Jack Frost and MST3K

This is an odd one for today, but I debated it all week and finally decided it's a fun Saturday entry.  Mystery Science Theater 3000, Vol. XVIII (Lost Continent / Crash of the Moons / The Beast of Yucca Flats / Jack Frost) was released to DVD this week and the reason why I am highlighting it here is for Jack Frost, of course. 

Jack Frost is one of the many fairy tale film cult classics from Eastern Europe.  (See the list of these on SurLaLune.)  The film is also know as Father Frost and Morozko.  These films are beloved favorites for many people who grew up seeing them.  They are not nearly silly enough to be considered great fodder for MST3K treatment, but the English dubbing has often made them better candidates.

I haven't watched much MST3K in recent years, but it used to be a regular Friday night activity with my brother back in the days when I still lived at home with my parents--a long time ago!  I still remember my first exposure--the movie Daddy-O--and after I adjusted to the entire premise, I laughed a lot.  I still do.  And now I am feeling a little nostalgic for Tom Servo...

You can read more about this particular collection at Criterion Cast.

And here is a trailer for Father Frost, not the MST3K version, just the film itself which you can still buy used although it is out of print.

The last film of the set is one Jack Frost, which they did during the Sci-Fi Channel years. They got them to bend the rules every so often, to stray from the usual sci-fi fare and to do something more out of the ordinary. And what’s more out of the ordinary than a Russian fairy tale film in beautiful color? We have a hero turn into a bear, an evil stepmother, a witch in a house with legs and a mushroom man. And I’m not making any of that up. It’s actually one of the better films they’ve ever covered, but because of the horrid dubbing within, it makes for great banter for the crew. They somehow take one of the crazier films and turn up the goofy factor to 11 and we all win because of it.