Laughing Vixen Lounge

Friday, October 23, 2009

Night 23 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". Check back each day to see which movie is featured and some days you may get more than one. They will be a random selection of my favorites. You can see all past selections on the sidebar.
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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 23...."Return of the Living Dead"

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Directed by Dan O'Bannon and released on August 16, 1985 by Orion Pictures Corporation. While working his first day at a medical warehouse, Freddy (Thom Mathews) learns about the top secret toxic bodies down in the basement from co-worker Frank (James Karen). What else is there to do but go look at them and oops...accidentally set them and the toxins free. Meanwhile, Freddy's punk rocker wannabe friends are waiting for him across the street in the graveyard. Bad place to be when the toxins hit those bodies and well, you know the story.
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This has been a long time favorite of mine. I loved it when it came out (I was in Junior High) and was pleasantly surprised that it has held up over the years. Yes, this is a big slice of stinky cheese. The acting is bad, the writing is bad and the outfits....eeeh! The 80's! But if you are a fan of the Living Dead movies and you can appreciate a great bad movie then you have to give this a try. It makes me laugh and the soundtrack is great.
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Some trivia about the movie...
1. Tobe Hooper was originally slated to direct and it was supposed to be filmed in 3-D. Aaah! I did not know this. That would have been soooo cool!!!
2. The eye-test poster (seen most clearly after Frank and Freddy run into Burt's office after hearing the first re-animated cadaver) in Burt's office actually reads "Burt is a slave driver and a cheap son of a bitch who's got you and me here" if you put the letters together.
3. Some of the zombie extras were paid more to eat real calf brains in the film. Dan O'Bannon didn't want the actors to do anything he wasn't willing to do and ate some raw calf brains first in front of them.
4. After the "rabid weasels" are brought into the Resurrection Funeral Home and the tarp is removed, what is actually in the bags are those motorized toy monkeys that have the cymbals. The cymbals were removed for obvious reasons.
5. The film's German title is "Verdammt, die Zombies kommen", which is roughly "Oh Crap, the Zombies Are Coming" and the Danish title is "Ligene er ligeglade" which is roughly "The Dead Don't Care" - playing up the comical aspect of the film.
6. On the back of Freddy's jacket, in the theatrical version, the words "Fuck You" are displayed. After realizing that the shot could not be used in case it was ever shown on TV, a second jacket was made that says "Television Version" and can be seen in the TV version of the movie.
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Rules for pendant giveaway...
(1) comment about a movie per movie.
(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).
(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://bit.ly/LOWY1 -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.
(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.
Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Craft Zombie Contest from Creepy Queen Magazine

Are you a Craft Zombie?
Creepy Queen Magazine is having a great contest over on their website. It gives you a chance to show off your crafty side for Halloween. You could win over $300 in goodies. There are 10 different ways to enter. You can do 1 or all 10 of them. It ends on the 25th so get a move on and submit your work. Just click on the cute little green Zombie below and you'll be transported there!

Here is my entry for Zombie Themed Craft...
Zombie Movie Charm Bracelet

It will be listed in the shop soon! Click here to check out my contest entry post and see pictures of the bracelet being made.

Night 22 of "The 31 Days of Halloween Film Fest"

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Here at The Lounge we will have a "31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest". Check back each day to see which movie is featured and some days you may get more than one. They will be a random selection of my favorites. You can see all past selections on the sidebar.

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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 22...."28 Days Later"

Directed by Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary) and released on June 27, 2003 by Twentieth Century Fox. A monkey is set free from a lab. Bad move. The monkey sets off a chain reaction of a very nasty virus. 28 days later Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up in a hospital from a head injury having no idea what has happened around him. We follow Jim and a few other survivors on their journey through England and it's population of Zombie-like infected. Is there hope for the survivors? Is the whole world gone? Are there others left besides them?

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When I decided to go see this movie in the theater I figured it would just be another post apocalyptic zombie movie. I was wrong. This movie was brilliant and truly frightening. Coming out in the post 911 world with everyone fearing everything this movie worked great. I mean, with chemical warfare and such this movie didn't seem all that far fetched. So instead of another tired horror film I found myself sitting in the dark glued to the screen and leaving a bit freaked out. If you haven't seen this you should give it a try. Be warned it is a wee bit on the disgusting side.

The scene with Jim walking around London with no other people and no sound is a very eerie and impressive sight.

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Some trivia on the movie...

1. The decision to film on DV (using Canon XL1 cameras) was both an aesthetic and a logistic choice. On the aesthetic side of things, Danny Boyle felt that the harshness of the DV imagery suited the post-apocalyptic urban landscape and the grittiness of the film in general. In the production notes of the movie, Boyle points out that "the general idea was to try and shoot as though we were survivors too," and as such, a pristine 35mm widescreen image would have been antithetical to this notion. In terms of logistics, producer Andrew Macdonald claims that it would have been impossible to shoot the film on anything other than DV, especially some of the exterior scenes in London. As MacDonald points out in the production notes, "The police and the local authorities were quite happy to assist us because we could set up scenes so quickly. We could literally be ready to shoot with a six-camera set-up within minutes - something we would not realistically have been able to do if shooting under the restrictions of 35mm which takes a good deal more time to set up a single shot."

