Les nouvelles aventures de Merlin l'enchanteur

Really....this is a hilarious MST3K episode...this film must have been made for MST3K one would like to think. But as that is not the case I can only say: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?! How did this movie ever get made? I love bad movies...but this is something beyond anything I've ever seen. THat it's from 1996 is also something I cannot believe. Who in their right mind joins a project like this? The biggest mystery in this movie is how the hell someone authorized it and got actors to actually play in it (of course..not all of them seem to do so) This is just ...a huge mystery of a film. I thank MST3K for showing it to me. It's really a gem amongst hugely crappy films. It's nice to see how bad a movie actually can get. Someone should really have made documentary about this movie and interviewed the people behind it. It would really solve one of the worlds biggest mysteries. Even the title of the movie is totally messed up. It should be "MERLIN'S SHOP OF KILLER TOYS" But..oh that would probably make it seem more predictable...uhm?

This 'movie' is kind of two stories brought together by Ernest Borgnine telling his grandson a story. Basically, the film has an older film called, "The Devil's Gift" fused with newer scenes and is presented as a movie. The "Devil's Gift" portions of the film are at the very beginning of the movie as the film Borgnine's grandson is watching is from that film and the last portion of the film featuring the very early 80's household dealing with the cymbal thumping monkey toy which has me wondering if they took said story from a short story done by Stephen King that can be found within the short story collection, "Skeleton Crew" as both stories feature the same premise of an evil monkey toy. The rest of the film has Borgnine telling his grandson the story of some failed television show he once tried to write featuring Merlin, but the film just does not work at all for several reasons. First and foremost is the fact the Merlin shop thing just did not work. Both stories are more horror oriented than fantasy as both stories feature Satanic type vibes to them. Then there is the not so seamless blending of two different era films as the portions of the film featuring Merlin look vastly different to the one featuring the monkey toy. Just a huge mess, to be sure.

The story has the power going out in a house where a young boy watches the story of a woman using a Ouija board to contact a spirit from the other side. The boy's grandfather then proceeds to tell the child about Merlin and his mystical shop of wonders. We then enter Merlin's world where the first plot is that of an infertile couple where the husband writes reviews that have the ability shut stores like Merlin's down! Merlin gives him his spell book and the guy proceeds to get wrapped up in spells to summon demons and such while the wife plays with kangaroo toys because she so wants a baby. Then the story has Merlin's being robbed as the robber picks a cymbal banging toy monkey and seems fascinated by this very mundane toy in a shop full of numerous bizarre things. Well the toy ends up being given to a boy in the early 80's and it possesses the power to kill whenever it bangs its cymbals together. Merlin must track down the monkey, but it isn't going to be easy as he goes out in robe and beard asking women if they have seen his monkey. If that is not enough to make it difficult, he also has to contend with the fact the toy is in another era!

This 'movie' was featured as an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and is the final new episode of the show that was presented of the Scifi channel. It was not technically the last episode as that was the one featuring Diabolic; however, do to some issues regarding the copyright this film would not debut till after the show's actual end. It was a great episode as there is a lot in it to riff. The strange fact the film seems like it wants to be whimsical, but is kind of dark and the fact that the portion of the film featuring the monkey is extremely dated are just two of the reasons this episode was very funny.

So, the film as presented here is rather bad. I would like to one day watch the movie, "The Devil's Gift" as I think that one might be interesting without the constant interruptions of a dude in a beard going around asking about his monkey. Granted, I do not think it is going to be a good film either, but the whole Merlin thing in this one was just a bit idiotic. One expects knights, swords and some magic when one hears Merlin's name. Here we get demons, satanic cats, killer monkeys and the like. It is less like Merlin and more like an episode of that old television show of the 80's, "Friday the 13th" where the show was about this group that had to retrieve cursed items, only that show was a heck of a lot better than this mess.

This "movie" seems to be little more than several different movies patched together. And in a sense, it is. Things start out with some old lady at an ouiji board whose house catches fire. Then after about six minutes, it turns out this is just some TV show some kid is watching while his grandfather (Ernest Borgnine in what may be the lowest point of his career since "The Devil's Rain") sits on a couch nearby. When the power in the house goes out Grandpa Borgnine proceeds to tell the kid some fractured and disturbing story loosely connected to Merlin the Magician, who has transported himself to the present day and opened a shop. Despite being the title character, Merlin does little in the movie except release evil artifacts into the world and collect them later while getting nagged by his irritating wife (If that's what she is. Their relationship is never really made clear in the movie).

The first part of this fractured story involves a cranky newspaper reviewer who is unimpressed with Merlin's shop and threatens Merlin with a most vicious review. Merlin retaliates by giving him a book of spells which turns the obnoxious reviewer into an old man and then a baby. Merlin's revenge, I guess.

The second tale involves an evil toy monkey who gets stolen from Merlin's shop and ends up being bought by a family from the early 1980's. The monkey has the ability to cause untold damage and evil by clapping the little cymbals in its hands. This segment was actually a 20 minute excerpt from a movie from 1984 called "The Devil's Gift" which was then clumsily inserted into this film. This is why this particular tale has no setup or conclusion, making the movie even more confusing than it already was. "The Devil's Gift" is apparently out of print and hopefully they won't use the MST3K exposure as an excuse to reissue it.

Along the way, a goldfish dies, a cat is burned alive, a trapped dog dies after inhaling toxic smoke from a fire set in the garage and a woman has a rather frank conversation with her friend about her fertilization problems which has left her unable for her and her cranky husband to have a baby. And this is supposed to be a kid's film! This is either the darkest kids film ever or the most ineffective horror film ever. If you really want to give the kids nightmares, show them this movie before sending them to bed.

This movie will most likely be remembered as the "lost" episode of MST3K. The airing of this particular episode was delayed five months because of rights problems with the movie. After watching this movie, I have to wonder why any sane person would actually want the rights to this stinkburger in the first place! Just another painful reminder of how much we'll miss MST3K.

This is a truly magical episode of MST3K. Though the movie itself is stupid beyond telling, the episode is arguable the most funny I`ve ever seen. My dad thinks it is anyhow. From the opening lines thrown out by Mike and the `Bots ("Let`s predict some crap" "I forsee I`m gonna get hammered" "Is there a cheaper vodka than Popov?" "The ants have been screwing with her like that for years") to the part when Jonathan confronts Merlin ("I bid you lick me") to when Jonathan fights his cat ("So the cat`s flesh was roasted" "No Grandpa, no!" "Sit down, you`re gonna listen- The cat`s flesh melted, the horrible screams!" "No grandpa!" "Heh heh") to the cheesy 80s part ("Yep, that first morning beer is always the best!") and the priceless finishing line, which is so memorable that it begs full transcription. Contrary to what some of these commentators have said here (and I`m not blaming them), Crow, not Servo, says "Remember to believe in magic...Or I`ll kill you." This episode truly made me believe in magic.

Ernest Borgnine is a great storyteller. I think the boy suffered from random epileptic seizures after this film was made.

This is awful. Merlin has decided to join the business world and has opened his shop of yore. Run by him and Mrs. Merlin, they first must deal with a cynical critic who threatens to ruin the shop's business. Good old Merlin gives him a book of evil wizardry. After fire breathing, cat from hell, levitating, and so on, the critic learns that this film has aged him (he's not alone).

The second half is a rip-off of the monkey's paw, except in this case it's a duracell running monkey toy with cymbals. Ha ha. Of course, someone buys it as a present for a little boy and that's when the fun starts. One of the only saving moments is when Merlin goes around asking, "Have you seen my monkey?" Hee hee, that one always works!

Merlin's gift shop.....to be avoided at all costs.