Filmic Friday 26: MST3K Soul Taker (1990)

I'm a big Joe Estevez & Robert Zdar fan. Well, as much of a fan as anyone ever is of Joe Estevez. Sorry Joe. Huge fan of Zdar, though.

So of course I love Soul Taker, a movie which stars both Joe and Zdar. Do not confuse this movie with Soulkeeper, because they couldn't be more different. Things actually happen in Soulkeeper.

But that isn't fair to Soul Taker, which has car accidents, explosions, and really awkward flashbacks.

Yes, the glow in the dark Nuva Ring is important in this movie.
No, I don't know why.

The first thing you'll notice about this movie is that every single person in it is unattractive. Okay, that's subjective, but still...

And yes, Zdar is basically Joe's boss.
He is the Boss Angel of Death.
And both of them have glowy birth control of doom.

Our main heroine. I can't find a good picture of her boyfriend, sorry.
He looks like if a country singer tried out for a hair metal band.

And then there's this guy...

So what's the story of Soul Taker?

A group of friends get in a car accident because Eyebags McGee in the last photo there was driving drunk, and Joe Estevez hesitates in taking the soul of Poofy Ginger Lady because she looks like his ex or something. She and her boyfriend run away from the reapers (Zdar and Estevez), and the rest of the movie is a ridiculous chase. They have a friend who has an epic curly mullet & handlebar mustache combo, but he's reaped early on (that's what the glow-ring of doom is for - it captures souls).

Basically, it's a drawn-out chase sequence. At first I was confused by a sequence where the girl's mom can see them and is helping them, but it's a psych-out. Mom is actually Joe Estevez in disguise so he can watch Poofy Ginger getting changed. I'm not 100% sure that's what was in the script, but we'll go with it.

Regardless, the movie ends with Eyebags helping Poofy and her Un-Rich Boyfriend (they make a point of telling us that she's rich and he's not, and that her parents don't approve because of it) escape back into their bodies in the hospital. Eyebags has become another Death, so they don't need Estevez anymore, and he and Zdar get rid of Joe. It turns out that the only souls taken during this movie were two old people and Handlebar.

So why do I like this movie?

90% of my enjoyment comes from Zdar's hammy performance here.
Seriously.

Zdar's a huge part of why I love any cheesy movie he's in. He's not the whole reason - the movie itself is silly, the riff is on-point, and it's a fantastic MST to watch soon after that Hercules movie I wrote about on here for one very good reason:

FRANK!!!

That's right! This MST brings back TV's Frank! He apparently somehow got kicked out of Second Banana Heaven and took on a job as a Soul Taker. He takes Bobo's soul, and they play ring toss with it. It's a sweet series of host segments, and Frank looks tickled to be there.

It makes me so happy to see him in these bits.

I love how much of an arc Frank's character has. He's not some dopey second banana, he's a jovial, gentle fun-loving guy. And I love his voice. He's got a great, hilarious delivery and he's just fantastic.

So I love Soul Taker because of my favorite guys - Robert Zdar and Frank Conniff.

Give Soul Taker a try, if you're feeling like a Mike-era MST or need a Zdar fix.

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