Hey, where's the ümlaut?
Film watched: Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell
"We're still fighting bravely for our vague goal!"
—Crow T. Robot.
The episode is available in the Gizmoplex here
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The Segments:
Prologue- Crow has started an active lifestyle and shows off his newly-grown head of hair. It gets icky when he starts showing off his new calf and butt implants.
Segment 1
- Pearl is sick (with an intestinal parasite), and Dr. Forrester is sick of trying to fulfill her constant demands. Mike and the 'Bots act as annoying fast food clerks to drive him even more insane.
Segment 2
- The 'Bots have put on a Renaissance Festival for Mike, and are soon gouging out his wallet with overpriced attractions and colorful Medieval insults.
Segment 3
- The Renaissance Festival resumes at Mike's insistence, but it comes to an end when the 'Bots run out of things for Mike to waste his money on.
Segment 4
- Pearl is still sick and begging for relief. While Dr. Forrester slips away to get medicine, she begs Crow to read from her favorite book: a trashy romance novel titled Love's Sweet Throbbing Gondola.
Segment 5
- Servo forges a ring of power for Mike to wear as he reads a letter, which doesn't actually do anything. Dr. Forrester has prepared a glass of poisoned milk to deal with his intolerably-sick mother... by chugging it himself.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell contains these tropes:
- Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: Troxartas has a breathy, almost Shatner-ian delivery.Troxartas: This has, NOTHING to do with, being rich.
Servo: [as Troxartas] I, put the, beats in my, own script and I'm, sticking, with them! - Annoying Patient: Pearl has a parasite and spends the episode in bed, whining out her son's name.
- As Himself: Or rather, the Warriors from Hell as themselves, during the opening credits crawl.
- Author Appeal: MST3k's ripping on RenFests. A particular Berserk Button for Frank Conniff, who left the previous season.
- Broken Record: Pearl is in agony, begging Dr. Forrester to help her, but there's nothing he can do except listen. ("Clayton!... Clayton!... Oh, Clayton!... Clayton!...")
- Burger Fool: In the opening sequence the Satellite crew pretend to run a business like this (while Pearl is incessantly calling his name behind him and demanding to know what is taking so long) in order to drive Dr. Forrester nuts.
- California Doubling: Invoked. The crew remarks on how it's unusually sunny and dry for medieval not-quite-Europe.Crow: I'd like to shoot everyone in this movie entirely in Mexico.
- Callback:
- "Sampo! Sampo!"
- "Lodac, are you talking to the toilet again?"
- The music Pearl is listening to is from the The Days of Our Years short from the The Amazing Transparent Man episode.
- Pearl's repetitively yelling for Clayton, just like the injured Clayton kept calling out for Frank during Red Zone Cuba.
- Call-Forward: When Deathstalker blows his cover by showing the princess's sister a stick (which he had pretended was a knife):Mike: [using Vadinho's voice] Get him, men, he kicked Tony!
- Credits Gag: Features singing some of the "Safety Dance" song.
- Driven to Suicide: In the very first host segment, Dr. Forrester tried to strangle himself to get away from Pearl. Later, in a parody of Suspicion, Clayton drinks the poisoned milk himself rather than listen to Pearl whine.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: As an In-Joke, the Burger Fool name badge Crow wears is Mary Jo [Pehl] while Servo is Paul [Chaplin].
- Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut: Joked about by the MST crew, when the title screen appears Mike wonders where the umlaut is.
- Hollywood Darkness: The crew take note of a couple scenes which are supposed to be nighttime, but instead look like broad daylight.
- Made of Explodium: The crew giggles when Troxartas explodes after getting stabbed.
- Memetic Mutation: "You always were a good judge of men, Deathstalker" became an oft-repeated riff in future eps and RiffTrax.
- Mills and Boon Prose: In-universe. Crow treats Pearl to a meandering, disjointed reading of a trashy romance novel.Crow: [monotonously] Yielding petals of womanhood...
- Nausea Fuel: Deathstalker's smugness at the end is enough for Servo. Deathstalker: You once told me it's not easy being a princess. It's not easy being a hero, either.
Servo: Never before has an entire medieval city thrown up at the same moment! - Noodle Incident: Due to starting with the third Deathstalker movie, any Call Backs come across as this to Mike and the bots.Deathstalker: Why do I always keep getting mixed up with princesses?!
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Crow wonders how long the accents at the start of the movie will last. They end up getting dropped within the next line of dialogue.Crow: [as Deathstalker, with a thick Dixie accent, as the first princess mounts his horse] I knewest thou would come around!
