Hopping Down the Time Trail- Hippety-Hoppety-Hypnosis Summons "The Undead"-Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- it’s not about hidden eggs, but hidden lives- as a researcher endeavors to use hypnosis to send a young woman back in time to an earlier lifetime- risking various dangers from witchcraft to the executioner’s axe- in a unique Roger Corman presentation tilted “The Undead”!

This 1957 film plays off the then current interest in reincarnation, thanks to the book “The Search for Bridey Murphy”, which we’ll tell you about in the show. We find Quintus, a psychic researcher, whose time in Tibet convinced him that people can visit their past lives. He “recruits” Diana Love, a young “lady of the evening”, to be the subject of his experiment, in the presence of his former professor- where, through hypnosis, he will send Diana’s consciousness to a previous life.

After many hours of the woman being in a trance- Quintus , through a mental bond he has established through his hypnotism with her, finds he has succeeded- Diana is now back in her past life as Helene, a young woman in the Middle Ages, imprisoned for allegedly being a witch. She is sentenced to execution for her supposed witchcraft- but her future self sends her a message, encouraging her to escape- which she does! She enlists the help of Smolkin, a gravedigger who, ironically, is said to be one of the people she enchanted!

None of this is good news to the sultry Livia- the witch who actually is responsible for the supernatural crimes Helene is charged with! She desires to replace Helene as the love of gallant knight Pendragon- so it is important for her to make sure that Helene is taken out of the equation. The shape-shifting Livia and her familiar, an imp, go to work trying to keep Pendragon away for his true love through lies and schemes- eventually making a major play for him at the witches’ Sabbath- involving Satan himself!

However, other players get into the mix- Meg Maud, a  sorceress enemy of Livia’s, and Quintas himself-  having realized they may be endangering Helen’s future by changing her past, he uses his psychic bond with his subject to also travel back in time! Will Helene survive- will Livia’s association with the devil remove any chance of that- 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 that bombshell Allison Hayes of “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman”, as well as famed little person actor Billy Barty, and a cameo by beloved character actor Dick Miller of “Bucket of Blood” and countless other films! Plus- does Toony the Tuna finally get to host a horror movie as “Sventoonie”? We’ll see, as well as getting the word on a vintage record offer, along with a new song from Doug and yours truly, and a special tribute to our friend Dawn Wells of “Gilligan’s Island” fame.

“The Undead” (originally titled “The Trance of Diana Love”) airs tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central. We know some people might need help finding what time we run – and on what channel- where they are, so we encourage checking your local listings or visiting www.metv.com . Viewers on Twitter continue to live-Tweet during the show, using the hashtag #svengoolie – and MeTV invites you to do the same. Chicago area viewers get to play detective one more time           ( hmm- probably easier on the second viewing!) when we give an encore to “The Beast Must Die” on CW26.

We wish those celebrating a happy Easter! I’ll bet we will eventually get a few fan photos of home-made Kerwyn Easter eggs!

Join us tonight for witchcraft and wandering through time on MeTV!