RiffTrax Presents Low Blows in High-Def - Page 2

· RiffTrax Live! House On Haunted Hill

On October 28, 2010, the RiffTrax gang followed up their live Reefer Madness broadcast with a special (colorized) Hallowe’en showing of 1959’s House on Haunted Hill starring Vincent Price. Once again, Mike, Kevin and Bill import some of the jokes heard in earlier versions of this title (both this and Reefer Madness were issued by Fox with optional Mike Nelson commentary, as well as a non-live RiffTrax version) and introduce the movie with the “educational” shorts Magical Disappearing Money, which finds an entire supermarket full of shoppers terrorized by a witch who wants them to save money; and Paper and I, a tale of a kid who builds an unhealthy relationship with a paper bag — which features a guest appearance by funnyman Paul F. Tomkins. The disc also includes a couple of bonus materials: a behind-the-scenes slide show, a couple of promos and a “Fun Trivia Slide Show” which replays the often-hilarious (fictional) fun facts that were displayed on movie screens prior to the start of the show (an example: “Did You Know? Vampires don’t sparkle.”). For those of you who are curious about the HD presentations on these releases, I have to say that these Blu-rays look pretty damn nice — and are recommended over their SD-DVD counterparts. Also available on DVD.

· RiffTrax: Shorts To-Go

It’s time once again to rekindle our romance with those horridly-humorous short flicks from yesteryear that so earnestly attempted to instruct boys and girls all across the nation on how to be morally and socially proficient. It stands to reason that these shorts didn’t quite succeed in their objective — often attributable to the fact that their intentions were either so contemptible by contemporary standards or the information they had at hand was completely erroneous. Not only do they make for fine entertainment today, but they come close to turning into gold once the RiffTrax crew give these mini-features the once-over. Included are Seat Belts: The Life-Saving Habits (which attempts to educate really stupid people that should be allowed to live anyway), Watch Out For My Plant (wherein an inner-city kid tries to grow a plant), Family Teamwork (sorry, what’s this “family” thing you speak of?), Whatever The Weather (which is told in rhyme — ugh), Are People All The Same? (a real weird one), Things Are Different Now (a piece on maturity), William’s Doll (a tale of a young lad who prefers dolls to trucks), and More Dangerous Than Dynamite (which is also on the Reefer Madness release).

Article Author: Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the disgruntled alter-ego of Adam Becvar, a thirtysomething lad from Northern California who has watched so many weird movies since the tender age of 3 that a conventional life is out of the question. …

Visit Luigi Bastardo's author page — Luigi Bastardo's Blog