With Halloween decor creeping into stores across the country, it’s the perfect time to peer into the sci-fi and horror classics airing on free TV this September via America’s most beloved horror host, Svengoolie.
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Hosted by the legendary Rich Koz (aka Svengoolie), MeTV’s Svengoolie mixes the flicks being shown with spooky comedy sketches, dreadful puns, and cheese-filled parody songs. Along for the ride are the host’s “Sven Squad”: Gwengoolie, IMP, and Nostalgiaferatoo.
The show just announced its September lineup, and it’s a deep bench of sci-fi and horror favorites, headlined by the likes of legends like Vincent Price, Don Knotts, and the Candyman himself, Tony Todd.
Let’s take a quick look at the films Sven and his crew are slinging this month…
Svengoolie Kicks Off September With 2 Creepy Sci-Fi Classics
This evening (Sept. 5), Svengoolie presents 1967’s They Came from Beyond Space.
In the alien invasion flick, based on the novel The Gods Hate Kansas, a group of scientists led by Dr. Curtis Temple (Robert Hutton) investigates a bizarre meteor shower in a rural field. However, they’re soon met with an alien force capable of possessing human minds.
Film fans will note the Hammer Horror legend and Batman’s butler Alfred, Michael Gough, in the juicy role of “Master of the Moon.”
The following week, on Sept. 12, The Fly, starring Vincent Price, buzzes onto Svengoolie. The 1958 sci-fi classic, later remade as a body-horror gore spectacular starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis in 1986, involves a scientist (David Hedison) who undergoes a horrific transformation after a teleportation experiment goes way off the rails.
The film has several moments that left an impression on young baby boomers who caught it in theaters or later on TV back in the day. This includes that infamous and often imitated “help me!” scene…
September Continues with a Beloved Horror-Comedy and an Attack from the ‘Living Dead’
With spooky season in full swing, Svengoolie is offering up a one-two punch of horror goodness to close out September.
“Atta boy, Luther!” is the often-quoted refrain from the fan-favorite Don Knotts’ 1966 horror-comedy The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Mayberry’s favorite deputy stars as Luther Heggs, an easily spooked newspaper typesetter with aspirations to be a reporter.
Hapless Luther gets a chance at his dream job when he’s challenged to spend the night in the infamous Simmons mansion, an allegedly haunted house where a grisly murder-suicide went down two decades earlier…
Fresh off Knotts’ time on The Andy Griffith Show and populated with plenty of familiar faces, this one is a crowd-pleaser for the whole family. Expect Sven to do more than a few Mayberry parodies for this one…
Finally, the Sven Squad takes over for September’s last offering on House of Svengoolie. Gwengoolie, IMP, and Nostalgiaferatoo are presenting the 1990 version of Night of the Living Dead on Sept. 26.
This remake of George Romero’s 1968 horror classic is helmed by special effects master Tom Savini and led by a cast including the late Tony Todd. With Savini directing, there’s plenty of gruesome zombie effects.
As you can see from the trailer above, sensitive viewers and children might want to sit this one out (or just DVR it for the fun sketches from the Sven Squad!).
Don’t be chicken (even a rubber one!)…. The old-school scares possess your TV every Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on MeTV.
