It's 2 Bad for Russ Tamblyn- When Extra-Large Monsters Begin the "War of the Gargantuas"-Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- it’s not a double feature, but it DOES feature double danger from a couple gigantic kaiju creatures- one originally raised by humanity, and the other raising its anger against humanity! Authorities refuse to believe that both of them are not out to cause destruction due to their differing origins, fearful that, unless they kill them both, mankind will be the loser in the “War of the Gargantuas”!

This movie opens like so many other Japanese kaiju films we’ve seen- a ship out in the ocean finds itself being attacked by a huge creature. This time, however, that creature is attacked by ANOTHER type of giant monstrosity! Unfortunately, this will not save the ship- because the second creature then attacks them as well!

A single crew member survives- and describes the huge attacker as a hairy monster that was known (in a previous film) as a “Frankenstein”! We learn that young Dr. Stewart and his assistant Akemi actually had the young “Frankenstein” creature in their lab for observation years ago, and can’t believe that it is now the malevolent, violent force described by the survivor. They do know that their creature , who disappeared from their care a while back, is most definitely NOT aquatic- it lived on land, in the mountains- so it couldn’t possibly be this attacker.

Suddenly, there occur two contrasting sightings- as another boat is attacked by a huge greenish-hued monster- while, at the same time, in the Japanese mountains, some hikers spot a similar creature with brown fur. Dr. Stewart immediately heads to the mountainous region to investigate- and knows the hikers’ story is true- when he spots huge footprints in the snow!

Meanwhile, back in Tokyo, more mayhem occurs-first at an ocean-side airport and then in the city itself- as they are attacked by the green monster- which proves to be definitely be carnivorous! A chance accident reveals that the creature cannot tolerate bright lights- perhaps a clue to one means of defense.

When it appears this monster has headed inland for the mountains-the military springs into action to stage an attack- but, when they do, a second monster, the brown one, shows up, and helps the green one to escape from the onslaught! This finally provides proof that there ARE two of these creatures- now dubbed “Gargantuas”.

Stewart and Akemi know that the brown Gargantua must indeed be the one they had in their laboratory compound many years ago- and soon find clues to the probable genesis of the second, green beast. They try to explain to the military that the brown one is no threat to mankind- but the armed forces refuse to believe that, and plan to attack and kill both Gargantuas! This leads to a showdown in Tokyo, with the green and brown monsters facing each other-with the city and its people in danger of being wiped out by the battling behemoths!

This 1966 Toho Studios film was helmed by two of the Godzilla franchise’s leaders- Ishiro Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya, and the Japanese cast is headed up by an American- actor Russ Tamblyn. Yes, by the way, this IS the movie that features a lounge singer singing the semi-unforgettable tune ‘The Words Get Stuck in My Throat” (you’ll be surprised to hear who she is related to). We’ll introduce the various cast members (including revealing who the first choices were for the leading man- and some problems with the one they used) as well as other facts about the production. We will bring you a different song, whose words do NOT get stuck in my throat- though that might be an improvement, bring you another edition of our drawing game “Too Drawn Out”, and more- including a special interview with two of our lovely friends from the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise- Heather Langenkamp and Brooke Theiss!

“War of the Gargantuas” begins at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. You are invited to join the thousands of fans on Twitter ( or X ) who live-Tweet ( or live-X ) - as well as posting comments on Bluesky - during the show -just make sure to add the hashtag #svengoolie to your posts on either. In the Chicago viewing area, viewers can slither into an encore of “Sssssss!” at 11 am on WCIU, The U.

If you are reading this early enough, you can tune into WDCB-FM’s “Those Were The Days” program featuring classic radio shows, where Sven’s alter ego Rich Koz will be making an appearance with host Steve Darnall to talk about his participation in the upcoming “Those Were The Days” live anniversary show coming up on April. Listen between 1 pm-3 pm central time locally in the Chicago area on WDCB-FM ( 90.9 FM- and in the Chicago West Loop area on 90.7 FM)- or you can listen online no matter where you are at www.wdcb.org

Tonight- be on hand for gruesome gargantuas grappling, with Tokyo as the squared circle, on MeTV!