2. Scriptwriter Alex Garland acknowledges several sources as inspiration for his screenplay, notably John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids (1962), George A. Romero's "Dead" trilogy (Night, Dawn and Day) and The Omega Man (1971). Direct homages include Jim waking up in the hospital from The Day of the Triffids (1962), the chained infected being studied from Day of the Dead (1985), and the scene in the grocery store (people in the mall from Dawn of the Dead (1978)), the stop for supplies that saw a run-in with infected children (also Dawn of the Dead (1978)), and the military holing up against the plague with outsiders partially to deliberately include females (also Day of the Dead).

3. The symbol used for this film is the international symbol for blood-borne biohazard.

4. The primary idea behind Rage was that every generation gets the zombies it deserves, and Alex Garland and Danny Boyle felt that the notion of the living dead wanting to eat peoples' brains was outdated. One of the original impetuses behind zombie movies was a fear of nuclear power and the possible ramifications it might have on humanity. As such, Garland and Boyle looked at what this generation is afraid of, and concluded that one of the biggest fears in modern society is a fear of diseases, a fear of a viral apocalypse, such as Ebola or Marburg. Indeed, Garland and Boyle were specifically inspired by such incidents as the recent anthrax and bioterrorism scares in London as well as the recent spread of mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease in the UK. As such, they decided to base their zombies on this fear of viruses.

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Rules for pendant giveaway...
(1) comment about a movie per movie.
(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).
(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://bit.ly/sNef6 -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.
(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.
Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Night 21 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

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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 21....The "Scream" Trilogy

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"Scream"

Directed by Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm St., People Under the Stairs and Cursed) and released on December 20, 1996 by Dimension Films. High school. All of the people around Sidney (Neve Campbell) start to die off. The killer seems to be someone who has seen one too many horror movies. Everyone is a suspect. Can you figure out who?

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"Scream 2"

Directed by Wes Craven and released on December 12, 1997 by Dimension Films. Collage. The movie "Stab" has just been released and all of the people around Sidney start to die off. Can you guess who is carrying on the tradition?

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"Scream 3"

Directed by Wes Craven and released on February 4, 2000 by Dimension Films. While filming the 3rd "Stab" movie people connected to the movie start to die off. Then Sidney shows up and helps Agent McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) solves the mystery.

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I really do love these movies. They shot a breath of new life into the horror genre with a perfect mix of scariness and comedy. It poked fun at the genre itself but in a very loving way and had an extreme sense of violence. I remember being a bit shocked by how brutal the first one was. As with anything else it becomes common place after awhile but at the time it was shocking.

The movies have to work to find a reasonable reason for the killer as the sequels keep coming (yes, there is a number 4 in the works!) but I think they do pretty good. The best parts are always the opening scenes. They are all wonderful but I think part 2 is the creepiest because it plays on the fear that even in a crowded room of people you still are not safe.

One of the best treats here comes in part 3. I've never been a big fan of Parker Posey but she is priceless portraying Gail Weathers in the 3rd Stab movie. Watching her and the real Gail (Courtney Cox) together is too funny.

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Some trivia about the movie...

Scream

1.Billy's surname, Loomis, is the same as that of Donald Pleasance's character in Halloween (1978), which in turn was the name of Marion Crane's lover in Psycho (1960).

2. When the killer smashes his head through a window and Casey hits him in the face with the phone, Wes Craven is actually wearing the costume and was really hit in the face.

3. Tatum's house is right across the street from the house in Santa Rosa, California used in Pollyanna (1960). It is also across the street from the house used in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943). The house in the opening scene was next door to the house used in Cujo (1983).

4. Billy's surname, Loomis, is the same as that of Donald Pleasance's character in Halloween (1978), which in turn was the name of Marion Crane's lover in Psycho (1960).

5. On "The Directors" (2007), David Arquette revealed that he presumptuously turned down the role of "Billy" in favor for playing "Dewey", which was originally written as a hunky, leading man part.

6. The use of caller ID increased more than threefold after the release of this film.

7. The idea of the pet door in the garage came from Williamson's assistant. Originally, Tatum's death scene was to be a fist fight with the killer, and having the door come down on her neck.

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Scream 2

1. Officers Richards and Andrews are named after Kyle Richards and Brian Andrews, the two child actors that Jamie Lee Curtis babysat in the original Halloween.

2. The third rule to surviving a sequel is cut from the movie, but is shown in the trailer. ""And #3. Never, ever under any circumstance assume that the killer is dead."

3. A number of sequences in Kevin Williamson's screenplay simply read "Wes will make it scary".

4. Any actor auditioning for the part of Derek had to perform the scene in the cafeteria where he sings "I Think I Love You" without accompaniment.

5. When we first see CiCi (Sarah Michelle Gellar) alone in the sorority house and on the phone with her friend, she says "They aren't going out anymore, Sarah broke up with Bailey when she found out he slept with Gwen." Sarah, Bailey and Gwen were all characters on "Party of Five" (1994), which Neve Campbell starred in for 6 years.

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Scream 3

1. The house used during the climax, where most of the killing takes place, is the same house used as a school in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998).

2. Wes Craven filmed three different endings and didn't tell the cast which one he was going to use.

3. The film's original website was a spoof website for Sunrise Studios, the fictional company making "Stab 3", complete with a production list of upcoming films and cast bios of its "Stab 3" stars.

