- For the episode, see MST3K 405 - Being from Another Planet.
| “ | Hey, Pete, I was a frat man. I know what's like. Slow night, nothing to do, have a couple of beers... | ” |
| - Dr. Bruce Serrano |
Being from Another Planet is the title of the FVI release of the film Time Walker.
Plot[]
While California University of the Sciences professor Douglas McCadden explores the tomb of the ancient Egyptian king Tutankhamen, an earthquake causes a wall in the tomb to collapse, revealing a hidden chamber. Inside, McCadden finds a mummy in a sarcophagus. Unbeknownst to McCadden, the "mummy" is not the body of a dead Egyptian, but an extraterrestrial alien in suspended animation, wrapped and buried thousands of years before and covered with a dormant, green fungus.
The body is brought back to California and McCadden has it examined by Dr. Ken Melrose and X-rayed by student Peter Sharpe before a press conference about the discovery. While reviewing the X-rays, Sharpe notices there are five crystals around the "mummy's" head. Sharpe steals the crystals and makes new X-rays to cover up his theft. He sells four of the crystals to students who are unaware of their origin.
The second set of X-rays overdose the body with radiation. This causes the fungus to re-activate and the alien to awaken from suspended animation. At the press conference the next day, one of the students touches the fungus on the sarcophagus, which eats away one of his fingers. The sarcophagus is then opened in front of the press to reveal that the mummy is gone. Melrose and his colleague Dr. Hayworth attempt to identify the fungus and destroy it.
Being from Another Planet
At first, everyone assumes that the mummy's disappearance is because of a fraternity prank. University President Wendell Rossmore wants to blame the loss of the mummy on McCadden, so that he can give the Egyptian Studies department's directorship to his subordinate, Dr. Bruce Serrano.
Meanwhile, the "mummy" tracks down the students who have the stolen crystals. The crystals are crucial components of an intergalactic transportation device that will allow the alien to return to its home planet. The alien violently reclaims its crystals. When the alien brutally attacks a female student, police Lt. Plummer is called in to investigate the crime. As more students turn up dead or injured, Plummer believes that he is on the trail of a serial killer.
While Plummer conducts his investigation, McCadden translates the hieroglyphic text from the sarcophagus. He hopes it will reveal the identity of the "mummy". The text reveals that Tutankhamen found the alien in a coma-like state. Thinking that the unconscious alien was a god, Tutankhamen and his attendants touched it and were killed by its infectious fungus. The king and the alien were then buried together in the king's tomb. McCadden, having figured out that the "mummy" is an alien, makes the connection between the alien and the crystals. He then traces the stolen crystals back to Sharpe, who admits to the theft and gives McCadden the one crystal he kept for himself.
In the end McCadden, Rossmore, Serrano (who had framed McCadden for murder earlier), two students, a security guard encounter the alien in a boiler room where the alien has set up its transportation device. The alien activates the device by placing the last recovered crystal on it. The mummy wrappings disintegrate, revealing its true form. The security guard shoots at the alien, but McCadden leaps in front of the alien to protect it. As McCadden lies injured, the alien takes McCadden's hand and the two disappear. A single crystal is left where the alien stood. Serrano grabs the crystal, and the fungus begins to destroy his hand.
Cast[]
- Ben Murphy as Prof. Douglas McCadden
- Shari Belafonte-Harper as Linda Flores
- Nina Axelrod as Susie Fuller
- Kevin Brophy as Peter Sharpe
- James Karen as Dr. Wendell J. Rossmore
- Sam Chew Jr. as Dr. Bruce Serrano
- Darwin Joston as Lt. Plummer
- Austin Stoker as Dr. Ken Melrose
- Robert Random as Jack Parker
- Jason Williams as Jeff
Notes[]
- This is the only film directing credit for Tom Kennedy and the only credit of any kind for producer Robert A. Shaheen.
- Austin Stoker and Darwin Joston had previously co-starred together in John Carpenter's original Assault on Precinct 13 in 1976.
- Jason Williams - who co-produced the film, co-conceived the story, and appears as Jeff - had previously starred in the popular adult film Flesh Gordon. He would later star in the Danger Zone series of motorcycle-vigilante films.
- This is the last film distributed by Film Ventures International to be riffed on the show. A third Master Ninja "movie" assembled by FVI was scheduled for the Season 6 finale, but was replaced by Samson vs. the Vampire Women as a going-away gesture to Frank Conniff after he decided to leave the show.
- Film Ventures International's title change from Time Walker to Being from Another Planet subverts the film's twist ending.
MST3K Connections[]
- Ben Murphy also portrayed Sam Casey in Riding with Death.
- Robert Random also portrayed Rick in Village of the Giants.
- Composer Richard Band was also stock music composer for Robot Holocaust and composer for Laserblast, The Day Time Ended, and Doctor Mordrid.
- Re-recording mixer Charles Grenzbach was also re-recording mixer for and Alien from L.A. as well as sound recordist for Village of the Giants and The Space Children.
- Re-recording mixer John Wilkinson was also re-recording mixer for Alien from L.A. and No Retreat, No Surrender.
- Visual effects technician Domonic Muir was also assistant editor for City Limits.