"Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster" Caps Off "FrankenFest" -Tonight!

Posted on October 30, 2021

Tonight on MeTV, our monthlong “FrankenFest” concludes with, as the Monty Python folks said, something completely different! We have been running some classic Universal Frankenstein offerings, but, having heard the requests of many of our viewers who also enjoy the lower-budget B-movies, we have that kind of feature tonight. This Frankenstein is indeed put together from human parts, but is quite different from Universal’s Monster- as you will see when “Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster”! ( Yes, that last compound word is the way it appears in the movie title!)

The story begins with a strange spacecraft heading towards our planet. Aboard are aliens from Mars ( though that is never stated in the film itself)- on a special mission of importance to their home planet. We learn that Mars has suffered through an atomic war that has pretty much killed off all its women- except for the evil and beautiful Princess Marcuzan who is aboard this spaceship. Her first in command is a bald, pointy-eared Martian named Nadir. We get no explanation about why Mars women and men look so different, but, anyway…they have detected that our planet Earth is chock full of women- and their plan is to kidnap them to repopulate Mars!

Totally unrelated- at least for now- NASA is about to send an astronaut into space- and not just any typical astronaut. This one named Frank ( see the connection in the title? You will!) is, in reality, a sort of cyborg created with human parts , synthetic skin, and an electronic brain! The idea is, they are not endangering any human life by sending this subject into space. The launch is a success, but- the none-too-bright Martians perceive the approaching rocket as a missile out to destroy them, and they shoot it down! Frank survives the crash, as the capsule comes down in Puerto Rico, and he seems just a bit stunned- until a Martian landing party comes down to check on what they shot down, and blast him with a ray gun ( which , in reality, was a popular 1960s toy- we’ll explain). This blast causes damage to Frank’s electronic brain and the left side of his face, turning him into an out-of-control Frankenstein, on the loose on the island, and extremely dangerous.

Dr. Adam Steele and his assistant, Karen Grant, who have been in charge of the android astronaut, must try to track him down, and repair his damage before he causes grave harm.

Obviously, he is not the only danger, as a full landing party of raygun-toting Martians arrive, and begin their quest to kidnap women and shanghai them back to their spaceship to be prepared to become Martian brides. They seem to favor bikini-clad females, no doubt having picked up Earth broadcasts of “Beach Blanket Bingo”-type films.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention- aboard their ship in a cage is none other than the “spacemonster” of the title- a hairy beast who seems to be used as muscle to threaten enemies, frighten their captives, and – what a surprise- take on any semi-robotic adversaries whom they might encounter! Will the Martians succeed in moving the female population of Earth to the Red Planet?

This 1964 sci fi epic stars one actor you horror film fans probably know- James Karen, who was on our show in “Time Walker” and is best known for his part in “Return of the Living Dead”. Our Martians have a noted past- and future- Princess Marcuzan was actually a Playboy Playmate, and Nadir would later play a memorable character on “Seinfeld”- we’ll tell you about that on the show! Besides some film background, we will bring you highlights of the costume contest at Flashback Weekend- the only event we got in this past summer when it appeared the pandemic might be lessening- present a way for the male aliens to improve their looks- get a pre-Halloween visit from our “Toon In With Me” pals-and a new song!

“Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster” invades your TV tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. As always, viewers will be live-Tweeting on Twitter during the program, using the hashtag #svengoolie – and MeTV encourages you to join in, no matter in what time zone you watch us. If you are in the Chicago broadcast area, you can catch last week’s “FrankenFest” offering- “House of Frankenstein”- at 11 am on our main local channel, CW26. If you are in the area- and can listen to MeTV-FM- or, if you are able to get MeTVMusic where you are- be listening for yours truly to join the musical fun this weekend to celebrate Halloween! And, of course, our annual “Scream With Me”  event continues today and tomorrow on MeTV- check out the schedule of scary episodes at metv.com !

Various new items of Sven merchandise are coming to our store- in fact, some have already been added- so make sure to check out the latest additions! It’s never too early to order- the quick selling-out of the Sven Christmas sweaters is proof!

We hope that you have enjoyed “Frankenfest”- and will join us for its spaced-out conclusion tonight on MeTV! And, of course- have a happy and safe Halloween! (You might have to wear TWO masks, if you know what I mean…)

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