Ep 7. Terror from the Year 5,000
- March 15, 1997
In the eighth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, the crew of the Satellite of Love find themselves trapped once again by the evil scientist Dr. Forrester and his assistant TV's Frank. Forced to watch terrible movies, the crew's only escape is to riff and joke their way through each film as it plays, hopefully keeping their sanity intact.
In the seventh episode of the season, the crew is subjected to a truly dreadful movie: Terror from the Year 5,000. The film is a low-budget sci-fi thriller from 1958 directed by Robert J. Gurney Jr. and written by Henry Slesar, who would go on to become a prolific crime writer. The plot centers around a group of scientists in the year 5,000 who discover a woman frozen in ice. They revive her, only to find that she is actually a mutant who can control the minds of those around her. Chaos ensues as the mutant, named Futurella, begins to control the scientists and plots to wipe out humanity.
As usual, the crew of the Satellite of Love has plenty to say about this terrible movie. Joel (played by Joel Hodgson) and his robot companions Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo take turns mocking the film's low production values, stilted acting, and nonsensical plot. Crow is especially fond of making fun of the movie's inept attempts at special effects, such as the use of a paper plate to represent a futuristic teleportation device. Meanwhile, Tom Servo spends much of the episode paused in mid-air, thanks to a botched attempt at using the same teleportation device to escape the Satellite of Love.
As the crew watches the movie, they also engage in various subplots and running gags. For example, Joel experiments with a new system to help him escape from the Satellite of Love, while TV's Frank (played by Frank Conniff) tries to keep his pet hamster alive after accidentally sitting on it. Dr. Forrester (played by Trace Beaulieu) pops up occasionally to torment the crew with his sinister cackling and bizarre inventions.
Throughout the episode, the crew's jokes and riffs range from the silly to the surreal. They make fun of everything from Futurella's ridiculous costume (which Crow compares to a "tube sock with eyes") to the film's clunky attempts at exposition. At one point, Joel and the robots break into a surprisingly catchy song about the movie's nonsensical plot. Through it all, the crew maintains a good-natured sense of humor, making the best of a bad situation.
Despite its many flaws, Terror from the Year 5,000 is a prime candidate for Mystery Science Theater 3000's brand of riffing. The movie's cheap special effects, wooden acting, and hilariously implausible plot provide plenty of fodder for the crew's wit and humor. Fans of the show will no doubt enjoy watching Joel, Crow, and Tom Servo take on this terrible movie and turn it into something entertaining and fun.
