105- THE CORPSE VANISHES with short: COMMANDO CODY PT 3

This 1942 black and white thriller features Bela Lugosi as, surprise, a mad scientist who kills young women for glandular fluid that he uses to keep his own aging wife young and alive. He has two evil assistants, again surprise, a malevolent dwarf and a huge oaf. Commando Cody (Radar Men From The Moon) Part 3 is also riffed by the crew of the SOL. Tom Servo's head explodes for the first of many times in one of the host segments. Commando Cody and Bela Lugosi in the same episode equals much fun.


501- WARRIOR OF THE LOST WORLD

A color film from 1983 by David Worth and starring Robert Ginty ("The Paper Chase Guy"), Persis Khambatta and Donald Pleasance. This "High Plains Drifter" knock-off with motorcycles and post-apocalyptic geeks is a laugh riot from beginning to end. The talking motorcycle, slinky Nastasia (Khambatta) evil dictator Prossor (Donald Pleasance), and Megaweapon are must-see entertainment. The running gag regarding the refusal to "remember" the starring actor's name is hilarious. Tom Servo riffing on dozens of people in under one minute is legendary. A really strong episode.


521- SANTA CLAUS

This 1959 color film is a Mexican import courtesy of K. Gordon Murray. It is bizarre in the extreme. Santa lives on a cloud in outer space with children from all over the Earth as his helpers. The opening of the film showing the various cultures of the children is out-dated, weird, possibly offensive and achingly funny. The film only gets stranger from there as Santa has to go to Earth to deliver toys using all manner of wizardry conjured up by his assistant, the wizard Merlin. The host segment featuring Mike and the 'Bots as the rock band "Santa Klaws" is worth the price of admission all by itself.


701- NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST with short: ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON

A black-and-white Roger Corman film made in 1958 is about an astronaut who returns to Earth seemingly dead at first, but he later turns out to be alive and pregnant with alien young! If the premise of the film isn't funny enough, MST3K certainly makes it so. Filmed in Bronson Canyon like many other fun films (e.g., Robot Monster, It Conquered The World), it also features re-used props from other Corman films. This is one of only seven episodes in MST3K season seven and features the beginnings of the Pearl Forrester character in Deep 13 after the departure of Frank Conniff from the show. Pretty much any Roger Corman film used on MST3K made for a good episode of the show and this one is no exception.

Extras:
* New interview with "Warrior of the Lost World" director David Worth
* Santa Claus Conquers the Devil: A 50-Year Retrospective
* Santa Claus original radio spot
* Santa Claus still gallery
* Teaser trailer for "Wonder World of K. Gordon Murray in Colorscope"
* Night of the Blood Beast Turkey Day host segments
* Turkey Day `95 bumpers
* Original theatrical trailers
* Four exclusive MST3K lobby cards by artist Steve Vance
* Also, in a limited-edition version there's a Tom Servo figurine

I'll just wait for the regular set that'll come out.

I need that Servo figure to go with my Crow. Santa Clause is fucking classic too. Easy purchase for me.

Same here, I love my Crow figure.

Day one purchase at any price.

Same here. I missed the first one, and quite honestly my shelves are too full of "stuff" as it is. I'm fine getting the regular releases to just slide right onto the shelf with the rest of them.

Oh goody. More Season 1.

I'll still pick it up, of course.

I can't wait to get that Tom figurine to go along with my Crow figurine.

Pre-ordered mine the other day.

The Servo will be a nice addition, but I am down for the mini-posters. Those things are too cool.

On the box it says that "Santa Claus" was licenced from BCI Eclipse.
Huh? It was licensed from a defunct company?

It was my understanding that "Santa Claus Conquers the Devil: A 50-Year Retrospective" was prepared in anticipation of a restored "Santa Claus." Sad that the current trend of diminishing classic releases means that the only outlet for certain oldies will be in their MST3K version only. I love MST3K, of course, but the print they use is so ragged that the title is missing.

I managed to score a TV copy of Santa Claus. Looks great