The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 11 (Ring of Terror / The Indestructible Man / Tormented / Horrors of Spider Island)

This set features one episode from season 2, two from season 4, and one from season 10. Three episodes feature show creator Joel Hodgson as host, while one features head writer Mike Nelson as host. These are four really funny episodes and there should be no hesitation in buying this set!Episode 206- THE RING OF TERROR (with short: THE PHANTOM CREEPS PT 3)This black-and-white (b/w) 1962 "thriller" features the largest group of the oldest medical school students ever found at one time in any US college. After the "thrilling" opening in which a man endlessly searches for his cat, "Puma", the film unfolds a less-than-suspenseful tale about a fearless medical student who must come to grips with the one thing that does frighten him. The film stars no one, little happens, the comic relief in the film revolves around cheap shots taken at an overweight couple, and the terrifying climax is more likely to induce sleep paralysis than fear paralysis. Why do the students all behave like undergraduates when this is post-graduate medical school? Who cares, the whole thing is so inept, it's hilarious! The MST3K host segments are all top-notch funny, particularly the "old school sketch" and the sketch recreating the autopsy scene from the film. The short is another installment of Phantom Creeps with Bela Lugosi and the MST3K writers get lots of great comedy mileage out of that one. This is another GREAT episode from legendarily hilarious season 2. Don't miss it!Episode 409- THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN (with short: UNDERSEA KINGDOM PT 2) Lon Chaney, Jr. is one of those movie greats that didn't always say no when offered a less than stellar role, especially it seems as available parts dried up for him as he got older. This 1956 film is one he probably should have turned down unless he was really desperate for the paycheck, but we benefit from his choice to appear in this film as it is quite amusing all on its own. Chaney plays "The Butcher", an executed thug who ends up mute but not quite dead after his execution. Most of the film involves him silently seeking revenge on those who sent him to death row, with lots of really odd close-ups of his eyes. Joel and the `Bots hammer this film mercilessly in a non-stop manner with one great joke after another; it's just terrific! The short, Undersea Kingdom part 2 with Ray "Crash" Corrigan, is also "ROTHLOL" funny.Episode 414- TORMENTEDThis 1960 b/w film is a Bert I. Gordon "classic" about, Tom Stewart, a guy who doesn't save his old girlfriend from an accidental fatal fall after she threatens to mess up his wedding plans to a New England high society girl. Throughout the rest of the film he is "haunted" by her ghost and driven to the brink of madness and more murder. The haunting scenes could not scare a small child, but they are hilariously cheesy fun to watch. Is a ghost really haunting Tom or is his conscience just getting to him? You'll be laughing too hard to care much about that! You'll also be reciting, "Tom Stewart killed me, Tom Stewart killed me" like a litany after the credits roll.Episode 1011- HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLANDThis 1962 b/w film is a German-Yugoslav co-production and the dialogue dubbing adds much to the hilarity of this inept film. A group of female dancers is stranded on an island with only a few men and lots of excuses to show as much skin as possible without any actual nudity. The scantily clad pretty girls seem to be most of the reason this film got made and mostly what the film's makers expected would get people to watch it. The giant spiders and the "horrific" results of their bite are about the poorest special effects and make-up one could expect from a film regardless of what year it was made. This is a very strong episode from MST3K's final season.Extra features on this set include MST3K Video Jukebox Volume 2, Original Theatrical Trailers (for all except "Ring of Terror"), a "Tormented" Reunion (with Bert I. Gordon, Susan Gordon and Joe Turkel) and the MST Hour "Jack Perkins" Wraps for "Tormented" featuring Mike Nelson as "Jack Perkins".Given the fact that some of these MST3K DVD sets go out of print rather quickly due to issues with rights over the films used in the show, I'd recommend buying this set right away. Don't miss these four great episodes. Movie sign!

Any "Mystery Science Theater 3000" offering is worth watching and re-watching, and although this is not my favorite set, it contains lots of great onscreen moments plus a few entertaining extras. This set exclusively contains creepy older black and white horror offerings, most from the early 1960's."Ring of Terror" is a short production about a group of geriatric medical school students and their girlfriends being haunted in what is perhaps the least scary manner ever filmed. Watch especially for the horrifying autopsy scene that is subsequently hilariously parodied. This episode is paired with another of the interminable episodes of "The Phantom Creeps" with Bela Lugosi."Indestructible Man" stars Lon Chaney as "The Butcher", a convicted killer whose execution is not entirely successful: it's a given that the plot revolves around him seeking vengeance on those who put him in jail. While not one of Chaney's better roles (by a long shot), this is probably the most genuinely creepy of these four films due in no small part to Chaney's crazed eyes. This episode is paired with an episode of "Undersea Kingdom", perhaps one of the most boring serials ever made."Tormented" describes the audience's reaction to this film of the same name. It's about a pianist who doesn't save his old flame from a fall off a lighthouse, and subsequently engages in face-saving cover up operations while planning his wedding, to no avail. This one is not only ludicrous, but exceptionally predictable as well. Truthfully, this is one of the more boring episodes, but does contain some hilarious banter."Horrors of Spider Island" is unquestionably my favorite episode in this set. Some dancers and their manager, Gary, are on a plane that crashes while en route to Singapore. They wash up on "Spider Island" and quickly deduce from finding a single hammer, that the island is being mined for uranium and that people couldn't be far off. In fact they find the previous occupant in a hilarious web made by some monstrous spider. This doesn't stop the girls from preening or fighting over men in the least, nor does it stop Gary from turning into a spider-human hybridoma, either. This film has long stretches of the girls searching for Gary (they don't know he's a spider) by walking through the jungle and yelling "Gary!" repeatedly.This monstrosity was made in Germany and contains some extremely amusing dubbing. I also adored the utterly ludicrous dialogue throughout, my favorite example of which comes from Gary's business partner in New York. After we see the burning model plane on fire and tumbling vertically toward the water, the movie cuts to this guy in his office on the phone with (apparently) a concerned relative. He says "There's absolutely no reason yet to fear the worst. Until now we only know that the plane caught fire and that we've lost radio contact." In mocking response Mike comments "But there's absolutely nothing to be worried about!" Clearly not. This is a great episode from the very strong final season of MST3K, and I highly recommend it.