4. Liev Schreiber insisted that Cotton Weary should shrug off his white jacket in the opening teaser. This was mainly because Schreiber had been doing a lot of working out at the time and wanted to show off his pecs.

5. Neve Campbell made a deal which stated that she would only have to be on set just for 20 days, which is also why she isn't as predominant a character as she is in the other films.

6. The green outfit worn by Parker Posey while on set is the same one worn by Courteney Cox in the first movie. All sets for "Stab 3" were replicas of the originals since the sets were destroyed after Scream (1996) wrapped.

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Rules for pendant giveaway...

(1) comment about a movie per movie.

(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).

(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://bit.ly/39tLhH -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.

(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.

Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Night 20 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

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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 20...."Friday The 13th"

Is it over yet??!!! I'm peeking through my fingers.

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Directed by Sean S. Cunningham (A Stranger is Watching and Spring Break) and released on May 9, 1980 by Paramount Pictures. In 1958 two counselors were murdered at Camp Crystal Lake. Fast Forward 20+ years as Camp Crystal Lake is getting ready for it's grand reopening. This seems like a good idea to the owners despite the fact that the locals call it "Camp Blood". Hmmm...could this have been a early warning sign? Soon enough the counselors start to disappear one by one. Seems someone doesn't want Camp Crystal Lake to reopen. But who???

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Friday the 13th part III was the first real horror film I ever saw. My friend Mary and I begged my mom to let us rent it and for some reason she said yes. We were probably in about 6th or 7th grade at the time. We really wanted part I because it had Kevin Bacon in it but the one copy was rented out (this was in the day of independent video stores who rarely had more than one copy of something) so we had to settle for part III. Part III was in 3-D in the theaters but at home it just had lots of people holding stuff real close to the camera. Regardless of which part we ended up with it ended up scaring me to death!!!
The original is still a way creepy movie. The old grainy look it has from outdated film adds so much to the creepy feel of it. It's hard for me to watch the old parts of this series because it leaves me feeling icky, nervous and a little afraid of the dark. At the heart of it it's just a movie about someone walking around killing people. And putting it in the woods makes it all the worse. I doubt I'll ever want to go camping again in my life.

Yes, it may be a bit outdated but I think the effects are still great and creative. And yes, as the series goes on it gets harder and harder to watch. But Part X and Freddy vs. Jason were much fun and nice to see the series brought back to life. I'm sure most didn't care for it but I really liked the new 2009 remake/re-envisioning (I would say it's just the next chapter) of Friday the 13th. It's slick and shiny so it takes away some of the nervousness the old ones cause me but I was pleasantly surprised when it ended up being fun and a wee bit scary. A liked that in Jason's creepy house he had all the whistles hanging on the wall like souvenirs. Ick!

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Some trivia about the movie...

1. The movie was filmed at Camp Nobebosco in New Jersey. The camp is still in operation to date, and they have a wall of Friday the 13th paraphernalia to honor the fact that the movie was set there.

2. Composer Harry Manfredini has said that contrary to popular belief, the famous "chi chi chi, ha ha ha" in the film's score is actually "ki ki ki, ma ma ma". It is meant to resemble Jason's voice saying "kill kill kill, mom mom mom" in Mrs. Voorhees' mind. It was inspired by the scene in which Mrs. Voorhees seems to be possessed by Jason and chants "Get her mommy....kill her!" Manfredini created the effect by speaking the syllables "Ki" and "Ma" into a microphone running through a delay effect.

3. While most of the cast and crew stayed at local hotels during the filming, some of the loyal cast and crew members, including Tom Savini, and Taso N. Stavrakis, stayed at the actual camp site. They had Savini's Betamax VCR and only a couple of movies (Barbarella (1968) and Marathon Man (1976)) on videotape to keep themselves entertained, so each night they would watch one of these movies. To this day, Savini says he can recite those movies by heart.

4. Victor Miller had originally given Jason the name of Josh. After deciding that it sounded too nice, he changed it to Jason after a school bully.

5. Victor Miller's working title for the script was "Long Night at Camp Blood".

6. The movie was sold to investors strictly on it's name. There had not been a movie called Friday the 13th so they grabbed it, made up a poster and shopped it around. No one knew that they had no idea or script for it.

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Rules for pendant giveaway...
(1) comment about a movie per movie.
(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).
(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://bit.ly/3VR0nT -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.
(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.
Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Night 19 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

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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 19...."A Nightmare on Elm Street"

Written and directed by Wes Craven (Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes and Scream) and released on November 16, 1984 by New Line Cinema. The kids on Elm Street are having some unpleasant dreams. Funny thing is their dreams all have the same psychopath Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) in them. Oops! Now they are starting to die! Can Nancy (Heather Langencamp) and her boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) convince an adult that the man in their dreams is the killer. Hmmm...probably not. It's up to Nancy to find Freddy in her dreams and drag him out into her reality for a big bad show down.

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This movie was like nothing else I had seen when it was new. Some of the images were just bizarre and freaky and the movie scared the beejeebies out of me! It became one of my favorite movies and I saw it way too many times. Plus there was that cute boy in it...Johnny something??