- Overly Long Gag: A delirious Pearl calling Dr. Forrester's name: "Claaaaaaaaaaayyyyytooooonnnnn!!!"
- Renaissance Fair: They're overpriced, condescending, and all-around disappointing, based on the King Vitaman Renaissance Festival the 'Bots put on, but Mike's never been to one and is only too happy to get the full experience of being fleeced and insulted.Mike: Oh, right! You're hurling medieval insults at me. Well, lay on, ratcatcher! [hearty stage laugh]
Crow: Ah, yeah, right. Well, come on, King Urinal. - Ring of Power: Servo smiths a few in the final segment. The first one doesn't quite work, but after a quick zap back in the forge, it works all too well, summoning a balrog from Khazad-dûm. Once he's sure it's properly in-the-darkness binding them, Tom's back to work on seven more for the dwarf-lords in their halls of stone.
- Running Gag:
- Many about how Nicias the wizard looks like he stepped out of a Lord of the Rings book.
- As well as the cast looking like members of '80s rock bands ("It's Michael McDonald versus the guy from Loverboy!") dropped into a RenFair.
- The numerous jokes about the bat wings on the warriors' helmets. Squeak! Squeak!
- And the incessant potato jokes when Deathstalker's girlfriend is onscreen (see The Stinger below).
- Say My Name: "Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton!"Pearl: ...You're killing me, Clayton!
- At the end of the episode, as Dr. F drinks the posioned milk he prepares and keels over, Pearl utters his name one more time, no longer melodramatically whining and genuinely concerned.
- Shout-Out:
- The poisoned milk scene at the end is lifted from Alfred Hitchcock's film Suspicion.
- There are numerous shout-outs to The Lord of the Rings, including the closing sketch where Servo attempts to forge a Ring of Power for Mike. Keep in mind this was several years before the movies came out.
- Sick Episode: Pearl has an intestinal parasite and is making Clayton suffer along with her.
- Sissy Villain: Invoked. Troxartas' bitchy behavior, hammy delivery, and skort evoke this reaction from Mike and the 'bots.Troxartas: So... I've found my lost bride at last.
Crow: [as Elizena] Oh, you're a guy!
Elizena: You're...
[Troxartas pulls down his scarf]
Servo: [as Troxartas] Priscilla! Queen of the desert.- Crow then has Troxartas claim he's Mr. B Natural later.
- So Bad, It's Good: In-Universe example. During one of the ineptly-shot battle scenes, Mike chuckles and declares "This is one of the most ambitiously bad movies we've ever done."
- Spell My Name With An S: When the opening credits show "John Allen Nelson" in a faux-Old English (Tom dubs it "Extra Stuf Germanic") font:Mike: Relson? What kinda name is Relson?
Servo: "Nelson", it's "Nelson".
Mike: That's one of the most clearly printed "R"s I've ever seen!- ...After which Deathstalker gets called "Relson" through the rest of the experiment. Considering that Mike knows very well what the word "Nelson" should look like, this might be a case of It's Personal.
- Stylistic Suck: The RenFest during Segments 2 and 3 is terrible, incredibly overpriced and full of bored out-of-character performers and a dead camel, but Mike can't get enough, and the 'Bots take him for all he's worth.
- Take That!:
- The host segments really take apart RenFests.
- "The Michigan Militia!"
- Tempting Fate: Mike calls this the most "ambitiously bad movie" the SOL had ever screened. Ya sure about that, Mike?
- Too Kinky to Torture: Deathstalker seems to enjoy being tied down by the female Dragon a little bit too much, and Crow calls him out on it.Crow: His "area" is mocking us!!
- Viewer Name Confusion: In-universe. The character's name is Troxartas, not "Trucks Artist".Servo: Can you paint my van?
Mike: It's Trucksartas, SUNDAY at the Metrodome!
Crow: [as Deathstalker] Trucks artist! Good! I was thinking maybe the cover of Mars Hotel on my van. - Waking Non Sequitur: A subversion. After Crow reads to Pearl, she tells Clayton about it, but he assumes it's just the medication talking.Pearl: [half-asleep] There was a small golden man reading to me from a dirty book.
- With Catlike Tread: To escape the bat soldiers chasing him, Deathstalker swings onto a tree limb above the trail, where Tom Servo points out he is still in plain sight.Tom: (imitating soldiers) Hi Deathstalker, how you doin' up there? Watch your head, Deathstalker... Last guy in line, you wanna just stab Deathstalker up there?
