The riffs on "Cry Wilderness", the film featured in Season 1, Ep. 2 of "MST3K: The Return" are inspired. Rich with literally hundreds of jokes, this episode relies on the audience being literate, competent critical viewers, having a passable knowledge of film-making, a deep store of pop-culture references and both focus and the ability to listen to and comprehend multiple, simultaneous conversational threads.
The film itself is a mess. A barely coherent eco-spiritual fairy tale, the crew of the SOL makes good use of the pointless nature footage (a long shot of a bear elicits this gem: "Does a bear crap in the woods? Well....keep watching."), bad film-craft ("Why is the bobcat OUT of focus while everything around it is IN focus?") and questionable dialogue (when a hunter finds a footprint of a Bigfoot, the hunter winks at the young hero of the film and says "Let's keep this a secret between you and me," a line which draws this riff from host Jonah Heston: "Okay, it is NEVER good when an adult says that to a kid."). The many non sequiturs disguised as plot-twists serve as set-ups for some brilliant gags and the crew doesn't miss any of them. By the movie's end, the audience is well aware of just how bad is the movie they have watched, and why.
"MST3K: The Return: 'Cry Wilderness'" is the equal of any of the original series' episodes I have seen. If subsequent episodes approach this level of smart and funny, the show's return will be a joyful event.
I can't resist sharing one more gag: When a tiger jumps atop a truck in which a woman and a young boy are cowering, Jonah speaks from the tiger's POV: "Meals on Wheels. My favorite."
The film itself is a mess. A barely coherent eco-spiritual fairy tale, the crew of the SOL makes good use of the pointless nature footage (a long shot of a bear elicits this gem: "Does a bear crap in the woods? Well....keep watching."), bad film-craft ("Why is the bobcat OUT of focus while everything around it is IN focus?") and questionable dialogue (when a hunter finds a footprint of a Bigfoot, the hunter winks at the young hero of the film and says "Let's keep this a secret between you and me," a line which draws this riff from host Jonah Heston: "Okay, it is NEVER good when an adult says that to a kid."). The many non sequiturs disguised as plot-twists serve as set-ups for some brilliant gags and the crew doesn't miss any of them. By the movie's end, the audience is well aware of just how bad is the movie they have watched, and why.
"MST3K: The Return: 'Cry Wilderness'" is the equal of any of the original series' episodes I have seen. If subsequent episodes approach this level of smart and funny, the show's return will be a joyful event.
I can't resist sharing one more gag: When a tiger jumps atop a truck in which a woman and a young boy are cowering, Jonah speaks from the tiger's POV: "Meals on Wheels. My favorite."