The B movie retro, Octaman has an “a” in it because it’s cool. Fonzie Cool. It’s even cooler if the guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000 are there to help you watch it. I was never really interested in seeing someone talk when I want to watch a movie like Octaman (1971), so I avoided MST3000 the entire time it was a phenomenon. I always enjoyed riffing good bad movies myself. I missed out.
Sometimes you’ll come across some goofy cheeseball rubber monster movie on the internet, and you’ll wonder how you’ve never seen it. You track it down, whether you Blu-ray, old school VHS it, find it on an old VCD, or stream it, you have to see it because the trailer you found on YouTube was so brilliant and hilarious. It turns out, you saw the best parts in the trailer and didn’t get much meat in your sandwich. That’s where RiffTrax comes in. They have the meat. And potatoes. And innuendos. This is comedy for adults; adults with the nerve to be silly and geeky, and salacious and cheeky. Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett are there watching it alongside you, and they are the funny guys in the room. You just enjoy their show and make a point not to watch Game of Thrones with them.
They are standing on the side of a screen stage at a remote location. Live from the Belecourt Theater in Nashville Tennessee April 18th. You may have missed it, but they are replaying in some theaters that feature Fathom Events on April 24th. Don’t worry, guys. I’m your best friend, and I’m going to tell you all about it. Go see it if you can, and don’t miss the next live movie they riff on.
One of their first riffs caught me off guard. It was that Magic Garden moment I never got when I was a kid. They said my name. There was a joke about the weather, and one of them asked to switch to Kurt, the Weatherman. “Kurt doesn’t exist,” the other said. Guys? I do exist. I’m just not the weatherman. Thank you for calling me out by name, though. I feel you.
“Rick Baker made me, and he’s the only one who can destroy me.” We got to riff on a McGruff the Crime Dog’s public service message about drugs before jumping into the main event. It’s weird how a character from the ’80s and kids from the ‘80s looked like the right opening for a movie that was released in 1971. During a really long public service play with the plushie creep McGruff, our hosts are warming up, and making you feel at home.
They let us know about an upcoming RiffTrax event, Star Raiders on June 6th and 11th, and we “Roll Octaman!” As per the usual, ’50s through ’70s rubber suit monster movie, we get the eco message. I’m immediately thinking of Hedorah, the Smog Monster, and the look is not far off. By the way, during the opening credits who stands out? Rick Baker, baby!
Octaman really looks like a retro version of Squidward and Plankton from SpongeBob SquarePants. Who lives in pollution under a lake? Octaman SquarePants! With Radioactive contamination rising in the world, this crazy monster evolves with kaleidoscopic vision and a taste for murder. He can stab you and slice you with his tentacles, but he’s much more effective on screen when he’s waving two arms and the rest just flop around.
Trigger warning for anyone who hates seeing dead animals, a la the turtle scene from Cannibal Holocaust. There’s an actual dead cat, rotting in the grass in one scene. I envision the director seeing someone’s lost pet, recently deceased and feeding maggots, and he’s thinking, “Jackpot!” It’s the only time you’ll furrow your brow. I promise. The rest is pure comedy, whether it’s meant to be or not. The cliche characters are straight from a time when Barney Miller’s precinct made fun of everyone’s accent because they all worked together.
Another accidental reference to the ’70s is the Brady Bunch-style split screen where we see Michael, Kevin, and Bill’s faces as they watch along with us. Nostalgia is abound and we are smiling the entire time, if we’re not laughing out loud at the clever comments. Early on, listening to the audience in Nashville felt a little like a laugh track, but the first time I heard someone snort behind me, it was on. A snicker here, a guffaw there. We were a half-filled theater laughing along with strangers in other theaters across the country. We had something in common. An appreciation for low budget nostalgia. We riff on it because we love that it happened. We riff on nostalgia because we are jealous that we can’t live there anymore.
The poor director and everyone else involved in this film take a beating. It’s a roast I hope they can also appreciate. With the likes of Rick Baker being involved, I’m sure everyone is proud of the part they played. A cult following is the purest of fandom. These creators put themselves out there, and shared their work, however inexperienced. We can rejoice in that, and cheer on the cheese party. And when the cinematic moments are drawn out into stretches of string cheese, we have Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett there to lay on the humorous critique. If you have a chance to see anything in the Rifftrax Live Series with Fathom Events, just go! If you miss it, you can buy a disc, but I did find a streaming version on Vimeo…not as much fun without hosts with great comedic timing.
If you ask me which I look forward to more, the upcoming Godzilla: King of Monsters or RiffTrax Live: The Giant Spider Invasion, there is no contest. I will love to watch my favorite TOHO hero tearing off one of Ghidorah’s heads, but with CGI, it’s just become so believable. Maybe we can make fun of it in thirty or forty years, but Godzilla is now as scary as the Cloverfield monster. I love them, but I want the charm of knowing I can build that monster in my garage. I want to know Haruo Nakajima is inside sweating his ass off so I can enjoy his work. Hats off to Read Morgan, who can die in a suit better than anyone! That wasn’t a spoiler. Octaman doesn’t die. Damn, that was a spoiler. There are lots of little Octaman babies. Soon they’ll be everywhere. I’m Squidward, he’s Squidward, we’re all Squidward!
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