2. From Hobgoblins...
Of all the movies and shorts featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, only one was brought to the show's attention by the director himself. That one was Hobgoblins, which could not have better captured the zeitgeist of the 80s than if Blessed Saint Ronnie himself appeared in it, giving a speech espousing the virtues of capitalism while a George Michael song played in the background. In a nutshell, three nondescript characters (plus "the slutty one" and "the army guy") have to face off against renegade critters called Hobgoblins, who are nothing at all like Gremlins. Total, weirdo coincidence, that's all. What makes the Hobgoblins dangerous (and
totally different from Gremlins) is that they are somehow able to tap into people's psyches and learn their innermost fantasies. Armed with this knowledge, the Hobgoblins reproduce said fantasy, often to their target's demise. The interesting thing about the Hobgoblins' power is that it isn't based on
deluding the individual in question; they actually warp reality itself. If their victim wants to go to bed with a beautiful woman, for example, the Hobgoblins can actually manifest a woman
out of thin air that the other characters can see, hear, and touch themselves. Maybe the Hobgoblins are the guys outside the Matrix on the Nebuchadnezzar, having a laugh at everyone still plugged in. They take a different route with the hero's frigid, nagging girlfriend, though. No fantasy manifests for her. Instead, she gets mind-controlled into performing a strip tease at the local titty dive bar, aptly named Club Scum. The rest of the gang goes there to find her and save her from the seedy, kinky underbelly of her own sexuality. They succeed by killing the Hobgoblin that's possessed her, though not before the bouncer of the club (named Road Rash) checks out her goods, feels her up a bit, and offers her a ride on his motorcycle.
...To Pulp Fiction
That bouncer? Yeah, he also appeared in a fairly significant role in Pulp Fiction. He got a character with a name, a few lines, and even a proper credit. Oddly enough, this character was
also a leery, rapey dude. Two words: pawn shop. Not the gimp, and not Zed. Maynard. The skeezy clerk rubbing one out to the tune of Ving Rhames getting raped? Who gets sliced by a samurai sword? Yeah, him. Both characters were played by veteran character actor Duane Whitaker. If this isn't proof that everything in the universe isn't connected in ways that are both amazing and terrifying, I don't know what is.