The season premieres on Sunday May 1st with THE INVISIBLE MAN, in which Claude Rains delivers a remarkable performance in his screen debut. This is paired with BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, the celebrated sequel to the 1931 classic with Boris Karloff reprising his role as the monster. Then on Sunday May 8th, we have Christy Cabanne’s frightening chiller masterpiece THE MUMMY’S HAND, followed by FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN, featuring the original Wolfman, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster.
On Sunday May 15th the heart-pounding Alien invasion classic IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, hits our screens, followed by pulp-horror favourite TARANTULA. Sunday May 22nd brings us REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, the sequel to Universal's fabulously successful The Creature from the Black Lagoon, twinned with mutant octopus-rampaging IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA. Finally, on Sunday May 29th, Fred F. Sears’ saucer-invading caper EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS, crash lands on the channel, followed by the subterranean monster thriller THE MOLE PEOPLE, ,
Full film details in transmission order:
Sun 1 May @ 21:00 – THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933)
Claude Rains plays a mysterious doctor who discovers a serum that makes him invisible. Covered by bandages and dark glasses, Rains arrives at a small English village and attempts to hide his amazing discovery. But the same drug that renders him invisible slowly drives him to commit acts of unspeakable terror. Based on H.G. Wells' classic novel and directed by the master of macabre James Whale, The Invisible Man not only fuelled a host of sequels, but also features some special effects that are still imitated today.
Sun 1 May @ 22:25 – BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
This celebrated sequel to the 1931 classic finds Mary Shelley's monster alive and well and forcing the good baron to create a mate. Horror film icon Boris Karloff reprises his role as Dr. Frankenstein's fabled creation and Elsa Lanchester co-stars as his monstrous lady love.
Sun 8 May @ 21:00 – THE MUMMY’S HAND (1940)
Two broke archaeologists, Steve Banning (Dick Foran) and Babe Jenson (Wallace Ford), head to Egypt to uncover the legendary sarcophagus of Princess Ananka. Not only is the tomb cursed, it has its own guard - an eternal mummy named Kharis! When expedition members start dying at the mummy’s hand, it’ll take wits and courage to survive the undying horror uncovered under the sands.
Sat 8 May @ 22:20 – FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN (1943)
Two of the silver screen's most fearsome creatures battle it out when the Wolfman (Lon Chaney reprising his role) seeking to end his curse, looks to the notorious Dr Frankenstein for a cure. However, his mission pus him on a collision course with Frankenstein’s monster, played by Bela Lugosi.
Sunday 15 May @ 21:00 – IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953)
John Putnam (Richard Carlson), an amateur astronomer, is looking at the skies with his fiancée, schoolteacher Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush), when they see what looks like a huge meteor crash into the desert. As events unfold, various townspeople start to disappear, including Ellen, to be replaced by alien ‘duplicates’ As the townspeople become aware of the danger, the likelihood of bloodshed becomes apparent. Based on a story by Ray Bradbury.
Sunday 15 May @ 22:35 – TARANTULA (1955)
This classic science fiction film featuring screen legend Clint Eastwood, tells the story of a scientist who, while researching the effects of a new synthetic nutrient, releases a giant spider in the American Southwest. Directed by Jack Arnold and starring John Agar, Mara Corday and Leo G. Carroll.
Sun 22 May @ 21:00 REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1954)
Two oceanographers (John Bromfield and Robert B. Williams) capture the creature and put him on display. Here the hapless Gill-Man is taught a few words of English by compassionate ichthyologists, John Agar and Lori Nelson. Eventually, however, the creature reverts to type, kills one of his captors and goes on a rampage, managing to abduct the heroine and carry her off. Intense underwater photography and practical effects make "The Revenge of the Creature" a horror classic.
Sunday 22 May @ 22:35 – IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1956)
While on a routine mission, Cmdr. Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey) runs into trouble when his submarine is nearly sunk by an unknown creature, which is identified as a giant octopus from the nether reaches of Mindanao Deep. The beast has been awakened by nearby nuclear testing and now, radioactive and monstrously huge, the rampaging leviathan is heading toward the North American Pacific Coast.
Sunday 29 May @ 21:00 – EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956)
UFOs from a doomed star system invade Earth with plans of world conquest. Surrender is not an option so the human race must fight to the bitter end. Special effects are by Ray Harryhausen.
Sunday 29 May @ 22:40 – THE MOLE PEOPLE (1957)
John Bentley (John Agar), leads a Middle Eastern expedition in search of a lost tribe of Sumerians. He and his cohorts follow a tunnel deep below the surface of the earth, eventually coming across a tyrannical tribe of albino Sumerians, who use the semi-human Mole People as slaves. Aware of the danger the scientists pose, the subterranean High Priest wants them eliminated.
TV: Sky 317 / Virgin 149 / Freeview 70 / Freesat 138