Sunday Morning 33 - The Hellcats (1968) 

I noticed during the first bike party scene you'll notice that a few people that pop up look more like studio crew members than part of the gang.

Small world, Jeff. I have worked in the toy industry myself for 28 yrs! My first 21 were in the Toys R Us corporate office here in NJ; my last 7 for a toy manufacturer (offices in NJ, but our owners are in Japan). If you feel comfortable enough to share, which company are you with? If you don't feel comfortable sharing, I understand. When I think of Illinois, I think Tomy and VTech, but I don't know where you are in the state, in relation to them.

That Davy Jones song you mentioned, "Annabell Lee", isn't exactly an original composition. The lyrics seem to be taken from the Edgar Allen Poe poem of the same name. 🙂

Thanks Jeff. Movies like this one just make my skin crawl for some reason. The inappropriate pop songs really emphasize the ridiculousness of it all.

The reason why this episode's host segments seem lazy is because the principle cast was doing promotional work so most of the writers were gone when they wrote the script.

I don't think I'd watch this movie without Joel and the 'bots, but I don't exactly hate The Hellcats. I have some affection for the biker movie fad of the late '60s and early '70s, and the involvement of Tony Cardoza adds additional interest. The music may not be appropriate, but the songs are still catchy. I particularly like "I'm Up" by Somebody's Chyldren. I'd describe the music as psychedelic bubblegum pop. I know there's a soundtrack LP (a rarity for MST3K movies), and I wouldn't turn down a copy. Overall, what makes The Hellcats interesting is just the opportunity to see the clothes and cars and motorcycles of the era. (And it's not as unpleasant as The Sidehackers, so there's that.) Years ago, I wrote a bunch of one-act plays inspired by MST3K movies. One of them was based on The Hellcats. The plot had Ross Hagen and some of the other bikers working at a grocery store because they'd given up on their counterculture existence and decided to go straight. One day, Linda shows up and she's really disappointed in all of them. Ross Hagen tries to prove he's still a rebel by dumping some food all over the floor, but then his manager makes him clean it up.