Svengoolie’s August Schedule Is Here to Chill Your Hot Summer Nights
Here’s a truly spooky thought — the summer’s almost over! But Svengoolie has one more hot month full of chills for you all. The August schedule for MeTV‘s Svengoolie Classic Horror & Sci-Fi Movie has arrived, and it’s full of Hammer Horror classics, evil kids, giant bugs, and Warwick Davis as a man who will absolutely make you regret going after his lucky charms.
Aug 2: The Black Scorpion (1957)
Everett Collection
Who’s behind the deaths and disappearances in a small Mexican town plagued by volcano eruptions? At first, locals think it’s a demon bull — if only they’d be so lucky! The true culprit: enormous prehistoric scorpions from beneath the earth, obviously. Creature from the Black Lagoon‘s Richard Denning stars as one of the scientists sent to solve this buggy mess; Tarantula star Mara Corday finds herself once again facing down some oversized insects. But perhaps the most notable names in this production are the folks who created the terrifying stop-motion scorpions: Willis O’Brien, the stop-motion genius behind the effects in the original King Kong, and Pete Peterson, who worked by O’Brien’s side on Mighty Joe Young.
Aug 9: Werewolf of London (1935)
Courtesy Everett Collection
Preceding Lon Chaney Jr.‘s famous turn as Universal’s The Wolf Man by six years, Werewolf of London is the first full-length feature werewolf film, and Universal’s original wolf man. Botanist Dr. Wilfred Glendon gets a mysterious animal bite while searching for a mysterious plant in Tibet, but it’s probably nothing, right? And the scientist who approaches him at a party once he comes home and tells him that werewolves are real was probably kidding, right? And the fur suddenly growing on his hand is probably some kind of allergic reaction …
Werewolf of London isn’t one of the most famous Universal frightfests, but it shared a star with one: Valerie Hobson, who plays Mrs. Glendon, costarred as Baroness Frankenstein in that same year’s Bride of Frankenstein. Werewolf also almost starred Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, but since it was shooting at the same time as Bride, Karloff couldn’t make it work scheduling-wise. It has a fine legacy, despite this: it inspired two novels, one video game, and an incredibly catchy Warren Zevon song.
Aug 16: Horror of Dracula (1958)
Everett Collection
Christopher Lee first bared his fangs in this, his original Hammer Dracula film — and the first vampire film shot in color. Lee’s Drac was bloodier than previous renditions, and a little more engaged with the character’s sexiness — a version of the character that resonated with audiences, because Lee would don the vampire’s cape for Hammer six more time.
Aug 23: The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) & Leprechaun (1993)
Everett Collection
Speaking of Hammer! Curse of Frankenstein was their first color horror film, and, alongside Horror of Dracula, helped establish Hammer as a horror force worth reckoning with. Peter Cushing — in his first lead film role! — stars as young Baron Frankenstein, a wealthy (and mildly sociopathic) young Swiss scientist who’s decided to play God; Christopher Lee appears as the Creature, who proves more difficult to control than Frankenstein anticipated. The film had far more brutality and gore than its gothic, atmospheric Universal counterpart; it hit UK theaters with an “X” rating. But that didn’t deter fans — it cost about $270,000 to film, and earned $8 million at the box office. Cushing would play the Baron for Hammer five more times.
Next up: Warwick Davis — Willow himself! — made us all think twice about trying to take anyone’s pink hearts and green clovers in this flick, where he plays a go-kart-driving, shoe-polishing leprechaun trying to reclaim his stolen gold. Jennifer Aniston famously picked up her first film credit playing teen heroine Tory, who must fight the crazed leprechaun as he annihilates the residents of a small farm.
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And the film’s similarities to the plot of those classic Lucky Charms commercials isn’t a coincidence — director Mark Davis was genuinely inspired by those Saturday morning staples, and began developing an idea for a similar story, where the leprechaun decided to stop being a nice guy. Originally a straight horror film, Davis pushed for it to add a heavy comedic element — a great call that helped the film make more than eight times its budget, and become a cult classic that spawned five sequels (yes, the Leprechaun went to space, and the hood … twice!)
Aug 30: Dead of Night (1977)
Courtesy of Everett Collection
Dark Shadows maven Dan Curtis teamed back up with his Trilogy of Terror collaborator, horror and sci-fi legend Richard Matheson, to create this follow-up anthology film. In three segments — one of which starred Ed Begley Jr. in one of his earliest leading roles — viewers hitch a ride in a magical time-traveling car, witness a very unusual vampire attack, and meet a brat who redefines the concept of “mommy issues.” That final segment, “Bobby,” was remade in 1996 for Trilogy of Terror II, which also recycled the famous “He Who Kills” segment from the original Trilogy of Terror. Trilogy of Terror II was Curtis’ final screenwriting gig; he died in 2006, at the age of 78.