Thursday, October 1, 2009

Night 1 and 2 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

I've joined in the fun over at Domestic Witch's October Blog Party. You can find a list of participating blogs that are having fun celebrating the season of Halloween. When you're done here take a broom ride over to her site and you'll see the list of blogs on the right side bar.
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Here at The Lounge we will have a "31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest". OK, so it's really only 30 nights since I started a little late but there will be more than enough movies to make up for it. Check back each day to see which movie is featured. Some days you may get more than one. They will be a random selection of my favorites.
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Make sure to leave a comment for each movie as one lucky person will win their choice of pendant from Laughing Vixen Lounge at the end of the film fest. Please see rules at end of post.
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Night 1 and 2 --- "Rosemary's Baby"
This is one of my favorite thrillers. And yes, my mother's name is Rosemary. Muuhaahaa

Roman Polanski directed this film adaptation of Ira Levin's bestselling horror novel. Released on June 12 1968 by Paramount Studios. Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her not-so-successful actor husband, Guy (John Cassavetes), move into a splendidly Gothic apartment building in New York called The Bramford. Of course, they were told of The Bramford's reputation for odd going-ons but they happily ignore it. After an unfortunate "accident" happens their neighbors, Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon), soon invade their lives. After Guy starts spending far too much time with the Castevets he begins to land acting roles. When Rosemary becomes pregnant she starts to become suspicious of her surroundings and the people who inhabit it.
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Everything works here. The mood is one of uneasiness and paranoia as we watch Rosemary fall deeper and deeper into the world of The Bramford. Mia Farrow does such a great job that you can't help but feel everything she's feeling right along with her. Adding to the look of the film are the colorful outfits and home decor of the era. A great treat.

Some trivia about the movie...

1. The building used for The Bramford is the famous Dakota building in New York City. Many will remember it as the place John Lennon was living and was shot in front of.
2. Vidal Sassoon created the now famous "Pixie" cut for Mia Farrow to wear in the movie.
3. William Castle (famously know for his low budget movies such as "House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler and I Saw What You Did") owned the movie rights to the novel but Paramount would only agree to green-light the movie if he agreed not to direct it. He did however have a cameo in the film as "The man near the phone booth".
4. Mia Farrow does the vocals on the title-sequence lullaby.
5. Mia Farrow received divorce papers while filming. She was married to Frank Sinatra at the time.
6. Ruth Gordon won a well deserved Oscar for her role as the over friendly neighbor "Minnie".

Rules for pendant giveaway...

One comment about the movie per film. You can get (1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) by following on Twitter. You can also get (1) extra entry for Tweeting about this. Please use this message -Check out the "31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest" to win your choice of pendant from @LaughingVixen http://tiny.cc/Xjq7L . 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour! Just make sure to post each extra entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment page. If you already follow go ahead and take the extra entries. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

18 comments:

  1. this movie freaks me out because her nightmares are actually a reality

    dreamzz12{at}aol{dot}com

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  2. http://twitter.com/DeeGee13/status/4548263507

    tweeted 1 dreamzz12{at}aol{dot}com

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  3. http://twitter.com/DeeGee13/status/4563497740

    dreamzz12{at}aol{dot}com

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  4. Great contest!

    savvytangerine (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Following on twitter as horrorqueen13

    savvytangerine (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've read this book...but have never watched the movie. I'll have to do it this holiday season.

    bridgetteleigh75@aol.com

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  7. I'm a follower of this blog. :)
    bridgetteleigh75@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. http://twitter.com/DeeGee13/status/4588553305

    daily tweet 1

    dreamzz12{at}aol{dot}com

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  9. twitter follower deegee13

    dreamzz12{at}aol{dot}com

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  10. blog follower (DG)

    dreamzz12{at}aol{dot}com

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  11. I'm a follower, and this is an excellent film to start off the film fest!

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  12. love this movie.. such a classic....

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  13. Rosemary's Baby is a Classic Horror film that i watch yearly..
    ...He has his father's eyes..
    cyclona66(at)aol(dot)com

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  14. I am a follower
    cyclona66(at)aol(dot)com

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  15. Too scary!!! Polanski's eye got the right sense, and Mia Farrow, with her short hair is so fragile and sohuge in the screen with her interpretation... Scary!

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