RiffTrax Live: Day of the Shorts: SF Sketchfest 2019

Shorts, Volume 3 is a compilation release from Rhino Entertainment featuring seven popular shorts from Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was originally released on VHS and later as a limited bonus with The Essentials DVD set if the set was ordered through a special website offer. Shorts, Volume 3 has since been re-released by Shout! Factory in The Singles Collection. The seven shorts featured are: Speech: Using Your Voice (Episode #313), Aquatic Wizards (Episode #315), Is This Love? (Episode #514), Design for Dreaming (Episode #524), The Selling Wizard (Episode #603), Out of This World (Episode #618) and Once Upon a Honeymoon (Episode #701).

In the first national broadcast of Mystery Science Theater 3000, the Mads have moved into Deep 13, Joel has spruced up the Bots, and Forrest Tucker sleepwalks his way through this week's literally eye-popping film.

Starship Troopers is the tale of young trooper Johnny Rico, played by Casper Van Dien, star of this and...well, some direct to video sequels of this, mostly. He’s joined in the war by Denise Richards, impossible to believe as a gifted starship pilot long before she was impossible to believe as a gifted nuclear scientist in that Bond movie. He’s also joined by the great Neil Patrick Harris, who is somehow much easier to believe as an intelligence officer with psychic abilities that help him communicate with the giant bug aliens. Throw in Michael Ironside, because duh, it’s a war movie, you’re gonna need Michael Ironside, and Jake Busey, because duh, he just showed up on set and wouldn’t leave, add a love triangle, heaps of alien splatter, and you’ve got the sprawling, great, goofy mess that is Starship Troopers! Join Mike, Kevin, and Bill for this gorilla-gram free version of the blockbuster live show!

Dr. Clayton Forrester figures he can rule the world if he deadens his subjects' brains by making them endure terrible movies. Exploiting his access to nearby satellite-dwellers Mike Nelson and his robot pals, Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo, Forrester makes them watch "This Island Earth", a cheesy 1950s spaceship film. But when Mike and friends make funny comments throughout the movie and others that follow, Forrester's plan looks increasingly flimsy.

There’s still evil up there at the old Amityville house. A group of priests gathers to quell the demon that has long plagued this lovely five-bed, four-bath Dutch Colonial full of old-world charm and lots of curb appeal. BUT - the evil escapes! Which should have been made obvious by the movie’s title. And how does it escape? Like all evil does: by possessing a tacky floor lamp, getting sold at a garage sale and shipped to Los Angeles, where most evil household décor eventually finds a home. Soon the demonic floor lamp begins its reign of terror in the home of an innocent family, killing pets and home repairmen, forcing children to use power tools in unsafe ways, and possessing the soul of the youngest sister Jessica, who immediately begins to act like a total jerk. It’s up to the young priest Father Kibbler to save the family and confront the evil lamp, face-to-bulb, before more people die. Okay, more people DO die, but can Father Kibbler finally put an end to it?

In the far-off land of Kalid, President Amir lies on his deathbed. If this revered head-of-state dies, the brutal dictatorship that he has so lovingly cultivated will fall into a dark age of uncertainty and chaos. And so, in this moment of crisis, his loyal staff are left with no alternative but to choose the only logical and sensible course of action—to transfer Amir's brain into a younger, healthier, and most importantly, living body. Enter Doctor Robert Trenton, a mad scientist of the traditional 'they all laughed at me and now I'll show them' school. He, along with his assistant, Dorro, a little man with a big appetite for evil, and Tracy, a conniving beauty with a heart that's harder than her leathery, over-tanned skin, concoct a deliriously diabolical plan involving murder, body-napping, skullduggery, and oozy, gooey brains.

American spies discover the Chinese have built a weapon capable of destroying planet Earth, a "doomsday machine" if you will, and that they plan to use it within a matter of days. Will the human race survive?

The Escodero family is cursed!The mother, whom the Escodero children assumed to be dead, is actually an undead vampire who lurks in a secret basement/dungeon hidden from the rest of the house. When the kids discover this dark truth, all hell breaks loose...literally! The mother bites the son, who grows fangs and becomes consumed with blood lust. Meanwhile, all this vampire activity wreaks havoc on the daughter's romance with her handsome, dashing fiance. It all leads to a foray into the occult that ultimately proves true love can live on forever, but not before a mob of angry villagers and avenging priests take on the Devil himself in a climactic battle between good and evil. Set in nineteenth century Mexico and performed by a Filipino cast, "Blood of the Vampires" has something for everyone: blood-soaked action for the guys, tender romance for the ladies, and unleashed demonic rage for the frightened child within us all.

Watch Mike, Bill, Kevin, and an all-star crew of hilarious guest riffers take on seven classic less-than-educational shorts, filmed LIVE onstage at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre in January of this year, in all its gritty, low-light, shakey-cam glory! Show includes: Welcome Back Norman Perc! Pop! Sprinkle! - with Cole Stratton (Pop My Culture Podcast) and Janet Varney (The Legend of Korra) Choking: To Save a Life - with Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall) Cooking Terms More Dangerous Than Dynamite - with Adam Savage (Mythbusters) If Mirrors Could Speak - with Kristen Schaal (30 Rock, Bob’s Burgers, Flight of the Conchords) At Your Fingertips: Cylinders - with Paul F. Tompkins (Best Week Ever, Mr. Show, Tangled)

Mike, Kevin, and Bill take on some of the funniest, most unbelievable vintage shorts we've ever found, live in the beautiful Castro Theatre with a crew of hilarious guest riffers! Shorts performed during this event include One Turkey Two Turkey, Setting Up a Room, Writing Better Social Letters, Live and Learn, Making Sense with Sentences, and Safety - In Danger Out of Doors.

From the strange and ridiculously colorful world of K. Gordon Murray comes the 1959 Holiday classic Santa Claus. Made in Mexico and dubbed into glorious English, Santa Claus tells the story of, well, Santa Claus, who lives in a big white castle above us in Geosynchronous Orbit and watches over us all in a way that would make the NSA jealous. It’s Christmas Eve, and on Earth poor little Lupita wishes for a doll. Santa hears her wish and prepares for his yearly visit, helped by the heavily medicated Merlin the Wizard and Santa’s unintentionally creepy mechanical reindeer.