From the mastermind behind the cult favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000 series comes RiffTrax. As you may have guessed, this is essentially the same as MST3K. The main differences here are a broader range of commentators as well as movies. Also, many contemporary films are included in the onslaught. If you head on over to www.RiffTrax.com you’ll find a myriad of movies available online in a variety of formats but the real news is that FINALLY Mike Nelson and Co. have heard the cries of the dinosaurs among us and have begun releasing some of the films on DVD. The benefit is obvious as this is MST3K without the interludes and for an affordable price!
The kind folks at RiffTrax sent over Night of the Living Dead for us to review. As it turns out, it’s hard to review something with so many great one liners because you pretty much give it away. That said, Mike Nelson gives this classic piece of horror history the business. The total business, to be specific. Right from the get go, a surprisingly inaccurate scene involving a slow zombie, some bloodthirst, and ummm…...daylight (isn’t this supposed to be NIGHT of the Living Dead?), Nelson lets loose his sarcastic trivia knowledge and edgy view of how things should be and even manages to throw in some great one liners as replacement dialogue in the in between time.
Overall you should buy anything from RiffTRax.com as everything I have seen is every bit as funny as MST3K was. I was also sent a demo disc with snippets from a few of the films and a full length short entitled “Harm Hides at Home” (an old safety video from the fifties maybe?) and I laughed so hard I cried through almost every single entry. So, if you are looking for a good laugh and you love sarcastic and witty humor or are an old MST3K fan that didn’t know about its seeming rebirth, then get yourself some RiffTrax man. ASAP.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