When my nephews wanted to see Freddy vs. Jason, when it came out in the theater, I insisted that it was only right they see the originals first. I was very sad when they laughed at both Elm St. and Friday 13th. They thought they were silly and not scary at all and just kinda stupid. I think this just goes to show what happens to a child when they have no parental control over what they watch. They grow up so desensitised from watching adult material all their young life that people getting brutally murdered is just boring. Friday the 13th was the first real horror film I saw and it still bothers me to this day (But more on that when we get to that movie!) I know the effects are a bit outdated and yes, Elm Street is a little on the cheesy side, but they still maintain their scare factor.

Best scene is Mr. Depp getting sucked in and spit out of the bed. Priceless!

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Some trivia about the movie...

1. Director Wes Craven claims to have named Freddy Krueger after a kid who bullied him in school and to have based his appearance on a disfigured hobo who scared him as a youth.

2. Johnny Depp accompanied friend Jackie Earle Haley to the auditions, where he was spotted by director Wes Craven, who asked him if he'd like to read for the part. Interestingly enough, Haley will be playing Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010).

3. Wes Craven cast Joseph Whipp, who plays the inept sidekick of John Saxon's Lt. Thompson in this film, as the sheriff who endures David Arquette's inept Deputy Dewey in Scream (1996/I).

4. This was the first real movie by New Line Cinema. Before that, they were just a distribution company for college campuses.

5. Freddy Kruger was designed by Wes Craven to be the typical "silent" serial killer such as Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. But in the sequels Freddy developed a cheeky persona that enabled him to be the black humored villain.

6. New Line Cinema was saved from bankruptcy by the success of the film, and was jokingly nicknamed "the house that Freddy built".

7. Over 500 gallons of fake blood were used during the making of the film.

8. For the famous blood geyser sequence, the film makers used the same revolving room set that was used for Tina's death. They put the set so that it was upside down and attached the camera so that it looked like the room was right side up, then they poured gallons of red water into the room. (The normal movie blood wasn't able to create the right effect for the geyser.)

9. This was Johnny Depp's first film.

10. In a deleted scene featured on the Laser Disc and VHS from Anchor Bay we learn that Nancy and many of her friends from the neighborhood weren't always only children, but had a brother or sister before they were killed by Freddy (during the scene in the basement just before Nancy's mother reveals she has Freddy's glove.)

11. Heather Langenkamp beat over 200 actresses for the role of Nancy Thompson, some of the other actresses who auditioned for the role of Nancy were Jennifer Grey, Demi Moore, Courteney Cox and Tracey Gold.

12. Wes Craven claimed to have drawn inspiration for this movie from 3 separate incidents involving young Cambodians, survivors of Pol Pot's genocidal "purges," all of whom died while apparently in the throes of a horrific nightmare. The story goes that first these young, otherwise healthy people would have a horrible nightmare, then refuse to sleep for as long as possible; when they finally fell asleep from sheer exhaustion they awoke with screaming and writhing, then died from a heart attack. In the last incident, the young man used a variety methods to try and stay awake that were incorporated into the film, including a hidden coffee pot. Some of the dialog between Nancy and her parents is based on this young man's attempts to convince his unbelieving parents that going to sleep would kill him.

13. Jack Nicholson and Robin Williams were both seriously considered for the role of Freddy Kruger.

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Rules for pendant giveaway...

(1) comment about a movie per movie.

(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).

(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://bit.ly/265YA1 -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.

(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.

Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Night 18 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

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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 18...."Urban Legend"

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Directed by Jamie Blanks (Valentine and Storm Warning ) and released on September 25, 1998 by TriStar Pictures. Students of Pendleton University start to drop like flies. Natalie (Alicia Witt) notices a pattern in the deaths. They all resemble the urban legends they are learning about in class. Can Natalie and amateur sleuth Paul (Jared Leto) find the killer before there is no one left. Trouble is everyone seems guilty. Hate it when that happens.

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The fun of this movie is the legends themselves. The hook on the car door (I remember telling this one at slumber parties), "Aren't you glad you didn't turn the light on?" (The one I remember actually falling for! 8) and lots more. My absolute favorite being the opening scene. If you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want it spoiled then skip to after the yellow stars!!! When I was in Junior High I remember the police finding a woman's body down the road from our house. They figure someone got into her car when she stopped at a red light, killed her and dumped her body in the wooded area on the side of the road. Her car had been left on the side of the road and is what led to finding her body. It was quite a shock in suburbia land and it always stuck with me. I still refer to it as Dead Lady Corner (I know it's in poor taste but we were teenagers). So the opening scene of the guy hiding in the back of the car always gives me chills! I always check the backseat before getting in a car.

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This is pretty much standard slasher area here but the urban legends make it a little more interesting. Not tons of gore or really too scary but a fun watch none the less. And it is a hard task trying to figure out just who is the killer! The two high points for me is the presence of Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger himself) as Professor Wexler and Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luther on Smallville) as Parker. As a big fan of both they are the frosting and cherry on the cupcake. 8)

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Some trivia about the movie...
1. When Paul and Natalie walk into the hidden room in Wexler's office, a puppet of Freddy Krueger can be seen just before they see the axe. Robert Englund, who plays Wexler, played Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

2. The book sitting on the desk in Professor Wexler's desk in his class is "The Vanishing Hitchhiker," which is one of the seminal texts on urban legends.

