MST3K 605 - Colossus and the Headhunters

605 - Colossus and the Headhunters
Air/Release Date	August 20, 1994
MST3K Director	Kevin Murphy
Movie Director	Guido Malatesta
Year	1960
Cast	Kirk Morris Laura Brown
Preceded by	604 - Zombie Nightmare
Followed by	606 - The Creeping Terror

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“	(Our hero Maciste (AKA Colossus) returns to find pandemonium: people are running in every direction, large stones falling around, and a volcano erupting) "I leave you alone for one hour—!"	”
	- Servo (as Maciste)

The Movie

Synopsis

Colossus and the Headhunters

Maciste arrives on an island only to find it rocked by a catastrophic volcanic eruption... and sinking. The survivors board Maciste's raft, and he pilots it toward a nearby yet unknown island. The group gets captured by a tribe led by Queen Amoa. Her people are under continuous attack by another tribe on the island—a tribe of savage headhunters. Maciste and his survivors decide to help her, so he and some of his friends set out to find Amoa's father. They travel to a ruined castle occupied by the headhunters—which used to be a great city of gold—and find Amoa's father, now blind, imprisoned alone in one of the dungeon rooms by the headhunters. Meanwhile, the leader of the headhunters captures Amoa and decides to marry her by compelling her father to give his blessing. A large battle erupts at Queen Amoa's village when the headhunters attack. During the fight, the headhunter leader abducts Queen Amoa. Maciste pursues them, saves Amoa, and fights and defeats the wily leader of the headhunters. Having saved the day, Maciste rides away on his raft with Amoa in his arms.

Information

• Distributed in the U.S. by American International Pictures and later bundled into the Sons of Hercules TV package.[1]
• In this dubbed English version everyone still calls the hero “Maciste” (Mike and the bots prefer to call him “My cheesesteak”). Nobody ever refers to him as “Colossus.”
• Kirk “Kirky” Morris, who plays Maciste, is actually Italian. His real name is Adriano Bellini.
• Another film featuring Maciste (this time played by Gordon Scott) would be released the following year - Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World. This film would later be used in Cinematic Titanic live shows.

The Episode

Host Segments

The SOL crew with NummyMuffinCoocolButter

Prologue: Tom has done Crow's taxes. Turns out Crow owes $37,000 in back-taxes for the $12 he made selling Grit in 1989. Mike, on the other hand, is getting a $20,000 tax refund.

Segment One: Dr. F has invented Nummy Muffin CooCool Butter, the world’s most adorable pet. He sends Nummy to the SOL, much to Frank's dismay. Mike adores him immediately.

Segment Two: Pining for his beloved pet, Frank sings "Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter".

Segment Three: Nummy’s fur is everywhere, the Bots hate him, and Gypsy is allergic.

Segment Four: Nummy is sick, and Frank is sick, so Mike sends Nummy back to Deep 13.

TV's Frank misses NummyMuffinCoocolButter

Segment Five: The bots want to know what it feels like to get your head chopped off. And they want Mike to demonstrate. Mike reads a letter from a girl who got a B on her speech about MST. Also, her cat always tries to claw Tom Servo when he’s on TV. Another little girl has written a poem: "To Gypsy: Roses are red, violets are blue, I love you." The Mads are transfixed by NummyMuffinCoocolButter.

Stinger: A guy gets shot by an arrow during a big battle scene.

Trivia

• The mention of Penn Gillette was a nod to the fans’ growing irritation with the Comedy Central spokesman, whose voice overs played at the end of episodes, often over dialogue.
• David Sussman ends his 17-episode run on the writing staff with this episode.
• This is the first time “Info Club Coordinator Julie Walker” appears in the credits (she wouldn’t be “Poobah” until later in the season.)
• No one pushes the button to end the show. The Mads are still playing with NummyMuffinCoocolButter when a heart wipe closes in, ending the segment.

Callbacks

• "Watch out for snakes!" (Eegah)

Obscure References

• "...for the total of twelve dollars I made selling Grit in '89?"

Grit was an early nationwide newspaper (since converted to magazine format, and now distributed mainly in rural areas) whose subscriptions were sold door-to-door by children, many of whom were recruited through ads in comic books. Crow had tried to sell Grit previously in Experiment #417, Crash of Moons.

• "Besides, Willie Nelson and Redd Foxx are calling!"

