Beware the Mutants of “This Island Earth”-Tonight!

A quick reminder- you can visit with me tonight in Frankfort, IL, at the Creepy Hallow Halloween attraction, with plenty of fun fright features, from 7 to 9 pm- take a picture with me, get an autograph, and –yes- we will have some Sven t-shirts and buttons for sale! It’s at 24405 La Grange Road, on the grounds of Fawn Landscaping! Just make sure you set something to record our movie tonight, if you’ll be out to see me-it’s the landmark science fiction film from the 1950s in which aliens try to siphon off the world’s greatest minds to help save their planet – and fight problems that include the bizarre Metaluna mutants-in “This Island Earth”! A noted scientist, Dr. Meacham, is flying his plane home when he suddenly realizes he no longer is controlling it- a strange green glow surrounds the plane- and helps him to safely land! This odd event is compounded by a visit to his lab, where his assistant Joe reveals that , instead of the resistors they had ordered, they received some new kind that is far superior to anything they’ve ever seen! The men soon receive parts for a strange new device- and, after building it to the specifications of its plans- get a message from a strange man with a huge forehead known as Exeter, who asks that Dr. Meacham come to his compound – via a weird pilotless plane- to help him with a new research project! Dr. Meacham arrives at the compound, which is staffed by many more scientists from around the world- including an attractive female who he swears he has met before- but she denies it. The compound is run by Exeter and other men with similar huge foreheads! Soon,the doctor realizes that he and the others are actually prisoners- and they are doing this research to discover new forms of power under the peeping eyes of Exeter and his men! When they try to escape, they end up on a spacecraft bound for Exeter’s home planet- Metaluna- and learn that Exeter and his people are at war with another alien race, who continually bomb Metaluna. Upon arrival on the strange planet, the doctor and his female counterpart learn that Metaluna is slowly deteriorating- and that the plan is for Exeter and his people- under the leadership of “The Monitor”- to take over the earth, as their new home, and to mentally “reprogram” all earthlings- starting with the doc and his lady friend. As bombing continues and mutants run wild, will our hero and/or the Metalunans survive? This is a well-regarded sci fi film, known for its then-cutting edge special effects as well as its bright Technicolor and the Metaluna mutants - and there are many facets of this film that became standard science fiction movie features. We’ll cue you in on the cast- including Rex Reason and Faith Domergue (who was her famous boyfriend? We’ll tell you!) along with Jeff Morrow as the eerie alien Exeter- and a familiar sitcom character as one of the earth scientists! You’ll see what happens when we try to use the alien communication device- and contact a familiar-looking large-craniumed skull! “This Island Earth” beams to our Me-TV network stations tonight at 10 pm eastern/ 9 pm central time (check local listings).In Chicago, you’ll get an encore run of the Adam West “Batman” movie. While we're at it, let's make the bug-eyed "Metaluna Mutants" the "Halloween Horror of the Day"! The powerful, insect-like creatures with over-sized brains are pretty much the poster boys for the 50s space creatures known as “bug-eyed monsters”- and several later movie aliens copied their look to various extents.All hail the "Halloween Horror of the Day"-whom you can thrill to tonight! Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be appearing at the Portage Theater- I’ll post the info here in our next blog, or- click on our “appearances” tab here. Lots of live and radio appearances are coming up –so check back often!