MST3K pulls off an incredible act of bad movie excavation with The Mummy Theme Park

While browsing through a selection of year-in-film pages on Wikipedia, I came across an interesting pattern that caught my attention. Nestled among the more prominent and influential titles were numerous Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) movies. This observation made me ponder whether MST3K would have preserved any of these films, such as Mitchell, if it had not been for the show.

Most of the movies screened on the Satellite of Love would have likely been lost to time without the efforts of Frank Conniff and his successors in movie-screening for the show. A prime example of this is Manos: The Hands of Fate, whose legacy is largely due to MST3K. Despite the criticisms from filmmakers and actors whose work has been featured on the show, MST3K is an invaluable force for film preservation.

The series is often referred to as film excavation, as it brings to light movies that might have otherwise been forgotten. When you think you've encountered every low-budget, so-bad-its-good movie, along comes The Mummy Theme Park with its clunky title, conspicuous dubbing, and scrappy visual ingenuity. This movie is a perfect example of the question Joel Hodgson asked while reading The Golden Turkey Awards in college: "Why isn't anyone making shows with these adorable, weird movies?"

While The Mummy Theme Park is leering and racist, it is charming in its strangeness. Its parallels to other Italian-produced MST3K movies are evident in scenes involving the Osiris statue, but it is also unlike anything else that has aired on the show. Director Alvaro Passeri's cartoon vision of Egypt, complete with forced-perspective sets, miniatures, and rear projection scenery, creates a unique visual feast for Mike and the 'bots.

The mummies are particularly great fodder for some Muppet-voiced inner monologue, leaving plenty of material for Servo, Mike, and Crow to riff on. Despite not having the production values and art direction of MST3K itself, The Mummy Theme Park still manages to create a unique experience that is both entertaining and surprising. It's a testament to the enduring appeal of MST3K and its ability to uncover hidden gems in the world of cinema.