Science- Not Superstition- Brings Back "The Werewolf "- Tonight!

Since we are still about a week away from the next full moon, it’s a good thing that title creature of tonight’s film has no ties to the usual werewolf lore and rules we normally find in a Sven movie-  whose transitions from man to beast won’t rely on moon phases- but still unleash a frightening furry fury ( say that five times fast) known as “The Werewolf”!

The first thing we see in the dark of night is a man stumbling through the streets of a small rural town known as Mountaincrest. He wanders into the local tavern, in a state of confusion, and, besides requesting a drink, asks for some information – i.e., does Hoxie the bartender recognize him? Hoxie does not know him- and the disoriented stranger heads back out into the street, after flashing a fair amount of cash while paying for his drink. One barfly, having noticed the state the stranger is in, but more importantly, his money, follows him out into the almost deserted street, intent on robbing what would appear to be an easy mark. He discovers that the stranger is even stranger than he thought- and soon, after a dimly-lit donnybrook ,only one of them emerges from the alley- observed by an old lady who can’t believe her eyes, and screams in fright as whoever- or whatever- she is seeing runs for the outskirts of town!

The screams bring the sheriff and some of the bar patrons to the alley- where they find the would-be robber’s body in horrid shape, as if he was attacked by a wild animal! Sheriff Jack Haines brings the body to the office/home of local physician Dr. Gilchrist before setting out with a deputy and posse of locals to look for the deadly prey that left the scene of the crime.

After being left on sentry duty in the woods, the deputy himself is attacked! He’s brought back to that same doctor’s office, where the doc and his nurse tend to his wounds. It appears that he was also attacked by some animal, but when the deputy describes his attacker, the sheriff begins to think that it’s not simply an animal- but a wolf man! Old Doc Gilchrist scoffs at the notion- but the evidence provides to hold too much logic to ignore.

The next day, the doctor’s office gets yet another visitor- unbeknownst to them, the very fellow who fled town that last night! He reveals to the doctor and nurse Amy that he has no recollection of who he is- or even how he got to the town. He has vague memories of having an auto accident- being treated by two doctors- and that he killed a man! The doc has Amy prepare a sedative to calm him down, but he reacts violently to that- not trusting them because he thinks those other two doctors did something terrible to him! Once again, he runs away and heads into the woods. Amy calls the sheriff to fill him in on this latest development, and this time, Sheriff Jack establishes a full-fledged posse to hunt for this agitated suspect.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, we see the very two doctors the man remembered-who are indeed responsible for his condition. Catching newspaper reports of the strange “animal” attacks- they conclude that the responsible party is a man who had an auto accident- whose confused state they took advantage of, and injected with an experimental serum they are trying to perfect- “for the good of mankind”. Their flawed vision notwithstanding, they set out to find the man before the authorities do,intending to keep their secret safe -by killing him!

As they prepare to leave- they get a visit from their quarry’s wife- who found out her hubby- one Duncan Marsh- had come to their place. The doctors act like they have no idea where he went after he left-and she and her son depart. The two doctors then head to Mountaincrest, intent on protecting their secret and eliminating Marsh!

Out in the woods, Marsh keeps transforming back and forth from human to werewolf- while the double threat of the Sheriff and his friends- and the shady doctors- are on the hunt for him. Things get even more complicated when his wife and son end up in town- and the fate of the werewolf teeters between compassion and destruction!

As I mentioned, this 1956 movie is a departure from the usual werewolf fare we provide, since it’s a wolf man created by science, thus eliminating the old “full moon” / silver bullet type rules. The werewolf make-up may look familiar to our viewers - and we’ll tell explain why. We’ll go over the cast, which includes one actor you might recall as the complaining airplane passenger in “The Giant Claw” as well as one actor you’ve seen before in the Gill Man series- but would never recognize from that! There’s also the usual tune- and a commercial for a beverage that could have you howling at the moon!

“The Werewolf” runs wild tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central, or, for time and channel where you are, check your local listings or at www.metv.com. MeTV invites you to join the other fans live-Tweeting on Twitter during the show- using the hashtag #svengoolie . Chicago area viewers will be gripped once again by “The Giant Claw” at 11 am on the NEW location for the U-  the channel that has formerly been known as the UToo. You can find it over the air ( with an antenna) on 48.1 and 26.2  . If you watch on cable, Comcast will have the U on 230 ( some suburban areas may have a different channel allocation)- RCN will have it at 610- and WOW will have the U at 170. You’ll find us on Dish on channel 48, as well as on other providers.

The latest Sven 40^th anniversary shirt featuring our beloved Kerwyn is rapidly becoming an endangered species! If you hope to snag one before they sell out, order NOW! And, remember- more Sven anniversary merchandise is still forthcoming!

Our Halloween season public appearance tour begins in just a couple weeks! Make sure you check back at the “appearance” tab on our site for all the details and last minute additions.

Be with us tonight- for the tragic man-beast that even Maria Ouspenskaya could not help!