3. At the end of the movie, students from an unnamed college recount the movie's events as an urban legend. They joke about the tale's validity, and one says, "And I bet Brenda was the girl from the Noxzema commercials." Actress Rebecca Gayheart, who plays Brenda in the film, did indeed appear in several commercials for Noxzema.

4. Joshua Jackson (Damon Brooks) cranks his car before he takes Natalie to "that" spot in the woods; when it cranks the radio plays Paula Cole's "I Don't Want to Wait" from the TV show "Dawson's Creek" (1998) also starring Jackson.

5. Brad Dourif, the actor who plays the stuttering gas station attendant at the beginning of the film, played the role of Billy Bibbit, who also had a speech impediment, in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).

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Rules for pendant giveaway...
(1) comment about a movie per movie.
(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).
(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://bit.ly/1yMYdH -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.
(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.
Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Night 17 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

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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 17...."Poltergeist"

I remember seeing this at a friends birthday party and yes, it scared me!

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Directed by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Salem's Lot and Body Bags) and written by Steven Spielberg and released on June 4, 1982 by MGM/UA. The Freeling family starts to experience some "odd" going ons in their house. It's interesting until their little girl goes missing. Not knowing what to do the family brings in a group of paranormal experts to help. Can they help find Carol Ann before it's too late.

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I enjoy watching this movie. By today's standards it wouldn't be considered very scary but I think it's a nice mix of creepy and childhood scary. Meaning it plays on lots of childhood fears. The fear of the dark, the thing under the bed and of course the monster in the closet. Plus it has good actors and good effects. And really...who doesn't think that clown is freakin' scary looking?!!

I also found myself extremely nostalgic looking at all the toys in the kid's bedroom and at all the 80's electronics/fashions/etc. If you haven't seen it for awhile it might be a nice treat.

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Some trivia about the movie...

1. The hands which pull the flesh off the investigator's face in the bathroom mirror are Steven Spielberg's.

2. As an homage to his friend George Lucas, Spielberg populated the children's bedroom with Star Wars toys. He did the same in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

3. Heather O'Rourke, who played the little girl Carol-Anne, and Dominique Dunne, who played the teenage daughter, are buried in the same cemetery: Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Dunne was strangled into brain-death by her boyfriend in 1982, the year of the film's release. Six years later, O'Rourke died of intestinal stenosis.

4. The film was originally given a R rating, but the filmmakers protested successfully and got a PG rating (the PG-13 rating did not exist at the time).

5. The sound effect for the beast that attacks the house at the end of the movie is the source for the current MGM lion roar.

6. The house used to film this movie is located in Simi Valley, California where it still stands today. The family who owned it when this movie was filmed still live there today.

7. A common translation of the German word "Poltergeist" is "rumbling spirit".

8. Stephen King was briefly approached to write the screenplay. It would have been the first written by King directly for the screen, but the parties could not agree on the terms.

****

Rules for pendant giveaway...

(1) comment about a movie per movie.

(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).

(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://bit.ly/179JkS -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.

(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.

Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Night 15 and 16 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

Got a little behind but I'll throw in some extras down the road to make up for it. 8)
****
Written and Directed by James Gunn (Dawn of the Dead '04 and Scooby Doo I&II) and released on March 31, 2006 by Universal Pictures. In the redneck town of Wheelsy a meteor falls from the night sky and a local man decides to get up close and personal with it. Bad idea! The ooey gooey parasite infects him and sets off an alien outbreak. Can sheriff Bill (Nathan Fillion) and the girl he longs for Starla (Elizabeth Banks) save the town before it's too late?
****
This movie is a fun campy take on old B monster movies. Our main alien seems like a close relative to the Blob, the infected stumble around like the walking dead and the townsfolk are simple and slow witted. The dialogue is cheeky and cheesy in a cleaver way. If you keep in mind this is suppose to be a send up of low budget films you will find it a funny film. It has lots of blood and guts and what-nots flying around along with the laughs. It may not be for everyone but if you enjoy the old monster movies then you should enjoy this modern take on the genre.
****
Some trivia about the movie...
There are many tributes to the horror genre in this movie. My favorite is the bathtub scene straight out of A Nightmare on Elm St.
1. There is a mention of neighbors named "the Castevets". The Castevets were Rosemary's neighbors in Rosemary's Baby (1968).
2. As an in-reference to past genre movies, the Mayor and his store are named R.J. MacReady, the same name as Kurt Russell's character in John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), and the high school is named after Earl Bassett (Fred Ward's character from Tremors (1990).
3. The ammunition store is named for Max Renn from Videodrome (1983).
4. The bar hosting the "Deer Cheer" party is called "Henenlotter's", a homage to Basket Case (1982) director Frank Henenlotter.
5. When Starla is on the phone talking to the doctor about Grant, the voice of the doctor is Rob Zombie.
6. In the script when Bill comes back from the vigil for Brenda, the mayor mentions to him that she is the niece of Randy Flagg. Randall Flagg is the bad guy in several of Stephen King's stories including being the main antagonist in The Stand.
****
Rules for pendant giveaway...
(1) comment about a movie per movie.
(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).
(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://bit.ly/2grkfv -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.
(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.
Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Night 14 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

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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 14...."The Evil Dead

I just love Bruce Campbell! Now on with the show.....

