Svengoolie’s January Films Will Make the New Year a Scream

Happy New Year … or should we say, happy new fear? Svengoolie’s January film picks bring us a possessed skull, an evil mummy’s tomb (does anyone ever stumble upon a good mummy’s tomb?), the first battle between King Kong and Godzilla, and a plane trip where turbulence is the least of anyone’s problems. Every Saturday night, on MeTV‘s Svengoolie Classic Horror & Sci-Fi Movie, Svengoolie and his Sven Squad bring you the very best in retro, throwback spooky cinema. It’s a whole new year, and that means you have a whole new chance to scare yourself silly.

All films begin at 8pm EST on MeTV.

January 3: Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971)

Everett Collection

This film, about an evil Egyptian queen whose eternal slumber is disturbed, bears two unusual distinctions — it was much better reviewed than Hammer Horror’s other mummy movies, and it had an infamously troubled production. The film went into production earlier than planned, and the producer and writer got into it so often, the write was banned from the set. Hammer mainstay Peter Cushing was able to complete only one day of filming before leaving the film due to his wife’s emphysema. But most horribly, the director, Seth Holt, died on set, collapsing from a heart attack close to the end of production. Michael Carreras, son of Hammer founder James Carreras, finished up the shoot.

December 10: The Skull (1965)

Everett Collection

UK horror greats Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing once again join forces for this story of a cursed skull, once belonging to infamous French libertine the Marquis de Sade, which exerts a pernicious influence on anyone who owns it. The story was adapted from a short story by Psycho author Robert Bloch. Fun fact: the actual real-life skull of the Marquis de Sade was also exhumed from his grave, and remains missing to this very day (yes, that’s a very loose usage of the word “fun”).

January 17: Flight 7500 (2014)

Gemma La Mana/©CBS Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

House of Svengoolie brings you this modern pick from Japanese filmmaker Takashi Shimizu, who directed both the original Japanese version and the American adaptation of The Grudge. J-horror hits the skies as a malevolent presence torments a plane and its passengers, which include White Lotus star Leslie Bibb, 2000s comedy mainstay Amy Smart, Entourage’s Jerry Ferrara, and True Blood‘s Ryan Kwanten.

January 24: King Kong vs Godzilla (1962)

Everett Collection

Though it seems like King Kong and Godzilla can’t stop getting together these days, their original battle occurred in the Swingin’ Sixties, in this, the first Toho-produced film to feature everyone’s favorite giant ape. The roots of the idea began with original King Kong stop motion animator Willis O’Brien, who wanted to pit Kong against an enormous Frankenstein’s monster. The idea was then changed to Kong taking on Godzilla, and sold to Toho, without O’Brien’s knowledge and without giving him credit.

Note: Viewers who stream the show on platforms like FrndlyTV, FuBo, Philo, Sling and DirecTV, or who live in Hawaii, will will be shown a different film: 1958’s Fiend Without a Face.

January 31: War of the Colossal Beast (1958)

Everett Collection

In this atomic creature feature, food trucks are mysteriously vanishing on the roads of Mexico. Could a creature be taking them? A creature that used to be human? And will said creature eventually hold a bus full of middle schoolers hostage in the middle of Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory??

Svengoolie's MeTV Pick for Aug. 31: 'War of the Colossal Beast'

The movie's director was a 'B-Movie' king!

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