Corman Takes Us Forward Into the Past, Thanks to "The Undead"- Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- we salute the passing of Roger Corman once more this month-with one of his stranger tales-in which a psychic researcher uses hypnosis to send a young woman into the past to experience one of her earlier lives- where she becomes a wanted woman accused of witchcraft, thanks to a real witch- in “The Undead”!

This 1957 Corman film has its roots in the ‘50s fascination with reincarnation (stemming from the popularity of the book “The Search for Bridey Murphy”, which we’ll tell you about during our show). We see Quintus, a psychic researcher, whose time in Tibet has convinced him that people indeed have had multiple past lives. He believes he has refined techniques to the point of being able to send a subject to visit those lives. He “recruits” Diana Love, a young “lady of the evening”, as the subject of his experiment, to be performed under the careful observation of his former professor. Using hypnosis, Quintus believes he will send Diana’s consciousness back to one of her previous lives.

After many grueling hours, keeping the woman in a trance for the entire time- Quintus, through a mental bond he has established with her via hypnotism, finds he has succeeded! Diana has amazingly returned to her past life as Helene, a young woman living in the Middle Ages, who has been imprisoned for allegedly being a witch and sentenced to execution for her supposed witchcraft. Somehow, perhaps as a form of self-preservation, her hypnotized future self sends her a message, encouraging her to escape- which she does! She ends up enlisting the help of Smolkin, a gravedigger who, ironically, is said to be one of the very people she has been accused of enchanting!

None of this is good news to the real witch responsible- the sultry Livia. Her main objective is to replace Helene as the love of a gallant knight, Pendragon- so it is imperative for her to make sure that Helene is taken out of the equation. The shape-shifting Livia and her familiar, an imp (no relation to our Ignatius Malvolio Prankenstein), go to work trying to keep Pendragon away for his true love through lies and schemes- culminating in her making a major play for him at the witches’ Sabbath- which involves none other than Satan himself!

However, some other opposing forces are set to interfere with her plans- Meg Maud, an ancient sorceress enemy of Livia’s, and – an unexpected ally. Having realized he may be endangering Helen’s future by changing her past, Quintas uses his psychic bond with his subject to travel back in time himself! Will Helene survive-or fall victim to the headsman’s axe and Livia’s association with the devil- and -will Quintas make history- or change it?

We’ll tell you about how this movie came about and evolved, and, of course, talk about the cast- which includes bombshell Allison Hayes of “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman”, as well as famed little person actor Billy Barty as her personal imp. Watch for a cameo by beloved character actor Dick Miller of “Bucket of Blood” and countless other films! Plus- we see the time when Toony the Tuna first campaigned to host a horror movie as “Sventoonie”! We’ll give you the word on a vintage record offer, which does NOT include this week’s song from Doug and yours truly- get a visit from our own Imp-and bring back some fun past experiences (no hypnotism needed) including a visit with “M.A.S.H.” star Jamie Farr, a quick drop in by Dana Gould’s “Dr. Z”, the legendary time I shared the stage with the one and only Elvira, and more!

“The Undead” (originally titled “The Trance of Diana Love”) airs tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central. Should you need help finding what time we run where you are– and on what channel-please your local listings or visit www.metv.com . Viewers on Twitter continue live-Tweeting during our show, and you can join in- using the hashtag #svengoolie. Chicago area viewers get an encore of the fable of that frightening female “The Leech Woman” at 11 am on CW26.

I am flattered to say that the first wave of our anniversary Sven merchandise has become a best seller! Make sure you keep checking the MeTV Mall for the next items- and check out our appearances list soon- we will be posting information about our traditional visit to the Flashback Weekend horror convention which will include another celebration of my 45 years as Svengoolie!

Let’s celebrate the memory of Roger Corman one more time tonight on MeTV!