****

Written and directed by Sam Raimi (Darkman, The Gift and Spiderman I,II&III) and released on April 15, 1983 by New Line Cinema. A group of friends head into the woods to spend the weekend in a "rustic" cabin. After finding a book and tape recorder in the cellar they make the mistake of listening to the recorded tape. Soon they have unleashed a woods full of demons ready to reek havoc. The only one who seems untouched by the evil is our hero Ash (Bruce Campbell). Can he save his friends and himself from the evil that surrounds them? Hmmmm...it ain't lookin' good!

****

The first time I watched this movie it was on SciFi channel and it made little impression on me. I just didn't see what people were making a fuss about. Over the next few years I continued to hear people talk about their love of it and their love of Bruce Campbell. Then I began working with a girl who was a big fan and I decided I needed to give it another shot. Being a huge horror fan I obviously just missed something the first time. So one weekend I went out and rented all three of The Evil Dead movies and watched them in a row. I was immediately under the charm of Bruce Campbell and these movies and well, the rest is history.

If you have never seen this movie before here's what you need to know. This is a low budget movie. The writing is not great nor is the acting. The effects are greatly outdated by today's standards. This is a B horror film. But, if you like your horror with a bit of cheese then I highly suggest you give this one a try. Be warned that there is blood flying, pouring, oozing and gushing all through the movie. It was billed as "The ultimate experience in grueling horror" and it is a very brutal movie. While there is plenty to make you giggle at there is also plenty to turn your stomach. If you make it to the end and feel game there are two more in the series. Evil Dead II (not really a sequel it's more like a remake. A very unique movie!) and Army of Darkness (less gore more silliness).

Not to be missed is the great style of Sam Raimi's filming. Most noticeable in the last 10 - 15 minutes of the film. The tilted camera angles, the rushing camera shots and the framing of shots using the door frames is just beautiful film making.

And Bruce Campbell is just too cute. I became a follower of his from these movies and he has remained one of my favorite. Since he lives here in Oregon, we usually get a stop on his promotional tours. It's always great fun to get to see Bruce and his latest work. Make sure to check him out on USA's Burn Notice.

****

Some trivia about the movie...

1. After completing principal photography in the winter of 1979-1980, most of the actors left the production. However, there was still much of the film to be completed. Most of the second half of the film features Bruce Campbell and various stand-ins (or "shemps") to replace the actors who left.

2. Director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell were friends from high school, where they made many super-8 films together. They would often collaborate with Sam's brother Ted Raimi. Campbell became the "actor" of the group, as "he was the one that girls wanted to look at." (I've seen some of these super-8 films. Great fun!)

3. The opening sequence of the evil moving over the pond, is actually Bruce Campbell pushing Sam Raimi in a dingy whilst he films the shot.

4. Was one of the first films to be labeled as a "Video Nasty" in the UK.

5. There's a ripped poster of The Hills Have Eyes (1977) visible. Ostensibly, this was in reference to a ripped poster for Jaws (1975) that appeared in that film; Sam Raimi and the others interpreted that as Wes Craven suggesting that "Hills" was much more frightening than "Jaws", thus they showed a ripped "Hills" poster because their film was to be even scarier yet.

6. A closet is opened and a T-shirt with the word "Tamakwa" is visible. Director Sam Raimi went to Camp Tamakwa as a child. The movie "Indian Summer" is a tribute to his summers at Tamakwa and is a movie well worth watching. One of my favorites! Sam plays "Stick" in it and it makes my cry laughing just thinking about the character. 8)

7. The film was given an X rating when it was finished. Not wanting the label of X on their film they went ahead and released it as unrated.

8. In 2006, The Evil Dead (1981) was turned into a Broadway musical.

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Rules for pendant giveaway...

(1) comment about a movie per movie.

(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).

(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://bit.ly/Rhzm6 -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.

(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.

Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Night 13 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

