We’re Cuckoo for “Curucu- Beast of the Amazon”- Tonight!

If you're in the Chicago area, please remember that you can see me at the Flashback Weekend horror convention today and tomorrow- I'll be signing and taking photos with you today, plus I will m.c. the costume contest- and tomorrow, I host a screening of "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein"- and we'll have audience participation fun! Check for more info under the "appearances" tab on this site.

Ah, but, tonight- it's a truly cheesy horror film that may be as laughable as Bud and Lou (but for different reasons)- as John Bromfield goes up the river to protect Beverly Garland from "Curucu- Beast of the Amazon"!

Bromfield stars  as Rock Dean (no, not a Flintstones college official)  whose family plantation is having all sorts of problems- deadly attacks attributed to a monster, causing  plantation workers to flee in fear, abandoning their jobs. Determined to head up the Amazon River to bring back the native workers, and not believing that a monster dwells in the distant area of the jungle (though- if the beast lives where the workers  have headed back to- how does this benefit them?), he ends up accompanied by  a female doctor (Beverly Garland) who wants to acquire the formula used by the natives to (gulp) shrink heads- thinking it could be just the thing to shrink cancerous tumors.

The trip, lead by local guide Tumpanico, is fraught with dangers- stock footage jungle beasts and suspicious and/or hostile natives. The doctor wins over some of the locals by giving medical help to one native- and, using a nearby mission as a stopover, they venture further into the remote jungle where the dreaded Curucu dwells- and their lives are in jeopardy!

This 1956 film, shot on location in Brazil in semi-stunning Eastmancolor, is full of pretty wacky and head-scratching moments. We ask our blog commenters to PLEASE- NOT REVEAL A MAJOR FACT ABOUT THIS FILM- in deference to anyone who has not seen it. Naturally, we get a lot of mileage out of the absurdities in this movie in our various Sven bits- and, get an assist from our "Summer of Me" hostess, Dawn Wells, who knows something about surviving in a hostile tropic environment, after her years as  Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island"!

"Curucu- Beast of the Amazon" shows tonight on MeTV  at 10 pm eastern/pacific, 9 central, or check your local listings (or www.metv.com) for channel and time in your area. Chicago area viewers will go wild for a second showing of Acquanetta's "Captive Wild Woman" on our sister station, WCIU-the U- at 11 am.

Just a quick note- we are indeed working on a few additions to the Sven merchandise line- especially one custom item that I think will be a big hit with Sven fans- these things take time, but- rest assured- I think you'll like what we have coming up!

Hope to see many of you in Rosemont this weekend- and that even more of you will join us for our jungle jaunt with "Curucu" tonight!