Presenting Tobe Hooper's Remake of "Invaders from Mars"- Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- get set for a remake of one of the most eerie science fiction films of the ‘50s- that certainly stands on its own as far as the creep factor goes! A young boy realizes that we have been infiltrated by beings from another world- out to control the minds of Earth people to help them conquer our planet-but the youngster has great difficulty in getting anyone to believe that humankind is in danger from –“Invaders from Mars”!

After a beautiful evening of star-gazing, young David is tucked into bed by his loving parents- only to be awakened when a massive spaceship lands in the sand pit located over the hill behind his home! Though he runs to alert his parents to tell them what he saw, the sleepy couple wonder if David was just dreaming- and will check the sand pit in the morning.

The next morning, David is confused by his father- who says he checked the sand pit, and found nothing there. David notices an odd injury on the back of Dad’s neck- topped off by some very odd behavior! Dad suddenly seems more than happy to show David something that lies over the hill- but David is spared that trip by the arrival of his school bus.

That evening, after a day that included David having a run in with nasty teacher Mrs.McKeltch, David’s mom is worried since Dad has not showed up at home. She summons the police, who go to take a look over the hill at David’s insistence. While they are gone, David’s dad returns- still acting strangely- and then, the police come back- joining him in assuring David and his mom that “everything’s fine”. As the cops depart- David notices one of them has something bothering him on the back of his neck! Later that evening, Dad takes Mom for a pleasant little walk over the hill- and you can probably guess what the results are!

The next day, after witnessing more odd behavior from the folks at home and people at school, David confides in the one person who seems to be willing to listen to him- the friendly school nurse, Linda Magnusson. She wants to help David, and covers for him when the nasty McKeltch and his parents come looking for him. In trying to get away from everyone pursuing him, the boy accidentally ends up finding a cavern that appears to be the alien headquarters- and soon, he and Linda are fugitives from the invaders and the human pawns they have enlisted- and must convince the military that Martians have arrived- and the earth is in danger!

We have been hoping to get the original 1953 “Invaders from Mars” movie- and still are trying to do so, by the way- but this 1986 version, directed by Tobe Hooper, is actually very effective! Some of the visuals provided by Stan Winston and John Dykstra are almost perfect recreations of shots in the original- and the reimagining of the aliens is pretty amazing. We’ll go over the cast list- including one actor with a distinct connection to the original film (and we’ll point out an important prop from the original that shows up as well)- and we’ll talk about Laraine Newman and Timothy Bottoms as David’s parents, Louise Fletcher as nasty Mrs. McKeltch, James Karen as the general in charge, and Karen Black as nurse Linda- interesting casting since the part of young David is played by Hunter Carson- Karen’s real-life son! In addition, we have a new song for you, and a visit with an actor who has played a certain hockey-masked monster more than anyone else has!

“Invaders from Mars” invades the airwaves on MeTV tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. If you are unsure of what the Earth time and channel is in your area, please check local listings or at www.metv.com . Viewers will again be invading Twitter to live-Tweet during the show-you can join in, and make sure to use the hashtag #svengoolie. In the Chicago viewing area, you can tune in to sing along with the Song of the New Wine Festival at 11 am, when “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” encores on CW26.

More Svengoolie merchandise is being created- be watching for some great new items down the line!

And- be watching tonight for a hostile take-over that could put mankind out of business, and- hey…what is that on the back of your neck…?