What can I say? This is about as good as it gets.
****
Alfred Hitchcock directed this film version of the novel by Robert Bloch. Released by Paramount Studios (but actually owned by and filmed at Universal Studios) on August 25, 1960. Secretary Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) decides on a whim to steal $40,000 and run off to be with her boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin). She may have gotten away with it if she had not made one fatal error...stopping at The Bates Motel for the night. Caretaker Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his "Mother" make this an unfortunate night for Marion. Can her sister Lila Crane (Vera Miles) and Sam solve the mystery of the missing Marion or will they fall prey to The Bates Motel too?
****
I simply adore this movie. The black and white is gorgeous and the music is divine. It truly is one of the scariest scores out there. The fact that it's almost 50 years old, there is no gore and not a lot of violence, and it can still scare you is a testament to how well made it is.
Anthony Perkins is brilliant as the overgrown child Norman Bates. His dialogue with Marion in the parlour is engrossing. He goes from innocent to dark and back again with ease (this probably should have been her cue to leave right then and there!). The whole scene where he cleans the bathroom just makes my skin crawl.
I know I'm probably the only one that actually liked the Gus VanSant remake of Psycho but Vince Vaughn did a great job at the role of Norman. It always tricky stepping into an iconic role like that but I think he did good at capturing Anthony Perkins' Norman while still making it his own. Either way you look at it it's still creepy watching either of them eating those candy corns with that slightly evil smile.
And there's the house. I love the shots of it and the motel. Just plain creepy and wonderful!
****
Some trivia about the movie....
1. Alfred Hitchcock bought the rights to the novel anonymously from Robert Bloch for only US$9,000. He then bought up as many copies of the novel as he could to keep the ending a secret.
2. Alfred Hitchcock's cameo is about four minutes in wearing a cowboy hat outside Marion's office.
3. Walt Disney refused to allow Alfred Hitchcock to film at Disneyland in the early 1960s because Hitchcock had made "that disgusting movie "Psycho".
4. In the opening scene, Marion Crane is wearing a white bra because Alfred Hitchcock wanted to show her as being "angelic". After she has taken the money, the following scene has her in a black bra because now she has done something wrong and evil. Similarly, before she steals the money, she has a white purse; after she's stolen the money, her purse is black.
5. Marion's white 1957 Ford sedan is the same car (owned by Universal) that the Cleaver family drove on "Leave It to Beaver" (1957).
6. First American film ever to show a toilet flushing on screen.
7. The novel "Psycho", written by Robert Bloch, was actually part of a series of pulp novels marketed in conjunction with the popular spooky radio show "Inner Sanctum".
8. To ensure the people were in the theaters at the start of the film (rather than walking in part way through) the studio provided a record to play in the foyer of the theaters. The album featured background music, occasionally interrupted by a voice saying "Ten minutes to Psycho time," "Five minutes to Psycho time," and so on.
9. The Bates house was largely modeled on an oil painting at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The canvas is called "House by the Railroad" and was painted in 1925 by American iconic artist Edward Hopper. The architectural details, viewpoint and austere sky is almost identical as seen in the film.
10. In the murder scene in the shower, we never see the knife actually touching the victim's body.
11. The last shot of Norman Bates' face has a still frame of a human skull superimposed on it, almost subliminally. The skull is that of Mother.
12. Alfred Hitchcock strictly mandated, and even wrote into theater managers' contracts, that no one arriving after the start of each showing of "Psycho" would be admitted into the theater until the beginning of the next showing.
****
Rules for pendant giveaway...
(1) comment about a movie per movie.
(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).
(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://bit.ly/2WQ8Ek -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.
(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.
Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Night 12 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

Joe Dante (Piranha, Gremlins I/II and Explorers ) directs this film version of the novel by Gary Brandner. Released on April 10, 1981 by AVCO Embassy Pictures. A TV reporter, Karen White (Dee Wallace), is traumatized by an attack from a mass murderer. She can not remember what happened that night but is haunted by nightmares of it. At the suggestion of her doctor, Karen and her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) take a vacation to The Colony. A little retreat for those who need to relax and heal. Maybe here she can get her memory back. Does she really want it back? Does she really want to know the truth about The Colony? Does she really have any choice? We know better.
****
I really enjoy this movie. It plays out like a traditional scary movie. Spooky woods, creepy music, strange natives and big furry villains. The effects still hold up and when Eddie changes into a big werewolf standing on two legs, well that's just good stuff! This film did get overshadowed a bit by "An American Werewolf in London" being released, with a bigger budget, around the same time.
While I love AAWIL it takes nothing away from this film. The Howling is scary and fun and a must for the Halloween season.
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Some trivia about the movie....
1. Many of the character names are named after Werewolf movie directors.
2. There is a book placed near a phone during one scene: Allen Ginsberg's "Howl".
3. A photo of Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolfman for Universal Pictures) is seen on the wall in the doctor's office when Terri calls Christopher.
4. The book Bill is reading in bed is "You Can't Go Home Again" by Thomas Wolfe.
5. One character is seen eating from a can of Wolf brand chili.
6. There is a picture of a wolf attacking a flock of sheep above Karen and Bill's bed.
7. The art director had previously worked on "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and many of the set dressings were used here in "The Howling". Most noticeable is the corpse sitting in the arm chair at the bookstore.
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Rules for pendant giveaway...
(1) comment about a movie per movie.
(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).
(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/NJD4d
3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.
(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.
Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Night 11 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

