Mystery Science Theater 3000 XV

Shout Factory's third Mystery Science Theater 3000 release is the 15th DVD collection for the show. As usual, it's a mixed bag of episodes: four films from various seasons whose only common link is that they haven't been released yet in any previous MST3K set. Each show, which features a human and two robot puppets ridiculing terrible movies, is over 90 minutes long, and with ten seasons to choose from it's unlikely that these DVD releases will slow down anytime soon. The set contains four episodes: "The Girl in Lover's Lane," a nonsensical, old black and white drama about drifters falling in love; "Racket Girls," a B-movie about female wrestling; "Zombie Nightmare," an '80s zombie picture starring Adam West; and "The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy" in which... well, the title kind of says it all. The best of the lot is "Zombie Nightmare," which is innately hilarious even without the commentary and, incidentally, was shot in the suburbs of Montreal. Not the best but of interest to fans is "The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy," which is the second episode of what's considered season one of the show (season "zero" was made for local cable station KTMA). Kevin Murphy's robot puppet Tom Servo is voiced by Josh Weinstein, who left the show soon after Comedy Central picked it up. The weakest episode of the set is "Racket Girls," which, despite the efforts of the MST3K cast, is unbearably dull. Nevertheless, number 15 is a worthy addition to the ever-expanding Mystery Science Theater DVD catalogue. Did I mention you get to see Adam West as a police captain hunting zombies? Well, you do. Special features include clips from the show's initial incarnation on KTMA, promos and, best of all, new interviews with the some of the non-Adam West stars of Zombie Nightmare.