The Behemoth is Back-and More Dangerous Than Ever! "War of the Colossal Beast"-Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV-we wind up the summer by bringing back a “sort-of” sequel to a fantastic ‘50s film! It features an enormous menace, thought to have expired, that has re-appeared south of the border! It has become even more dangerous than it was previously, bringing together allies of two adjoining nations who are forced to engage in the “War of the Colossal Beast”!

An unexplainable event occurs in Mexico when a truck bringing food to a local gun club disappears, with its driver found in a state of shock, and beyond communicating. As a result, the local authorities have zero explanation as to what happened to him, or where the missing vehicle might be.

A news story about the incident is broadcast on TV in Los Angeles, where Joyce Manning sees it and has her own less than unbelievable theory on what has happened. This inspires her to head down to Guavos, Mexico, to convince those local authorities, and the American military’s Col Mark Baird to investigate- in hopes of discovering if the horror she suspects is true.

The only evidence of what happened is sparse. Judging from its tire tracks, the truck disappeared- straight up! Plus, what looks like the footprints of a huge man have been found in the area. Joyce feels her suspicions are true-it’s her brother, Col. Glenn Manning, who was turned into a giant by exposure to radiation! Dubbed “the Colossal Man”, he was supposedly killed, plummeting off Boulder Dam, with his body never found- but now, Joyce thinks he may have survived- and is roaming the desert in Mexico!

The search party heads out into the desert, and climbs a mountain in search of more proof- only to find the missing truck-and come face to hideous face with the disfigured Colossal Man! He has obviously suffered injuries in his fall from the dam, not only disfiguring him but causing brain damage that has reduced him to a savage beast.

Since the missing truck was filled with groceries, they realize this giant must be searching for food! They plan to drive a truck loaded with bread (containing a secret ingredient- a chemical that should put the big guy to sleep) through the same area where the other truck disappeared, in hope of luring him out and sedating him.

The plan works-the massive beast-man grabs the truck, consumes the bread, and, overcome by the added drug as hoped, finally drops to the ground, unconscious. It is decided that, through use of a huge transport plane, he should be returned to America for treatment. It turns out that it is not that simple, however, as somewhat familiar bureaucracy causes government agency after agency to shift the responsibility for taking care of Manning from themselves to another group! There is also some question regarding where they can land the plane and confine the giant- but he is eventually ensconced in a huge hangar at the airport near Los Angeles. He is bound, held down for the safety of himself and the personnel, as they contemplate study and treatment. Joyce maintains that, regardless of his clouded mind, only she may be able to get through to him and reason with him, joining forces with psychologists and experts brought in. The result, however, drives the powerful giant’s unstable mind to a frantic plan- to escape his bonds and head into the city to create deadly havoc! Will this colossal beast now prove to be colossally unstoppable?

As mentioned, this 1958 film is “sort of” a sequel to American International’s “The Amazing Colossal Man”- it even includes some footage from that movie in a flashback-and, by the way, be watching at the very end of the film for a gimmick we have seen in another AIP movie!

We will mention again on the show that the reason we have not been able to show the original film is due to rights issues- the widow of one of the producers holds the rights to that and a handful of other American International films, and will not grant them to anyone-because she was upset with the treatment of some of the films by the “Mystery Science Theatre” crew. We still hold out hope to be able to show it someday. Fans who know that film will notice some things in this movie are at odds with the original, which we will explain, including the reason for the beast’s deformed facial features. We’ll provide background about the film, talk about the cast, present a commercial for an item to add to your dinner menu, add in a colossal song, and get another visit from Nostalgiaferatoo! We’ll also again talk about the creation of the backgrounds we utilized during the pandemic for the “Sven Cave”- as well as bringing back some celebrity visits from the past-including Curtis Armstrong and the charming Dana Delorenzo- and a vintage visit with two queens of cartoon voices- Jean Vander Pyl and Janet Waldo- and more!

“War of the Colossal Beast” will be waged tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. Our Twitter followers will again be live-Tweeting during the program, using the hashtag #svengoolie – and MeTV invites you to join in, no matter what time zone you are in when you watch us. Our local Chicago area audience can get one more look at Bori Karloff and Bela Lugosi in “Black Friday” this morning on our local station, WCIU “the U”, at 11 am.

Join us tonight for a BIG way to celebrate the Labor Day weekend on MeTV!