Monday, October 31, 2016

Night 14 of the Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween Giveaway


Well my little ghouls and dolls we have come to the end of our 5th annual Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween. It is this Vixen's favorite time of year. I love to do this giveaway for all of you and, despite the late night cursing you may hear as I scramble to finish that night's post, I really do hate to see it come to an end. But it is Halloween so lets all go have a fiendishly good time tonight and raise a little scare! For tomorrow it will be time to pack up the cob webs, put the bats back in their cave, smash the pumpkins and, for heaven's sake, stop eating bags of miniature candies!

Have no fear, you still have until 11:59 pm (PDT) November 1st to get your entries in for all the giveaway fun. If you are arriving late to the party you can find all the info on the MAIN GIVEAWAY POST. For those who have been following all along this is the final post. Please give a big thank you to all of the shops that donated prizes this year and the blogs that helped spread the word. And thank you to everyone who joined in the fun. We hope it helped bring a little extra fun to your Halloween season. We will be back again next October to do it all over again.


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Purchase any item(s) from Laughing Vixen Lounge through November 1st and get 10% off your order. Use code OCTOBER10 at checkout.


$1 from each sale at Laughing Vixen Lounge goes to support the Joy Cinema. A single screen theater in Tigard, Oregon that has been in operation since 1939. Purchase from LVL and help keep the classic cinema experience alive. See full fundraising details and the Joy's story HERE.


**Solve The Murder Mystery Now**
The body of Miss Death has been found at Raven's Perch Manor. Detective Heathmoor has caught a shadowy figure fleeing into the night. You have the clues now solve the mystery.
 
*You still have time to play the Murder Mystery Scavenger Hunt. The clues will stay up through the end of the giveaway (11:59 pm November 1st PDT). See details on how to play on the MAIN GIVEAWAY POST.

Hopefully you have been keeping a list of all the clues you have collected. You can now submit your guess of how the murder happened. 1 random winner from any correct guesses will win a $60 Gift Certificate to Laughing Vixen Lounge and a $30 Gift Certificate to Deep Midnight Perfumes. If no one guesses correctly 1 random winner from all submitted guesses will win their choice of 1 item from Laughing Vixen Lounge (up to $20 value) and a Perfume Sampler Set (your choice of scents) from Deep Midnight Perfumes.

How to submit your guess.
1. Pick one clue from each of the 5 categories -Settings, Suspects, Rooms, Weapons and Escapes. Use Miss Death as the victim.
Example ~ In the twilight, Mr. Blue killed Miss Death in the bedroom with a skillet then escape out the window.
2. Find the "Solve the Murder Mystery" entry on the giveaway widget on the MAIN GIVEAWAY POST and leave your guess there. DO NOT post your guess anywhere on the blog or it will not count. Guesses must use the actual clues from the Scavenger Hunt or they will not count. If you have any questions just ask. You have until 11:59 pm (PDT) November 1st to do this.


Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween Movie Marathon.

**You still have time to play along. You have until the end of the giveaway ~ 11:59 pm (PDT) November 1st ~ to leave your comments. See details on how to play on MAIN GIVEAWAY POST

We have made it to the end of our Halloween Movie Marathon with tonight's last film. Hope you have had fun reminiscing about these movies or maybe found some new ones to watch. Any one who has commented on all 14 movies has earned 20 EXTRA ENTRIES.

1. You must first leave a comment on each night's movie post with your opinion of that movie. If you have not your entries will not count.
2. On the MAIN GIVEAWAY POST, log into the giveaway widget and find the 4 "Follow the Movie Marathon" entries. The giveaway widget only allows 5 entries per item so that is why you need to do all 4 to receive the 20 entries.
3. You will need to enter the MAGIC PHRASE "I survived the Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween", and the name you used to post your comments, on each Movie Marathon entry.

Laughing Vixen Lounge Halloween Crew
Skeleton Monkey, Frankengerbil and Flyin' Purple People Eater

While watching the movies on our list I could not help but think about...

What have we learned from watching horror films?
1. Only the skinny survive! If you can't fit through small openings you will never escape.
2. If you leave your window/doors unlocked or open then you should not be surprised when the killer appears in your house.
3. If you hear something outside at night don't go out and offer yourself up to it.
4. Do not touch things that fall from the sky.
5. If your wife is telling you something is evil, listen to her.
6. Never trust the local sheriff, gas attendants, doctor, etc. They are part of it!
7. Never say "I'll be right back". You won't!
8. Hit him again.
9. Don't sit with your back to the killer with your eyes shut thinking "It all OK now". It's not. You only hit him once and now he's standing up.
10. After the third time #9 happens...learn from it!

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And now for our final feature...

Night 14 ~ Creature from the Black Lagoon


Tagline - Not since the beginning of time has the world beheld terror like
                 this!
                 Centuries of passion pent up in his savage heart!       
                 Terrifying monster ravages mankind! 


Directed by Jack Arnold (It Came From Outer space and Tarantula) and released on March 5, 1954 by Universal Studios (Not rated). When a fossilized hand of an unknown creature is found in the Amazon a crew sets out to uncover the rest of the body. Little do they know that they are about to find more than just a fossil!


All of the Universal monsters are great but I have a real fondness for the Gill Man. This film was originally released in 3-D and I've had the chance to see it 3 times on the big screen. Very fun! The movie also spawned 2 sequels ~ Revenge of the Creature (Clint Eastwood, uncredited, in his first film) and The Creature Walks Among Us.

I used to do weekly movie reviews of scary movies on this blog. This movie was the first Fear Friday review I wrote so I am going to present it to you in the format I originally used which was a set of 5 questions. If you have seen the movie please feel free to post your answers to the questions below for fun.


