The movie-riffing royalty of Cinematic Titanic return for another hilarious engagement with a live-staged skewering of the 1968 sci-fi horror fiasco WAR OF THE INSECTS. Originally titled GENOCIDE in its Japanese release, this unintentional comedy will kill you with laughter as stock footage of bees and bugs wage a preposterous battle against humanity to control our planet.
Appearing alongside the film and riffing in real-time, the Titans Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl and J. Elvis Weinstein sink their mandibles into this inane, poorly dubbed movie. The rapid-fire punchlines delivered while spoofing this buggy flick results in one of Cinematic Titanic's best DVDs yet. This hilarious quintet of ad-libbers celebrate the best of Mystery Science Theater's tradition of on-screen parody while adding CT's unique energy from their on-stage antics in front of a live audience.
WAR OF THE INSECTS, a gloriously awful film made with the dimmest of cinematic visions, is a perfect target for the Titans' relentless wit and pop culture punchlines. See swarms of bees overtake and destroy an American nuclear bomber at 30,000 feet! Hear cartoonish voices dub out-of-sync dialogue for Japanese actors! Feel your seat dampen with raucous laughter as the Titans riff-eree this battle of bugs and mankind! Cinematic Titanic presents another must-own DVD in their Live format, operating at the highest levels of their comedic art.
On its own questionable merits, WAR OF THE INSECTS is more like a war on your intellect with its daffy plot about an evil, bikini-clad bug-lover Annabelle plotting with a new species of insects in a sting operation against humanity to rule the world. No, the Titans didn't ad-lib this, that's the plot of the original movie! The bugs of the world are tired of people destroying the environment and dropping their atomic bombs all over the place, so it's time for the insects to fight back. Annabelle is developing this new strain of bee with a really nasty venom which drives humans insane before it kills them, then lays their eggs in the victim to spawn more bad bugs. Wash, rinse, retreat! Typical of this era of Japanese cinema, there's also an anti-war subtext stumbling through the story, supposedly providing Annabelle a valid (if insane) motivation for giving the military warmongers a taste of their own radioactive medicine by unleashing these atomic buggers upon the world in a . . . genocide!
This kooky plot gives the Titans plenty of riffing opportunities on its own, especially when a test of the insect venom allows Dr. Nagumo to psychically connect with the bugs and hear their plan to destroy humanity. Hilariously incongruous stock footage shows close-ups of insects chewing on skin and ridiculous WWII montages to fabricate an insect war the filmmakers couldn't actually afford to capture on-camera. Likewise Annabelle makes a truly silly villain who sides with the bugs because "insects never lie". . . though they do tend to nibble away at you until you go insane then die. Well, nobody's perfect!
The Titans riff away on the film's cheap models and scenes talking about the insect war all happening off-screen. Mary Jo fires off a brilliant one-liner linking goofy flashbacks to Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE. Joel also turns a tender moment between lovers into a soap opera-esque "coming attractions" of the very next scene that garners big laughs. Trace and J. Elvis share a great riff about "Hate Songs of the '70s" as the film cuts away to a useless shot of the ocean crashing on the shoreline rocks.
Topical humor peppers the Titans' comments from start to finish, making fun of the prospects of a Michelle Bachmann presidency, warning a character to dive away from a speeding Toyota with faulty brakes, and comparing a male actor's costume to Ellie May Clampett. The CT crew work in several funny song references as well, turning the film's theme into a rip off of "You Made Me Love You," satirizing the venom test of a guinea pig with a Neil Young hit, and J. Elvis accompanying the film's apocalyptic ending with "Tomorrow" from ANNIE.
The Titans riff a few inside jokes too as shots of a shaded lantern recall Crow T. Robot for continued "pandering" to MST3K fans. Also, this live stage format allows the CT crew to interact with the audience as they flub a few riffs and tell squealers to just deal with the insect chomping shots.
Both technically and comically, WAR OF THE INSECTS is probably the best DVD that Cinematic Titanic has released, even topping their previous masterpiece EAST MEETS WATTS. While the original film is cropped in from its 2.35:1 aspect ratio in order to show the Titans riffing at both sides of the screen, the image clarity of this 1968 low-budget clunker is surprisingly good and the film's sound levels (albeit horribly dubbed into English) are distinct to balance well with the quick-fire riffs. While unrated, Cinematic Titanic offers their approximate rating of PG-13 for some mild adult language used in riffing, so this DVD isn't for the littlest ones but otherwise all members of that rating range will enjoy the disc. Extras include three previews of other CT Live disc titles including EAST MEETS WATTS, THE ALIEN FACTOR and DANGER ON TIKI ISLAND, plus a short promo video with the Titans showing how fun the Live riffing tour appearances can be and fan interviews from the tour audiences to back it up. Cinematic Titanic tour info can be accessed on their website.
Were one to watch the original GENOCIDE undoctored, the film would be a miserable, ridiculous failure, but it proves the perfect fodder for Cinematic Titanic, raising the bar for the movie and the Titans for a fun game of outdoing each other in hilarity. WAR OF THE INSECTS offers viewers the best (and worst) of both worlds, marrying a terrible low-budget B-movie with A-list comic minds to create a laugh-filled DVD experience that must be seen to be believed, and one you can enjoy again and again. FilmEdge rates WAR OF THE INSECTS a full five-stars for sheer comic audacity and prime movie riffing that equals or surpasses the heights of MST3K's best work of the past. If you or someone you know have ever laughed, be sure to add WAR OF THE INSECTS to your gift list this holiday season and get your belly shaking like a bowl full of jelly!
(5 stars)
This kooky plot gives the Titans plenty of riffing opportunities on its own, especially when a test of the insect venom allows Dr. Nagumo to psychically connect with the bugs and hear their plan to destroy humanity. Hilariously incongruous stock footage shows close-ups of insects chewing on skin and ridiculous WWII montages to fabricate an insect war the filmmakers couldn't actually afford to capture on-camera. Likewise Annabelle makes a truly silly villain who sides with the bugs because "insects never lie". . . though they do tend to nibble away at you until you go insane then die. Well, nobody's perfect!