MST3K XV From Shout Factory DVD Review by Ian Friedman

MST3K XV on DVD from Shout Factory is another excellent release that fans of the series are going to want to pick up immediately.

Since Shout Factory took over releasing MST3K from Rhino, everything has improved. One thing I should mention even before I talk about the movies and extras themselves is the wonderful cover designs done by Steve Vance. After having to enjoy Photoshop fests on the Rhino discs, these vivid and often quite humorous covers (and postcards) are a great added value.

The titles selected for this set are all over the place in terms of when they were made. You have a nice mix of Mike (Zombie Nightmare and Racket Girls) and Joel (The Girls in Lovers Lane and The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy) titles. Zombie Nightmare is a personal favorite so it was a joy to see on DVD (along with two interviews with Thor and lead actor Frank Dietz). The Canada jokes mixed with Adam West hamming the living crap out of his role is a joy to watch. Racket Girls and its “look” at the seedy side of Womens Pro Wrestling is side splitting. The Senate investigation part (which means a guy sits at a desk behind a big American flag and asks another guy questions) will have you rolling on the floor.

The audio/visual quality for the episodes is perfect, but as always the source material used itself for the experiment can vary. However, you can now toss all your old tapes you may have of these episodes. The set comes with some very nice extras--the aforementioned Zombie Nightmare interviews (which features a cameo by the Rondo Award sitting on Frank Dietz’s shelf!), an original trailer for Racket Girls, and the MST3K Scrapbook split over two discs. It’s great if you’ve never seen any clips of KTMA before. There is also a short clip from a project Kevin Murphy and Trace Belaulieu did voice work for called Hamlet ADD. MST3K is another great release from Shout Factory featuring great titles and great extras.

MST3K XV is a must buy for fans and I can’t wait for MST3K XVI coming in December. Great job Shout Factory!

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Mystery Science Theater 3000: XV