Episode #006 - Starcrash

I LIIIIVE!!!!  So sorry for the long hiatus, but between my computer dying, everyone in the house being in a perpetual state of sick, and the three feet of snow dumped on us in January, I haven't been able to drop a decent update for three months.  But I'm back now with a new episode, dissecting one of my favorite 70's Italian space operas, Luigi Cozzi's 1979 cheesefest Starcrash!  Enter a universe where the Empire are the good guys, an ex-child preacher with the greatest white-guy 'fro this side of Bob Ross can see into the future, Caroline Munro picks up an American accent, and David Hassellhoff gets to swing a lightsaber! This film was a relatively late entry in the sci-fi boom touched off by the release of Star Wars in 1977, but it's far more than just another Star Wars ripoff.  Luigi Cozzi was a sci-fi fanboy before the word "fanboy" was even coined, and it shows in the many homages to classic sci-fi cinema that can be found here.  The low budget is painfully obvious in Starcrash, but so is a deep respect for the works that preceded it.  So strap in to your smuggling craft, and go for hyperspace!

Episode #006 - Starcrash

Music:

"Bump in the Night" - Kevin Macleod - www.incompetech.com

"Space Oddity"(instrumental) - David Bowie

"Jellyfish in Space" - Kevin Macleod - www.incompetech.com

"Intuit256" - Kevin Macleod - www.incompetech.com















http://archive.org/download/Episode006STARCRASH/Episode_006_STARCRASH.mp3

Bad news, folks...

Some things have come up that have disrupted my plans for this podcast and its sister cast, the Cardiac Yak Track.  Between a few household accidents that have required my attention, a nasty bout of the flu, and the demise of my PC (while the podcast has always been recorded on my iPhone, my PC is where I edit, mix, and post it), Abnormal State Theatre is going on a temporary hiatus.  Once my system is back up and running, I will post Episode 6 of AST, followed shortly by Episode 1 of the Cardiac Yak Track.  Apologies once again, and thank you for your patience.

-RDG

Episode #005 - Eegah

Only a day late this time--I'm improving!

This month I head into the screening chamber to tangle with the 1962 caveman musical Eegah, co-written, produced, and directed by Arch Hall, Sr. (under the pseudonym Nicholas Merriwether), and starring Arch Hall, Jr., Richard Kiel (best known for his turn as Jaws in a couple of 007 flicks), Marilyn Manning, and Arch Hall, Sr. (under the pseudonym William Watters).  So get ready for some surf rock, made-up caveman gibberish, actresses portraying characters half their age, dubbing that would make Godzilla himself stop in his tracks, and some really creepy family quality time.  You may have seen this movie with the aid of Joel and the Bots on MST3K (which is coming back!--you'll hear more in the News section), but can you take on Eegah raw, uncut, and unMSTed??
Watch out for snakes!

Episode #005 - Eegah

Music:

"Lost In Space Season 3 theme" - John Williams

"Mystery Science Theater Opening Theme" - Charlie Erickson and Joel Hodgson

"Love Theme from MST3K" - Charlie Erickson and Joel Hodgson

"Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie Main Title" - Billy Barber

"Airport Lounge" - Kevin Macleod - www.incompetech.com

"Riptide" - Kevin Macleod - www.incompetech.com

"Theme from Eegah" - Arch Hall, Jr. and the Archers

"Bruder des Schattens" - Popol Vuh

"Vicki" - Arch Hall, Jr. and the Archers

"Valerie" - Arch Hall, Jr. and the Archers

"I Ran" - A Flock of Seagulls







http://archive.org/download/ASTEPISODE005EEGAH/AST_EPISODE_005_EEGAH.mp3

Episode #004.5 - BONUS EPISODE - Robot Monster Audio Commentary Track

As promised, here is the bonus episode to make up for my tardiness in posting for the past couple of months.  This time around instead of my normal review, I recorded an audio commentary track for Phil Tucker's best-known film, 1953's Robot Monster.  If you've ever used Rifftrax in the past or listened to other audio commentary podcasts, you know the drill as far as syncing things up goes.  If not, I explain it all at the beginning.  This is my very first time recording an audio commentary track, and doing it solo was quite the challenge, but hopefully the end result doesn't suck too much.  Starting next month, I will be recording a second podcast under the Clockwork Cardiac banner devoted solely to B-movie audio commentary, The Cardiac Yak Track.  If all goes well, Abnormal State Theater will update around the end/beginning of each month, and The Cardiac Yak Track will update in the middle of the month.

