Father Frost

Enjoyably wacky Russian fairy tale, and my favorite MST3K episode.

An entertainingly insane fairy tale, often unintentionally funny, and made all the more surreal by the blown out colors and stilted acting. Definitely worth watching just for the part where prince smarty-pants turns into a bear.

Really though you have to see this thing under the MST influence. That weird little mushroom guy, a most appalling stepmother indeed, and maybe the strangest duel in history (a guy making a house spin vs. a witch doing the can-can).

I could say ten thousand words on this movie or six. "I would've enjoyed this movie stoned" will be apt.

This film is so silly that I love it. I love it when films go into silly folklore and try to be epic without having the budget necessary to do so. It makes everything wackier.

The enthusiastic glee in which this is executed makes this a wonderful film. It's an "all in" fantasy that would have even the most red blooded American kids enchanted under its spell. Plus Natalya must be Christina Lindberg's communist twin 'cause they're nearly identical! [MST3k is more openly hostile here but I think that's their counter programming to this films sugar sweet coating. With fun skits and being such an eccentric film this stands tall with the other Soviet films they've riffed.]

This film is goofy as hell and yet I was still entertained. The MST3K episode of this is one of their best, and yet I came away being okay with this movie.

Not too bad, just a little heavy on the whimsical.

A zany piece of Soviet kids' entertainment which hasn't aged particularly well (effects-wise), but seems like a no-expense-spared, wholly committed endeavour based on the effort the cast and crew put in. There's plenty of folklore and magic, and even though the comical stunts and in-camera effects wouldn't impress a 7-year-old, you can't fault the actors for giving it a good go and embracing their pantomime characters with gusto. Probably a communist Christmas classic.

Pretty charming, fun camera tricks, really feels like a fairy tale.

Mst3k score: 6/10