  1. Did this movie make you jump, yawn or laugh? I would go with laugh. With all the 50's stereotypes, bad lines and overall cheesiness it's quite amusing. Which is why I love it so much.

  2. Did you like or dislike the monster/villain? Who wouldn't love this monster. Yes it's a face only a mother could love but who wouldn't be angry and irritable after such a bad lip job. I just adore the Gill Man.

  3. If you were one of the characters in the movie which one would you be? I'd like to think I would be our leading lady Kay. Scientist by day...Sexy bombshell by night. Looks great in a bathing suit and does an amazing over the shoulder glance and scream. But I fear I would end up being the Creature. Shuffling around, trying to get peoples attention but instead they just shoot me with pointy sticks.

  4. If the monster/villain could have had one superpower what should it have been? Might have been fun if he was electrified like an eel. Then he could have gone around zapping people.

  5. What was the best line or scene in the movie? Well, for the first 30 minutes of the movie we only saw the Creature's hand along with a very overpowering string of musical notes. Ba Ba BAAAAAAAAA...Hand...Ba Ba BAAAAAAAA...Hand. I found this most amusing. You could have made a drinking game out of it. I also liked the bat that flew at Dave's head at the end. And when approached by the Creature, instead of turning and running, Kay chooses to turn and...fall down. Priceless.

Take a look at the original trailer.



Some trivia about the movie.
1. Ricou Browning, a professional diver and swimmer, was required to hold his breath for up to 4 minutes at a time for his underwater role as the "Gill Man." The director's logic was that the air would have to travel through the monster's gills and thus not reveal air bubbles from his mouth or nose. Thus, the costume was designed without an air tank. In the subsequent films, this detail was ignored and air can be seen emanating from the top of the creature's head.
2. In this film, the eyes of the Creature were a fixed part of the rubber construction of the suit. The actors who played the part of the "Gill Man" could barely see, if at all. In the second film, the eyes have been, somewhat ludicrously, replaced with large, bulbous fish-eyes to assist in the actor's vision.
3. When William Alland was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre, he heard famed Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa tell of a legend about a humanoid creature that supposedly lived in South America. That legend became the origin of this film.
4. The Creature, using the name "Uncle Gilbert", appeared in an episode of the TV series The Munsters The episode is titled "Love Comes to Mockingbird Heights."
5. The Creature's appearance was based on old seventeenth-century woodcuts of two bizarre creatures called the Sea Monk and the Sea Bishop. The Creature's final head was based on that of the Sea Monk, but the original discarded head was based on that of the Sea Bishop. In one sequence Julie Adams' character is captured by the creature and carried into a cave. During the filming the stuntman misjudged where the side of the entrance was and accidentally struck Ms. Adams' head against the wall, knocking her unconscious.
6. Two different stuntmen were used to portray the creature and therefore two different suits were used in the movie. Ricou Browning played the creature when it was in the water and wore a lighter suit. Ben Chapman played the creature when it was out of the water with a darker suit.
7. Milicent Patrick created the design of the Creature, although Bud Westmore, who was the head of Universal's makeup department at the time, would take credit publicly for the Creature's design.
8. When the Creature attacks Zee, the script called for him to pick him up and throw him into the camera for the 3-D effect. Unfortunately, the wires used to lift Zee up to make it appear as though he was actually being picked up by the Creature kept breaking. After two tries, Jack Arnold decided to just have Zee get strangled to death.
9. When the movie is projected in the correct aspect ratio the telephone pole showing above the trees isn't visible. Unfortunately, on TV, a different aspect ratio is normally used, revealing the pole.
10. Forrest J. Ackerman, a horror and science fiction writer for Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine, bought the mask and claws of the Creature's costume from a young man who had once used them as a Halloween costume. The costume pieces were discarded by Universal after production had finished on the three films (Creature from the Black Lagoon and it's two sequels) and were later recovered from the studio's dumpster by a janitor, who thought the ensemble would make a good Halloween costume for his son. Other costume pieces were recently sold at auction by Bud Westmore, who was an assistant to Millicent Patrick, the original designer of the costume.

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14 comments:

  1. This sounds like it's delightfully cheesy. Can't believe I haven't seen it yet. I love my movies heaped with cheese. The old ones at least.

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  2. I haven't seen this classic yet. So funny that the studio would just throw away the costume!

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  3. A classic horror movie that was fun to watch.

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  4. I remember watching this on TV when 3D tv shows were a fad. Don't remember being impressed with the 3D or the movie.

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  5. I don't know how I missed this one through the years. I remember "Swamp Thing" with Adrienne Barbeau (hilariously awful), which is pretty much the same plot.

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  6. Lol! To be honest its one Ive never seen!! But I kind of feel like I need to!! If anything, just for the cheesiness ;)

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  7. I love this movie. I met Ben Chapman at a convention a couple of years before he passed away and he was such a nice man. He seemed to genuinely enjoy meeting the fans.

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  8. I have never seen this movie, but I love all of the Universal Monsters. It may be cheesy but it is a classic. I love your horror movie lessons too. My favorite is "Never trust the local sheriff, gas attendants, doctor, etc. They are part of it!"

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  9. I have never actually seen this movie, but I need to give it a try

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  10. These oldies but goodies are my fave. I love the costumes and acting. I also like that they are never too gory. In answer to the questions, the movie makes me laugh. I love the monster and I’d want to be the monster! I think for a superpower, being able to fly might have been funny. It’s been so long since I’ve seen it, I can’t remember a best line.

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  11. There is something quite charming about these older monster movies. It's nice to revisit this one.

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  12. I guessed correctly, and I've only ever heard of this movie, never seen it. It looks like a hoot.

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  13. This is one of my all time faves! Love the costume,it always made me laugh.

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  14. It's funny that this is an actual movie lol! That someone came up with the idea for this and thought it would be a good movie...crazy!

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