Tired of Making Christmas Cookies? Learn " How to Make a Monster"- Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- we continue our month of Fabulous 50s Fright Films with one our viewers were happy to see- suitable as an encore, since it’s the American International film that gave an encore to the studio’s Teenage Frankenstein and Teenage Werewolf! Rather than in a laboratory, it’s in the make-up chair that a master of creature creations brings his monsters to life- when heartless studio heads decide to show him the door. It’s the tutorial of terror known as “How to Make a Monster”!

This 1958 favorite begins with renowned horror make-up artist Pete finishing applying the Teenage Werewolf make-up to a young actor ( who, in this case , is NOT Michael Landon, who played the part in the original film)! Pete and his faithful assistant Rivero are proud of the job they’ve done- as is the director of a new film pitting the teen wolf man against the Teenage Frankenstein        ( who IS played by the young actor from the original AI film, Gary Conway). Pete’s proud moment is short-lived- when the studio’s new bosses invade his make-up room- and rather bluntly inform him that his skills will no longer be needed at the studio! They feel that monster films are worn out, and audiences would rather have laughs, music, and pretty women instead! As is often the case in entertainment, it’s management not caring what the audience really wants, but what they think they SHOULD want!

Angered that his 25 legendary years as head make-up artist at the studio mean nothing to this new regime, Pete comes up with a surprisingly sinister plan- he will use his monster creations, the very ones new management disdains, to get revenge! By mixing a special ingredient into the make-up that numbs the actor’s will and leaves him susceptible to follow every command Pete gives him- Pete creates monsters that will carry out the same mayhem they have previously done on the screen- but for real this time- against the arrogant men who want to end his career!

The police are baffled by these horrific crimes- while assistant Rivero, who still has a sense of right and wrong yet remains loyal to his boss, worries about his involvement in Pete’s scheme-and the young actors being used as Pete’s pawns start to get confused about periods of time in which they seem to have “blacked out” while in make-up. Will Pete be successful in carrying out his revenge by using his “children”- the monsters he has brought to life on the screen- to bring down the studio he helped make a success?

This is another one of those 1950s horror films that are fondly remembered by horror fans- featuring two famed American International monsters ( from “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” and “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein”- two movies we would love to be able to show that are being withheld by the person who currently owns the rights to them). You’ll see some familiar faces, both regulars and guest stars, from MeTV shows- and we will reveal a common thread among them-while revisiting the familiar make-up of the teen monsters. We’ll talk about some trivia relating to the film, and have plenty of Sven shtick, including a new song, and – I take pen in hand to make my own monster!

“How to Make a Monster” begins at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time tonight- and, during the show, you can live-Tweet along with other thousands of other viewers on Twitter- just use the hashtag #svengoolie . Our “Chicago area only” encore of “The Crawling Eye” will be within sight at 11 am on CW26.

The Sven bobbleheads, though our inventory was in the thousands, sold out quickly! We appreciate that so many of our loyal fans moved fast to claim theirs! Many other Sven items are still available in our store- and the Sventa Claus Holiday Shoppe.

We are certainly disappointed that we are not attending the C2E2 convention in Chicago this weekend- many of our friends are appearing, so make sure you tell them Sven says hello and wishes he could be there. Hoping that 2022 will get us back into the public sooner than later!

Meanwhile, join us tonight on MeTV- when the lines between horror fantasy and reality get blurred by a malevolent make-up man and his monsters!