The latest Mystery Science Theater 3000 revival on Netflix has highlighted some exceptionally strange films; its weirdest title was a movie directed by a horror icon who was brutally murdered in his own home.
The Netflix revival of MST3K, which ran for two seasons beginning in 2017, was lauded for its new cast and storyline. Created by Joel Hodgson and featuring comedian Jonah Ray as the new host, it combined the strongest elements of the previous versions of the show. Ray played Jonah Heston, the third unfortunate test subject on the Satellite of Love. Kidnapped and forced to watch bad movies by a mad scientist and her minions, Heston and various ‘bots riffed on an inspired selection of obscure and poorly-made titles.
The new seasons, consisting of 20 episodes, featured some bold film choices including the campy Bigfoot movie Cry Wilderness, the E.T. at McDonalds’ favorite Mac and Me, and Ash Vs. Evil Dead’s Lee Majors in Killer Fish. But the weirdest title, pulled out of obscurity, was a movie never released theatrically that made by a low-budget horror icon. The movie in question was Carnival Magic, a 1981 comedy, ostensibly made for kids, about a struggling traveling carnival that suddenly becomes successful when their resident magician (Don Stewart) incorporates his talking chimp into the magic act. After the discovery of a pristine print in 2009, the film, thought lost for years, was restored and televised on TCM.
Horror Icon Al Adamson’s Weirdest Film Was A Mystery Science Theater Target
A year following this discovery, Carnival Magic received a DVD release and became a cult hit with fans of odd, obscure cinema. The movie was a labor of love for director Al Adamson, a horror icon responsible for some of the strangest exploitation films of the 1960s and 1970s. Though he made films in a variety of genres, he was best known for his horror output. Famous for re-using old footage and incoherency, Adamson's most popular titles included Blood of Ghastly Horror (1967), Dracula Vs. Frankenstein (1971) and the bizarre, Carrie-influenced Nurse Sherri (1978). Carnival Magic was one of the director’s final films and exhibits many of his trademarks; bad acting, negligible writing and low production values.
Though created as a film for kids, there are inappropriate adult themes and a seedy, exploitation atmosphere better suited to Adamson’s earlier films. Alex, the talking chimp, does little to advance the plot, and his “talking” is limited to grunting and a muffled word or two. It was the director’s penultimate film before he turned to real estate. Years after Adamson retired from filmmaking, he was murdered by his live-in contractor who buried him underneath a tile floor. It was a tragic and somewhat ironic death for a man who made a living making violent horror and exploitation films. A complete set of Adamson’s work was recently released on disc through Severin Films and the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode can still be streamed on Netflix.