A reference to the fact that both Nelson and Foxx encountered highly publicized tax problems after being audited by the IRS.

• "No matter what occurs, I will find you!"

Frank is quoting the 1992 movie version of The Last of the Mohicans.

• "Let's see, do I sleep tonight, or not..."

Tom is referring to the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens.

• "The Ringo Starr Gang!"

A reference to the 1981 movie Caveman, in which Starr played the title role.

• "The Cross and the Switchblade!"

The Cross and the Switchblade was a 1963 book (filmed as a movie in 1970) in which evangelist David Wilkerson described his work among street gangs in New York City.

• "Terry Anderson!"

Terry Anderson was one of several Americans held hostage by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon beginning in 1985.

• "Is the Marat/Sade down here?"

Marat/Sade is a play about the Marquis de Sade's confinement to an insane asylum.

• "Go back to watching Phenom!"

Phenom was a short-lived sitcom from 1993-94 about a teenage tennis player.

• "They've imprisoned Michael McDonald!"

Michael McDonald was the lead singer for the Doobie Brothers during the late 1970s.

• "I don't want to go to Camp Snoopy!"

Camp Snoopy is the former name of Nickelodeon Universe, the small indoor amusement park located inside the Mall of America.

• "It's the Sledge-O-Matic!"

The Sledge-O-Matic is a recurring bit in which prop comic Gallagher smashes objects (most famously watermelons) with an oversized wooden mallet.

• "King Vitaman!"

King Vitaman is a breakfast cereal.

• "His favorite band is Blind Melon!"

Blind Melon is an alternative rock band best known for its 1993 hit "No Rain".

• "Maybe we could give her an extra long scarf and send her out for a drive."

Choreographer and ballerina Isadora Duncan was killed when her long silk scarf got caught in the axle of her 1926 Amilcar CGSS convertible, dragging her out of the car.

• "And now, the traditional viewing of Berlin Alexanderplatz!"

Berlin Alexanderplatz was a German TV miniseries that was later shown in U.S. theaters as a 15 1/2-hour-long movie.

• "There can be only three hundred!"

A parody of a line from Highlander.

• "Behold the only thing greater than yourself!"

From the Roots TV miniseries, spoken by Kunta Kinte after he raised his infant daughter over his head for her to witness a star-filled sky.

• "We'll take them away, ha-haaa, hee, hee"

Refers to the song, They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! by Jerry Samuels

• "Either these curtains go or I do."​

MST3K 605 Promos

Reportedly Oscar Wilde's last words.

• "This is a typical Robert Bly retreat."​

Robert Bly was a leading voice in the mythopoetic men's movement, which encourages men to celebrate their masculinity through rituals.

• "Well, his life, his love, and his lady is the sea."

A line from the song "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)", in which a sailor leaves behind behind a lovelorn barmaid.

Video releases

• Commercially released on DVD by Shout! Factory in March 2017 as part of Volume XXXVIII, a 4-disc set along with Invasion USA, High School Big Shot, and Track of the Moon Beast.
  • The DVD includes the Ballyhoo Motion Pictures feature Mike, by Joel.

preceded by: Season 5		MST3K Season 6					followed by: Season 7
		1994 - 1995
601	Girls Town	1994-07-16	609	The Skydivers	1994-08-27	617	The Sword and the Dragon	1994-12-03
602	Invasion USA	1994-07-23	610	The Violent Years	1994-10-08	618	High School Big Shot	1994-12-10
603	The Dead Talk Back	1994-07-30	611	Last of the Wild Horses	1994-10-15	619	Red Zone Cuba	1994-12-17
604	Zombie Nightmare	1994-11-24	612	The Starfighters	1994-10-29	620	Danger!! Death Ray	1995-01-07
605	Colossus and the Headhunters	1994-08-20	613	The Sinister Urge	1994-11-05	621	The Beast of Yucca Flats	1995-01-21
606	The Creeping Terror	1994-09-17	614	San Francisco International	1994-11-19	622	Angels Revenge	1995-03-11
607	Bloodlust	1994-09-03	615	Kitten with a Whip	1994-11-23	623	The Amazing Transparent Man	1995-03-18
608	Code Name: Diamond Head	1994-10-01	616	Racket Girls	1994-11-26	624	Samson vs. the Vampire Women	1995-03-25