RIFFTRAX

Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett had a terrific time cracking jokes during awful movies on the tv show Mystery Science Theater 3000. With that show over, the trio continue the tradition, with both awful and great films, with Rifftrax.

Skipping the short skits and character silhouettes against the movie screen that were part of MST3K, Rifftrax is simple and direct: You have a dvd with the movie with comic commentaries, plus the movie by itself.

I've seen two Rifftrax takes on two movies -- the great Night of the Living Dead and the wretched Plan 9 from Outer Space -- and they both work well. While there's plenty of material to mock in Plan 9 from Outer Space, they still found plenty to "riff" on in the classic horror movie as well. The humor can sometimes be juvenile and the trio use plenty of running jokes, but you'll be laughing a lot by the movie's end. And hey, you can always see the movie as it was originally too!

So, if you're looking for something pretty silly and very funny, pick a movie you love -- or love to hate -- and get ready to enjoy people talking during the movie with Rifftrax.

Overall grade: A-
Reviewed by James Lynch