It’s Big- It’s a Bug- “The Deadly Mantis”-Tonight!

Our “Halloween Horror of the Day” is also the star of our movie tonight on Me-TV- a colossal carnivorous chitinous creature that heads from the frozen North to warmer climes- and spends a lot of its trip preying-it’s the title monster in beloved 1957 favorite- “The Deadly Mantis”! A volcanic eruption in the southern hemisphere causes the ice floes way up north to break- and a long-frozen creature from prehistoric times begins to thaw out of its somewhat cryogenic sleep. The military observers in the Arctic Circle, keeping defensive watch on the DEW line, find one of their observation posts is not responding, and then, mysteriously lose a tracking plane- upon finding the devastated remains – they also find a strange object that looks like some sort of organic claw! When nobody can figure out just what the pointy claw is- they summon a paleontologist, Dr. Ned Jackson, to see if he can offer any help. Indeed he can- but he finds it hard to believe- it appears to be a spur from an insect’s leg! But- what insect is that huge- and has a taste for flesh? Ned narrows it down to one species- the praying mantis- but-with that spur’s size- it’d have to be –several stories tall!? Dr. Ned, along with his pal,scoop-seeking photo journalist Marge, heads up to the defense command center up in northern Canada- where, on a base where there are only men, Marge becomes quite the center of attention- especially to the commander there, Col. Joe Parkman! While they try to determine the how, why, and where-abouts of the mantis- it helps out by showing up and attacking the base! Before long, the mantis begins a flight to seek out warmer temperatures, like the ones it lived in during its original prehistoric era-and widespread terror engulfs the shipping lanes, followed by various United States locations, as the swift flying mantis continues its quest for warmth- and live food! Like King Kong, it ends up in New York for a final showdown with puny humanity!( It may not have hit the Empire State Building, but, along the way, does some sight-seeing at the Washington Monument!) It’s man versus mantis in the Big Apple- who will survive? This is a great example of the “giant insect” genre that was popular in the 50s-and the creature effects are pretty good (although a real mantis is used in a couple of the shots!) We’ll fill you in on the human creatures in the cast, including two guys who played well-known 50s and 60s TV characters- Craig Stevens and William Hopper. We’ll also remind you who a few of the familiar-looking character actors are- as well as explaining where some of the stock footage that appears in this film came from! And- we just might point out a production error or two… You can salute our "Halloween Horror of the Day" by tuning in “The Deadly Mantis” when it begins its assault tonight at 10 pm eastern, 9 pm central time (please check your local listings to see what time it airs in your area) on the Me-TV network. Rumor has it the folks in Boston will be seeing us on a new Me-TV channel tonight-so, a salute to them as well! If you enjoy seeing big bugs, by the way, you may want to come out and see me at Brookfield Zoo, in Brookfield, IL, on Friday night, October 19th- when you can also experience their “Xtreme Bugs at Night”- which includes, among others, a giant mantis! More details soon- speaking of which, in tomorrow’s blog, I’ll give you the lowdown of next weekend’s stops on the Sven Halloween Public appearance tour- so, stop by here then!