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Film Crew (The): Wild Women Of Wongo
R0 - America - Shout! Factory Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (2nd October 2007). |
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The Film
 "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988-1999) alumni Bill Crobett, Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy are back again with their third release in "The Film Crew" series of DVDs. These three guys take the time to record a commentary for films that sorely require one; these films are usually among the worst schlock films ever made. Previous entries into this series included "Hollywood After Dark" (1968) and "Killers from Space" (1954), this time the crew takes a jab at the 1958 stinker "The Wild Women of Wongo" and basically tear it apart. The similarities to the other films are fairly standard: terrible script, acting and production values. These quickie films were essentially made for the drive-in market and usually packaged with other films, it's fair to say that these films weren't really made to watch, they were made to ignore while you made out with your girlfriend. Unfortunately for everyone these films survived and remain camp classic films planted firmly in the ‘so-bad-they're-good' category as "The Wild Women of Wongo" is just one of those films that's so unintentionally stupid it's entertaining, well at least amid the boringly long establishing shots and generally lagging pace of the film. The film takes place on the tropical island of Wongo, where a tribe of beautiful women live. They discover that on the opposite side of the island lives a tribe of incredibly handsome men but also on the island are evil ugly ape men who plan to raid and capture the beautiful women. While the other two films in this series have actors that eventually made something of a career later in life, this one doesn't feature anyone that would later become famous. It's largely populated by amateurs that do their best cave man or woman impression. Suitably the crew spends their time ripping into the various weaknesses of the film and making occasionally funny remarks and quips. The commentary is amusing at times but can also get a bit boring, while the commentary provided on the first film "Hollywood After Dark" was mildly amusing I did find the second release "Killers from Space" to be the worst of the three with this one being slightly on par with the first release in terms of it's ability to generate laughter. There's really not that much else to say about this film, it's pretty bad and these guys do an ok job of bashing the film.
Video
The film includes some segments featuring the hosts, these segments are presented in 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen. These segments shot on a DV format are clean and feature no major problems, aside from the fact that it's non-anamorphic and the image is flat. The film "The Wild Women of Wongo" is in its original ratio of 1.33:1 full frame and is in very poor condition, the colors have faded drastically and look a puke green, the print is also damaged with piles of dirt and scratches and is pretty much exactly what you'd expect.
Audio
A single English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround track is included, the film's original soundtrack is not included and has been replaced with this track featuring the commentary. It's all dialogue focused and purely front heavy, the dialogue is clear and presented without distortion. It's as basic a track as they come and works fine for this feature. The disc does not feature any optional subtitles.
Extras
Shout! Factory has released this film with only a very minute collection of extras that includes a few clips, some bonus trailers and a collectible sticker. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up are 4 "Make The Film Crew Dance" clips, these can be viewed individually or with a /play all' function and include: - "Make Mike Dance" runs for 32 seconds, in this clip an angry Wongo woman makes Mike do a silly dance. - "Add Kevin" runs for 13 seconds, Kevin is forced into doing a dance as well with Mike. - "Add Bill" runs for 27 seconds, Bill initially questions it but is also made to dance. - "What Madness Drives Her?" runs for 17 seconds and they question her madness while still dancing. "Goodbye, Wongo-Style" is a clip which runs for 1 minute 35 seconds and sees all three film crew saying goodbye in the style from the film but Bill messes it up. Rounding out the extras are a couple of start-up bonus trailers for: - "The Film Crew" spot which runs for 1 minute 8 seconds. - "Zack Galafianakis Live at the Purple Onion" which runs for 1 minute 10 seconds. - "Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story" which runs for 1 minute 30 seconds. Also included inside the case is a limited edition vinyl sticker.
Overall
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