By Sugar Ray Dodge, RiffWiki.net Editor-in-Chief
Part One: Essentials | Part Two: Next Steps | Part Three: Deep Cuts | Part Four: And the Rest
The Crater Lake Monster (2011) - In 2011, RiffTrax began a dramatic style shift. From Road House all the way to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, they had pretty much been doing Blockbuster MP3 commentaries. That all changed with Crater Lake Monster and it's wacky cast of lovable drunks, degenerates, criminals and a doctor we can only assume is hiding from his many, many malpractice lawsuits. Oh, yeah, and a Crater Lake Monster or something. For the rest of the year and throughout 2012, RiffTrax would mix and match these MST3K-style VODs with Blockbuster MP3s, creating a very unique and memorable era within the company's history.
Frankenstein Island (2012) - Take four ugly weirdos, put them in hot-air balloons for some reason, have them crash on an Island that is both too boring to be the Lost Island and too stupid to even be Gilligan's Island, throw in some random descendants of Victor Frankenstein and Abraham Van Helsing (no, really!) and infrequent flashes of John Carradine that are never really explained, and BAM! You have Frankenstein Island. The Frankenstein monster himself makes an appearance, but, well, you'll see how that goes. Don't wanna be a spoiler!
Future Force (2012) - David Carradine. Dystopian Future. A Power-Glove. Those are the three things you need to know before watching this and it's sequel, Future Zone. You're a grown-up, only you can make the decision to go forward or not.
Ghosthouse (2012) - This one is an absolute classic. And like most absolute classics at RiffTrax, it is massively underrated. The star of our adventure is a ham radio enthusiast and his weird European girlfriend who investigate strange goings-ons at a Ghosthouse in good ol' Massachusetts, home of the Salem Witch Trials, dontchaknow! And then there's the Daylin family. Oh, you don't know the Daylin family? Don't worry, Jim will fill you in when you get there whether you like it or not. There's also a creepy clown doll and a dead girl that are somehow doing all the killing that, per usual, is never really explained. You can't go wrong with this one.
Julie and Jack (2015) - The Birdemic BEFORE Birdemic WITHOUT the actual Birdemic. Seriously. OH WAIT! Sorry. My bad. The main character is a COMPUTER CHIP salesman instead of a SOFTWARE salesman. And instead of a Birdemic, there's just some dead weird girl who lives in a virtual reality world screwing up the life of some random dweeb who can't make it to work on time. I know all that SOUNDS stupid, and it is, but Julie and Jack is a must-see for all Birdemic fans, which means it's a must-see for all RiffTrax fans. It'll blow your mind. I'm still finding pieces of my brain all over my couch from when I first saw this thing.
The Last Slumber Party (2014) - As the Editor-in-Chief, it's a perk of mine to promote certain riffs over others, and The Last Slumber Party is one of my absolute favorites. Don't ask me what the hell is really going on, because I have no idea. All I know is is that I despise every single character in the movie, ESPECIALLY the redhead in the football jersey. She's just SO APPEALING on every level. Her voice is heavenly and her maturity level is almost that of an 11-year-old. And you BETTER NOT MISTAKE HER FOR SHELLY HACK, DAMN YOU! She HATES that! Anyway, this was my absolute favorite riff from 2014, so I bestowed upon it the Editor's Choice Award in the Year in Review Feature. Give it a looksee, why not. You'll never be the same again.
McBain (2013) - Everything I said in the Cool as Ice section of the previous section applies here. That entire paragraph covers both of these movies and why they are so important. I thought about repeating the text here but, well, y'know...
Supersonic Man (2013) - RiffTrax finally gets a super hero it can call its own. Nuts to the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, The Dark Knight and pretty much every damn Marvel movie of the last twenty years. Supersonic Man is where it's at. He can lift cardboard steamrollers over his head and allow cars to pass under them safely LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS! And his flying! He makes The Pumaman look like an uncoordinated, whiny jerk! ...and none of you have seen the first Superman movie, right? Good. Then this is a totally original plot. And it totally isn't Captain Planet without all the eco-terrorism, either. Totally not that at all.
To Catch a Yeti (2015) - People like to say that Fun in Balloon Land is “call the cops and/or child protective services” levels of weird, but to those people I'd like to say that To Catch a Yeti takes that kind of weird to places you had no idea even existed. It gets on that freeway, blows past Balloon Land at 110 mph and doesn't stop until it crashes right into Meat Loaf and the rest of the “cast” of this head-scratchingly bizarre and disturbing “kids' movie.”
Wonder Women (2015) - Lets get this out of the way right away, Wonder Woman does not appear in this movie. Sorry, Gal Gadot fans. My first reaction to Wonder Women was that it is “the anti-Guy From Harlem in almost every respect.” What does that mean? Basically, it employs many of the same filming techniques as Guy From Harlem, only does them way better. Also, you can take almost every aspect of Guy From Harlem, come up with what you think would be the exact opposite of it, and you would come up with every aspect of Wonder Women. It's weird, I can't explain it any better than that, but trust me, once you see it, you'll totally agree.
Part One: Essentials | Part Two: Next Steps | Part Three: Deep Cuts | Part Four: And the Rest