Day Two Hundred and Forty-seven - MST3K: The Final Sacrifice, "Rowsdower... ZAP Rowsdower!"

It's hard to imagine that an ancient doomsday cult would be looking for their Lost City of Gold(en painted cardboard) in the middle of Canada.

Really hard.

Still, Tjardus Greidanus (yes, that IS the name of the writer/director) seemed to think it would go over well enough to make a feature out of... a feature with a proto-goth/hipster villain and wave after wave of swarthy Canadian cultists dressed only in jeans, tank tops, and ski masks. I still can't decide which look was more effective... the cultists wielding machetes or the cultists brandishing WW2 era firearms?

Pearl and Brain Guy picked a doozy of a stinker for Mike and the Bots to watch, though they definitely manage to hold their own against the DEEP HURTING. There are more than a few laugh out loud moments peppered throughout the film, though I think my favorites revolve around young protagonist Troy (a stick insect of a boy) and his weaselly way of shouting out Canadian action star Zap Rowsdower's name. 

I mean, with a name like Rowsdower, he has to be tough, right? His peers wouldn't let him survive any other way.

The story, what little there is, pretty much unravels in the second to third act transition when it's necessary to get some exposition from grizzled mountain man Mike Pipper (he worked with Troy's dead father trying to research the cult) who just so happens to miraculously live in the cabin that Troy and Rowsdower hide from the cultists in. Talk about your sparsely populated countries (or horrible plot contrivances) when a plot stick crawls out of the attic right in front of you.

While I think I could watch certain MST3K films on their own without commentary, The Final Sacrifice is just too stupid to survive without help. Luckily Mike and the Bots have a good set of jokes to work with. It's not as strong a comedic showing as, say, Soultaker, but they definitely get the job done... and even throw in a Twin Peaks reference!

As far as the commercial break sketches, I'm really not convinced by Pearls attempts to conquer the world one person at a time, but the Hockey Hair bits were cute. This is especially true whenever Bobo whines for attention and goodies, a role that Kevin has done well in other episodes like with the Babysitter and Brain Guy.

All in all, The Final Sacrifice rates higher than Pod People, about the same as Gamera (which we'll get to soon) and more than a fair bit below Soultaker. Worth the watch, for sure, but definitely not the best.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~