Pod People
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Pod People is a 1983 Spanish science fiction film directed by Juan Piquer Simón. A young boy discovers a lovable alien creature, but the alien's mother is on the prowl. The film was originally meant to be about evil aliens, but the plot was changed to cash in on the success of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The film was largely forgotten until 1991, when it was lampooned by movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.
While members of a rock band are camping in the woods, hunters nearby discover a stash of huge eggs and begin smashing them. One baby alien escapes while the mother takes her revenge, first on the hunters and then on members of the band. The baby, a furry creature with an elephant-like trunk, is lost in the woods and is found by Tommy, who lives in a secluded house with his mother and uncle. Tommy nicknames him "Trumpy", and they become playmates. As the dangerous mother alien continues looking for her child, the rock band seeks out Tommy's house for refuge. Trumpy's mother ends up killing Tommy's uncle (Bill), and two members of the rock group along with a "girl friend" of Rick (lead singer in the group).
The film features the fictional pop band's performance of "Burning Rubber Tires", which was lampooned in a sketch on Mystery Science Theater 3000 for its unintelligible lyrics, specifically the chorus, "hear the engines roll now", which was interpreted by the MST3K cast as "idiot control now". The lead singer's after-song gesture of making the A-OK sign, smiling, and saying, "It stinks" became a recurring in-joke on MST3K.
The film was distributed in the U.S. by Film Ventures International. In common with Cave Dwellers, another Film Ventures release spoofed by MST3K, the opening and ending credits for Pod People are superimposed over blurred footage from an entirely unrelated movie (in this case The Galaxy Invader (1985)).
[edit] DVD releases
- The MST3K version of the film was released by Rhino Home Video as part of the Collection, Volume 2 DVD set.
