The BEST episodes of Svengoolie season 31

#1 - The Return of the Vampire

Season 31 - Episode 27 - Aired 7/5/2025

In 1918, an English family is terrorized by a vampire, until they learn how to deal with it. They think their troubles are over, but German bombs in WWII free the monster. He reclaims the soul of his wolfman ex-servant, and assuming the identity of a scientist who has just escaped from a concentration camp, he starts out on a plan to get revenge upon the family.

#2 - The War of the Gargantuas (1966)

Season 31 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/22/2025

Sven presents facts and trivia about a Toho film featuring their double-sized take on King Kong.

#3 - Dan Curtis' Dracula (1974)

Season 31 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/1/2025

Tonight on MeTV - we witness Dan Curtis' take on the classic novel that began the tale of the most famous vampire in "Dan Curtis' Dracula!" Note: this 1974 made-for-TV production, starring Jack Palance, was originally called "Bram Stoker’s Dracula" - but is now identified by the Dan Curtis title to avoid confusion with the Francis Ford Coppola 1992 film - also due to Coppola actually buying the exclusive rights to the title "Bram Stoker's Dracula"! Notably, tonight’s film was really the first version of the Dracula story to touch upon the Vlad the Impaler history of the Count, and to adhere more closely (but not entirely) to the original novel. Note: this 1974 made-for-TV production, starring Jack Palance, was originally called “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”- but is now identified by the Dan Curtis title to avoid confusion with the Francis Ford Coppola 1992 film-also due to Coppola actually buying the exclusive rights to the title “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”!

#4 - Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)

Season 31 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/18/2025

Tonight on MeTV-we go from frightful fruit to nasty nightlife- as we present a favorite cult classic fresh from the ghastly garden. The 1978 fan favorite “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”. Just to clarify the above- tomatoes ARE considered a fruit, since they are seed-bearing, but are used the way you would use a vegetable. You can argue about that among yourselves.

#5 - Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster

Season 31 - Episode 26 - Aired 6/28/2025

(1965) A Martian princess and a doctor replace the women on Mars, destroyed by atomic war, by raiding Puerto Rico while a shot down android terrorizes all.

#6 - Horror of Dracula

Season 31 - Episode 32 - Aired 8/16/2025

#7 - The Black Cat

Season 31 - Episode 29 - Aired 7/19/2025

Stranded honeymooners follow mad doctor to manor.

#8 - Werewolf of London

Season 31 - Episode 31 - Aired 8/9/2025

#9 - The Curse Of Frankenstein

Season 31 - Episode 33 - Aired 8/23/2025

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.

#10 - Leprechaun

Season 31 - Episode 34 - Aired 8/23/2025

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.

#11 - Dead Of Night

Season 31 - Episode 35 - Aired 8/30/2025

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.

#12 - The Creature Walks Among Us

Season 31 - Episode 36 - Aired 9/6/2025

Gill-man returns … again! In the third Black Lagoon film (and the first to be directed by frequent Universal-International assistant director John Sherwood, in his feature debut, rather than Jack Arnold, who helmed the first two films), a deranged doctor decides that our lagoon-loving monster should live on the land — a decision that obvious leads to horror. The only one of the Black Lagoon films not shot in 3-D, this movie is also frequently considered the final film in the original Universal Monsters series.

#13 - The Bad Seed

Season 31 - Episode 37 - Aired 9/13/2025

Patty McCormack shines as Rhoda, the worst little girl in the world; Nancy Kelly stars as mom Christine, who realizes her little darling may actually be a cold-blooded killer. The film is adapted from the hit 1954 book and play of the same name, but with one major twist: in the original tale, evil Rhoda survives, while valiant Christine dies. The Motion Picture Production Code wouldn’t stand to see a film end with the villain going unpunished (even if that villain is an eight-year-old girl with pigtails); so in the film’s story, the ending was changed so that Christine lives, and Rhoda is taken down by a bolt of lightning.

#14 - Tarantula

Season 31 - Episode 38 - Aired 9/20/2025

Speaking of original Creature from the Black Lagoon director Jack Arnold — in the same year he directed Revenge of the Creature, he also helmed this sci-fi tale of scientists who create a nutrient-rich miracle food that might eventually save the human race … but right now, it’s just accidentally creating a gigantic tarantula that’s causing chaos all over a desert town. You might have heard of this giant creature feature even if you’re not a fan of the genre, as it has two major pop culture pedigrees — it featured one of Clint Eastwood‘s very first (uncredited) film performances, as a jet fighter pilot, and it is mentioned in “Science Fiction/ Double Feature,” the very first song in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (“I knew Leo G. Carroll/ was over a barrel/ When Tarantula took to the hills”).

#15 - The Night Strangler

Season 31 - Episode 39 - Aired 9/27/2025

Kolchak fans, assemble! In this second made-for-TV movie, following 1972’s The Night Stalker, newspaperman Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) is back — now based in Seattle, he’s hot on the trail of a killer creep who is murdering exotic dancers by crushing their necks and relieving them of a few drops of blood. Kolchak’s clues lead him to an old hospital, an interview with Mark Twain, and a bizarre secret that might be centuries in the making. Horror and sci-fi screenwriting legend Richard Matheson and Dark Shadows mastermind Dan Curtis once again teamed up for this film, as they had for the first — but this would be the end of the road for their involvement with Kolchak. When Kolchak: The Night Stalker debuted on ABC in 1974, only McGavin and Simon Oakland remained.

#16 - THEM!

Season 31 - Episode 41 - Aired 10/11/2025

James Arness faces giant ants!

#17 - Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Season 31 - Episode 44 - Aired 11/1/2025

Svengoolie presents 'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'. The Wolf Man tries to warn a dimwitted porter that Dracula wants his brain for Frankenstein monster's body.

#18 - The Valley of Gwangi

Season 31 - Episode 45 - Aired 11/8/2025

A struggling Wild West stunt show hopes to make its fortune with a miniature horse from a hidden valley, but the discovery of large prehistoric beasts there leads to deadly danger.

#19 - Dracula Has Risen from the Grave

Season 31 - Episode 46 - Aired 11/15/2025

A small Transylvanian village receives the full brunt of Dracula's terror after a priest exorcises his castle. Christopher Lee is the arch-bloodsucker whose lust for a beautiful young bishop's niece incurs the wrath of the entire village.

#20 - Curse of the Undead

Season 31 - Episode 47 - Aired 11/22/2025

A malady is claiming the lives of young women in a Western town where a sinister gunslinger-for-hire called Drake Robey who is really a vampire lives. It's up to Preacher Dan to save the town and Dolores Carter.

#21 - The Mummy

Season 31 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/24/2025

(1959 version) In 1895, British archaeologists find and open the tomb of Egyptian Princess Ananka with nefarious consequences.

#22 - Abbott And Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll And Mr Hyde (1953)

Season 31 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/4/2025

#23 - Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Season 31 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/11/2025

#24 - Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956)

Season 31 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/25/2025

#25 - 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

Season 31 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/1/2025