#813: Jack Frost
Jack Frost, near as we can figure, is a Russo-Finnish co-production. Like so many of our movies, it is comprised of a bunch of unrelated elements which then are sort of taped together to form a tangible blob of moving pictures to which we viewers apply our persistence of vision and suspend our disbelief. I think... I'm guessing... I have been led to believe by the film that: the lovely, sweet Nastinka is despised by her stepmother who favors her own daughter. Nastinka meets Ivan in the woods one day, after he's had a long day of frolicking with a mushroom dwarf who then puts a spell on Ivan for his conceitedness.
The spell turns Ivan into a bear shortly after meeting Nastinka. Nastinka feels she is to blame, as all women do everywhere for every thing, and searches the land to find Ivan, who himself is trying to find out how to reverse the spell. I think. I've only seen the movie seven or eight times, so it's all kind of unclear. Meanwhile, the evil step-mother is trying to marry off the other daughter. Throw in a bunch of elves, witches, dancing houses, snow and, of course, Jack Frost, who screws everything up then puts it all to right.
Prologue: Mike Nelson IS Michael Flatley in Lord of the Dance. Gypsy looks on, duly unimpressed.
Segment One: Pearl Forrester is away, taking the prescient children from Episode 812 back to their omnipotent parents. She has left Observer and Bobo alone, and Bobo insists he's in charge; but Brain Guy has to take care of Bobo's daily ablutions. Bobo confronts Brain Guy about his odor de body and Mike gently referees.
Segment Two: Crow brings in an expert to elucidate the film, Yakov Smirnoff, played by prop-master extrodinaire Patrick Brantseg. Yakov doesn't know jack about the film, natch.
Segment Three: Crow has taken his bear simulation to the extreme, and down on the "Camping Planet" [as was our working title for the scenes not shot on the SOL] Bobo and Brain guy have finally, grudgingly bonded.
Segment Four: Who better to explicate the film than the drummer of Survivor's great-aunt Gladys Fletcher's friend Eunice Torgeson's estranged half-brother Earl Torgeson, a butcher in Sanford, Maine, who specializes in old-world sausages, who visits the SOL and recounts many a tale and fable about the movie Jack Frost.
Segment Five: Servo is darling. He's cute. He's adorable... as he persistently insists. Down in Camping Planet, Bobo and Brain Guy have an intense tête-à-tête about whether Every Which Way But Loose or Every Which Way You Can is the better ape film. They bring Mike down to con-fab, and Pearl arrives back declaring that Dunston Checks In is the best ape movie ever.
This movie had one of my favorite characters ever, the mean step-sister. The step-sister was, how shall I say, a virile woman with a deep, dubbed voice. She was mean and spiteful and spoiled but I daresay she wasn't irredeemable, nor can she wholly be blamed. She was a product of bad parenting! And she made me laugh, especially when she's getting made-up by her mother; when she's trying to fake her way through dinner; and most especially when she brawls with Jack Frost himself.
- Mary Jo Pehl
Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie/episodes availability on video
and on DVD and even books
The best book for looking up movie titles and descriptions is the Movie / Video Guide by Leonard Maltin. How good is it? Well, Jack Frost didn't make it in...
This movie is also available on videotape without MST3000 segments (just make up your own jokes as you enjoy it again)
