Tonight on MeTV- it wouldn’t be wise to place any bets on the outcome of this giant faceoff (especially since the outcome was available many years ago)- but you can bet on this: the old-school giant monster matchup from 1963-when two of the biggest monsters in horror history collided in an epic battle of building-flattening fury-is a real winner! See Japan's greatest horror export face off against the legendary giant ape who first thrilled America (in slightly different form!) in 1933-it's "King Kong VS Godzilla"!

Things begin with a tense situation, not between the two combatants, but with an American submarine in peril. It’s trapped by the collapse of an iceberg, in big trouble. That will only get worse when a rescue aircraft overhead witnesses an astonishing sight- a strange glow within the iceberg! The shocking reason for this light show is revealed when iceberg's collapses, freeing the massive monster Godzilla, who had been frozen inside it! Now liberated from its icy prison, the huge reptile instinctively heads for an area he is all too familiar with- and which is all too familiar with him-Japan!

Meanwhile, we get an ironic look at how the TV industry often works, as a greedy pharmaceutical company's boss is fighting the curse of diminishing ratings on shows he sponsors. When he learns of a legendary giant beast supposedly living on a distant primitive island, he decides that, safety be damned, this would be just the thing to get people to tune into the shows and generate big ratings with this sensational find! (He's patterned to be a kind of the Asian Carl Denham, for fans of the original "King Kong"- but a little more goofy.) He bankrolls an expedition to the far-away island to find the big beast and bring it-whatever it is- back to civilization- alive and ready to exploit!

In the meantime, Godzilla is making his way back to his old "stomping grounds" (yes, using that phrase was intentional) in Japan- sending its people into the usual panic, as they remember all the destruction Godzilla has previously caused, again and again. At the same time, the TV exec’s island expedition discovers that the mysterious giant beast on the island is none other than the massive legendary ape King Kong! With the help of a mystery substance the island people have used to tranquilize Kong, his people manage to get him onto a giant raft to ferry him back to Japan. Naturally, things don't go as planned- Kong escapes, and makes his own way to the Asian nation - where the inevitable meeting with the atomic-flame spitting Godzilla pits the two giant menaces against each other-leaving innocent bystanders in danger as the two heavyweights battle to prove which is the mightiest monster!

This isn’t, of course, the most recent computer-generated battle of the behemoths- in fact, this meeting of the horror giants came years before – and also pre-dates another ape-suit epic "King Kong Escapes". I think that the Kong (costume) in this one is slightly better than the one in the later film. As usual, we'll talk about the cast, including who you might recognize, reveal some of the production details of the film, including how it evolved from possibly being shot as a stop-motion animation feature- with a possibly different monster line-up (and whose idea it originally was)- to become the production you'll be seeing. We’ll put to rest an ongoing rumor about the film’s Japanese and American versions, hear from an alleged consultant about the proceedings, find the great beast Kong on hand, get some strange insight on dubbed dialogue, look at a past Godzilla convention, plus give you a song, and a glimpse or two of our old original coffin!

The big battle begins tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central- if you are uncertain of where to see us, check for channel and run time in your area at www.metv.com or your local listings. As always, you can live-Tweet during the show on Twitter/X, or post live comments during the show on Bluesky- either place, please add the hashtag #svengoolie to your posts. IMPORTANT NOTICE- due to contractual stipulations, this movie will NOT air on various streaming platforms like FrndlyTV, Fubo,Philo,Sling, and DirecTV, or in Hawaii- our apologies- on those, you will see “Fiend Without A Face”. And this morning, in Chicago, we'll give viewers another chance to board the frightening “Flight 7500” with our Sven Squad on our main local station, WCIU the U, at 11 am.

Our viewers are raving about the Christopher Jones lenticular poster with its 3-D effect, currently available in our store- as are the popular Sven trading cards, loaded with shots and artwork of myself and the Sven Squad, historic Sven moments, and even some surprises! Sven fans and collectors are really getting into them, and you can, too- just click on the store tab here on our website!

Join us tonight on MeTV- we have a ringside seat waiting for you for one of the biggest brawls in horror history!