reedited and released by a company called Film Ventures International, so at least they were consistent). Anyway, onto the actual plot. Boring old wise man Akronus has invented something called the Geometric Nucleus; it's function is never adequately explained, but it's one of those "must never fall into the wrong hands" type of item. However, it's about to, as evil warlord Zor invades the old guy's castle. You can tell he's evil, because he has a long droopy mustache.

Old Guy sends his hot daughter Mila to find Ator- warrior, philosopher, and large-muscled individual, who is currently training with his mute Asian man-servant Thong. Mila arrives, tells them about Zor, and soon Ator, Mila, and Speed-O are off to set things right. On the way, they fight cavemen, ghosts, samurai, and a giant snake puppet.

Eventually, the three finally make it to the castle. Mila and Banana Hammock use the castle's secret entrance while Ator takes on Zor's troops with nothing more than his swords. Oh, and a hang glider and some grenades.

"I'd explain, but it's very confusing."

Ator kills Zor and, taking the Nucleus, gives a stoic goodbye to Mila and Loincloth. Thankfully, the film ends.


This is regarded as a stand-out episode, and with good reason- the riffing is hilarious. The movie's quite absurd, and it gives Joel and the Bots plenty to work with. The host segments are more witty than funny, though the last sketch is quite good. All in all, Season 3 of MST3K hit the ground running with this episode.

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