Episode #004.5 - Robot Monster Audio Commentary






















http://archive.org/download/ASTEPISODE0045ROBOTMONSTERAUDIOCOMMENTARY/AST_EPISODE_004_5_ROBOT_MONSTER_AUDIO_COMMENTARY.mp3

Episode #004 - Metropolis

Sorry again for the late update - October was a crazy month for me.  This episode was recorded in October but every time I sat down to edit I was interrupted.  I have an idea for a new podcast to run parallel to this one, and I'm going to test it on the next episode, which will be VERY soon.

This time around, we explore the progenitor of the sci-fi genre as we know it, Fritz Lang's 1927 silent classic Metropolis.  I can think of no other film that has been so mistreated and maligned and yet also managed to make a triumphant comeback over 80 years after its original release.  We'll be comparing and contrasting two versions of the movie:  Giorgio Moroder's 1984 edition that was the first major step in bringing this film back to its original glory, and the definitive restoration released in 2010, which is likely the closest we'll ever get to seeing Metropolis as audiences saw it at its premiere.  This is a bit of a departure for a podcast that specializes in schlock, but without this film, sci-fi (and all of the cheesy films that fall within the genre) might have ended up being a completely different beast...

Episode #004 - Metropolis

Music:

"Big Bar Fight" - Greg Edmonson

"Star Wars - Main Title" - John Williams

"Back To The Future" - Alan Silvestri

"Isle of Innisfree" - Dick Farrelly

"Happy Days Theme" - Charles Fox & Norman Gimbel

"Buddy Holly" - Weezer

"Metaphysik" - Kevin Macleod - www.incompetech.com

"Metropolis Opening Titles" - Gottfried Huppertz

"Machines" - Giorgio Moroder

"Hand Balance Redux" - Kevin Macleod - www.incompetech.com

"Hyperfun" - Kevin MacLeod - www.incompetech.com

"Destruction" - Loverboy

"What's Going On?" - Adam Ant

"Love Kills" - Freddie Mercury

"Here She Comes" - Bonnie Tyler

"Rotwang" - Gottfried Huppertz

"The New Tower of Babel" - Gottfried Huppertz

"Cage of Freedom" - Jon Anderson

"Express Yourself" - Madonna

"Radio Ga Ga" Queen

"The Throne Room" - John Williams

"Star Wars" (disco version) - Meco








https://archive.org/download/ASTEPISODE004METROPOLIS/AST_EPISODE_004_METROPOLIS.mp3

Episode #003 - The Terror of Tiny Town

A thousand pardons for being away so long!  Real life intruded once again and threw me off my game, but I'm back with a brand new episode that was actually recorded around the middle of the month but couldn't be edited and released till now.  I'm shooting for mid-October for the next episode to drop.

In this episode, we get a hobbit's eye view of formula B-westerns with Jed Buell's 1938 novelty film The Terror of Tiny Town, a horse opera with an all midget cast...and not much else.


Episode #003 - The Terror of Tiny Town


Music:

"Star Wars - Main Title" - John Williams

"Nosferatu Opening Titles" - Hans Erdmann

"Lara's Theme" - Maurice Jarre

"The Green Hills of Tyrol" - Traditional Scottish March

"Batman" - Nelson Riddle

"A Nightmare on Elm Street - Theme Song (Prologue)" - Charles Bernstein

"The Love Bug Theme" - George Bruns

"Anamalie" - Kevin Macleod - www.incompetech.com

"Wagon Wheel" - Kevin Macleod - www.incompetech.com








http://archive.org/download/ASTEPISODE003THETERROROFTINYTOWN/AST_EPISODE_003_THE_TERROR_OF_TINY_TOWN.mp3

Apologies are in order...

I've been playing with an idea for the next episode that, while I still believe can work, ended up being far too time-consuming with all of the other stuff going on in my life (health issues, family, etc.).  The upshot of this is that I'm putting that episode on the back burner and the next episode will be for August AND September, and will post some time the first week of September.  At some point later this year I'll double up episodes for a month to get things caught up.  In the meantime, thanks so very much for your patience as I continue to find my rhythm.

Peace,

RDG