"Isn't terror bad enough without being molten?"
They should have gotten the guy out of the light before they shot this.
Dr. Erhardt: Now here's something that'll really rub you wrong!
Dr. Forrester: Yes, it's one of our favorites. It's called Mad Monster.
Dr. Erhardt: It's got a neat little laboratory tucked behind the bookcase, and a couch you can strap victims to.
Dr. Forrester: Yes, and the screen is alive with creep hair and spirit gum.
Dr. Erhardt: Oh! And we also have the second installment of "Rocket Men on the Moon"!
Dr. Forrester: Yes, this one is called "The Molten Terror".
Dr. Forrester: Yes, it's one of our favorites. It's called Mad Monster.
Dr. Erhardt: It's got a neat little laboratory tucked behind the bookcase, and a couch you can strap victims to.
Dr. Forrester: Yes, and the screen is alive with creep hair and spirit gum.
Dr. Erhardt: Oh! And we also have the second installment of "Rocket Men on the Moon"!
Dr. Forrester: Yes, this one is called "The Molten Terror".
Films watched: Radar Men from the Moon Chapter 2 (serial) and The Mad Monster
This film and The Corpse Vanishes are tied as the oldest feature films to be featured on the show, both being released in 1942 (the oldest material period is the Undersea Kingdom serial from 1936).
The episode is available in the Gizmoplex here
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The Segments
Segment 1/Invention Exchange- Joel invents the Hell-in-a-Handbag security device to stop purse-snatchers. Dr. Forrester invents a fire-breathing toy kaiju.
Segment 2
- Tom tries to hit on a blender and gets violent when Joel drinks from it. When Joel sets him straight, Tom attempts to rebound on a coffee maker.
Segment 3
- The Bots question the nature of a werewolf's eating habits, prompting Joel to remind them that it's only a movie.
Segment 4
- Inspired by Dr. Cameron's experiment in the movie, Joel swaps Tom and Crow's heads, but quickly shuts them down when they start developing a hive mind.
Segment 5
- Joel gives RAM chips for the Bots by naming a good thing and a bad thing about the movie, while the Mads mourn for the death of Dr. Cameron in the ending.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of Radar Men from the Moon (Chapter 2: Molten Terror) has examples of:
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of The Mad Monster contains examples of:
- Call-Back: In the segment where Joel switches the 'Bots' heads, Crow laments that he "now has a body dogs can't resist", referring to the previous episode when a bunch of Demon Dogs relieved themselves on Servo.
- Companion Cube/Interspecies Romance: Tom falls in love with a blender. Although it didn't work out, they were a cute couple.
- Downer Ending: Parodied. Mad scientist Dr. Cameron gets killed off, but of course, he was a villain. Nevertheless, Forrester and Erhardt (being mad scientists themselves) aren't happy with the film's conclusion and wear black armbands in mourning for him.
- Shout-Out:
- The gang compare the simple-minded Petro to Lenny from Of Mice and Men and Charlie Gordon from Flowers for Algernon. As well as Andy Griffith.
- They also mention the little girl in the film looking like Shirley Temple.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: After it didn't work out between him and the blender, Tom flirts with the next appliance he sees. He then sees to his embarrassment that said appliance's name is Mr. Coffee.
- Yellowface: Part of the kit that comes with the toy kaiju is a pair of slant-eyed glasses. Keep in mind it was invented by Card-Carrying Villains, and we're meant to be amused but also disgusted.