I usually watch the whole mess of these every season but decided to just pick my two favorites this time. It just wouldn't be Halloween without these.
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First up is "Halloween"
Written and Directed by John Carpenter (The Fog, Starman and Big Trouble in Little China) and released on October 25, 1978 by Compass International Pictures. In 1963 little Mikey chops up his sister on Halloween for no apparent reason. Now it's 15 years later and Michael has come home to Haddenfeild, IL for another round. Escaping from the institution he had been living in, Michael Myers (Nick Castle) returns to his home town to reek havoc on a group on teenagers. Our leading teen, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), is great at ignoring all the obvious signs that something is wrong and just going about her day. The little boy she is babysitting keep telling her he sees the boogieman outside but he's told to shut up. As all of Laurie's friends start to die around her she starts to realize that indeed the boogieman does exist. And he doesn't die very easily!
****
This film just works. Slightly dated which adds to the creepiness, a very scary villain and a bunch of dumb teenagers. I mean really, if they weren't dumb we wouldn't have much of a movie would we?
The music is great and completely creepy. The atmosphere is perfect and the suspense is high (unless you've seen it too many times and know where everything happens). I love the way Michael just appears out of the dark. Sometimes you don't even realize he's there right away. It really is one of the only characters that truly scares me. While I wonder why I would continue to watch something that bothers me on a certain level, I always find myself coming back to it year after year. I guess we need that healthy dose of fear and preferably on the screen where it can't actually hurt us!
****
Some trivia about the movie....
1. This was Jamie Lee Curtis' film debut.
2. The movie was on such a tight budget that they used the cheapest Halloween mask they could buy. It happened to be a Captain Kirk mask that they spray painted, teased up the hair and readjusted the eye holes. Somehow it makes me feel a little less scared if I just remember it's William Shatner's face there. How can that not make you giggle?
3. The movie the kid's are watching on TV is 1951's The Thing which John Carpenter would remake in 1982.
4. The character of Laurie Strode was named after John Carpenter's first girlfriend.
5. There are some names that are taken from Psycho in this movie. Dr. Loomis shares the same last name as Marion's boyfriend in Psycho. There is a character here named Marion Chambers a combination of two Psycho characters. And of course, Jamie Lee Curtis is Janet Leighs' daughter.
****
Rounding out our double feature is "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later"
Directed by Steve Miner (Friday the 13th II/III, House and Lake Placid) and released on August 5, 1998 by Dimension Films. It's been 20 years since that fateful Halloween night that Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) was terrorized by mass murderer Michael Myers (Chris Durand). She has been living under a new name, Keri Tate, and working as head mistress of a private school. Her son John (Josh Hartnett) wants to go on the class trip to Yosemite but of course it falls on...Halloween. Laurie is still living in fear of Michael finding her and John that she is afraid to let him go. After a big fight she decides to stop smothering him and let him join his friends. But Michael has other plans for everyone! As you know, it is his night.
****
After the first two movies this franchise did start to go downhill. The studio decided to give it a nice send off and close it down with one final chapter (episode 7). Go figure, it turns out to be one of the best ones! It's scary as hell in the true tradition of these films. The atmosphere is great and old Michael is in fine form. He appears from the shadows, jumps out of nowhere and is just plain mean and nasty. The killings are creative and bloody and the suspense level is high.
My favorites are the one handed slow drop from the ceiling and the turning over of the cafeteria tables. Both of these scenes show Michael doing very physical tasks but looking like it's effortless to him. This just adds to the scariness of him. The sheer brute force. Plus, the ending was just great and ended the series perfectly. Of course Hollywood is a greedy creature and had to make another one after seeing the success of this one. So this really isn't the end but I like to ignore the next one and let it die here.
****
Some trivia about the movie....
1. Jamie Lee Curtis's mom, Janet Leigh, plays Laurie's secretary Norma. Janet Leigh was was also the lead in "Psycho" and sports the same car here as she did there.
2. The makers decided to change to a different version of the mask well into production of the movie. Most scenes were fixed but the first mask is still noticeable in a few scenes. Can you pick it out?
3. This movie is made with the decision to believe that episodes 3-6 never happened.
4. This was Josh Hartnett's film debut.
****
Rules for pendant giveaway...
(1) comment about a movie per movie.
(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).
(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/4fGnV -- 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.
(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.
Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Night 10 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

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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 10...."Fright Night"

Written and directed by Tom Holland (Child's Play, The Temp and Thinner) and released on August 2, 1985 by Columbia Pictures. Teenager Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) is a huge horror fan and loves to watch a little late night show called "Fright Night". So when he starts to insist that the new neighbor is a Vampire it's no wonder that no one believes him. Poor crazy Charley.

Of course Charley isn't crazy and his new neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) is a blood sucker. With the help of Peter Vincent "Vampire Killer" (Roddy McDowall), host of "Fright Night", Charley's two friends Amy (Amanda Bearse) and Evil (Stephen) set out to convince him that everything is just fine. They fail miserably and must spend the rest of the movie fighting the creatures of the dark.

****

Yes, the effects are little on the dated side again with this one but a lot of it is still quite good and the rest will make you giggle. If you old enough to remember the 80's you'll find lots to cringe about while watching the outfits go by.

This plays out like a good old fashion horror film. The teenagers run around with no one believing them. The Vampire lives in the big spooky old house next door. They use all the classic Vampire lore in telling the story. It's a fun and slightly scary ride. Oh, and Charley drives one heck of a nice old Mustang that no regular teenager could actually afford.

What makes me so fond of this movie is Peter Vincent and Fright Night. I wish there was a late night show on just like it. I would so watch that! It may not be Roddy McDowall's best acting roll or movie but it is my favorite to watch. He plays Peter Vincent so well as a unhappy and scared man living behind his alter ego. As the movie progresses he finds the strength to live up to name "Vampire Killer".

And I have this thing about the extra long fingers that Vampires sport in the movies. It creeps me out to no end. Why? I don't know. It just isn't right! They have got them close to perfect in this movie. Eeeeew!

****

Some trivia about the movie....

1. The character Peter Vincent is named for two well know horror actors Peter Cushing and Vincent Price.

2. Chris Sarandon is also known for voicing the character Jack Skellington in "A Nightmare Before Christmas".

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Rules for pendant giveaway...

(1) comment about a movie per movie.

(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).

(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/hjABk

3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour.

(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.

Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Night 9 of "The 31 Nights of Halloween Film Fest"

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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 9..."The Thing"

I remember getting my parents to take me to see "Blade Runner" at the Drive In (I was a huge Harrison Ford fan) and "The Thing" was the second bill. Horror films were too scary for me at that point in life so I went to sleep in the back seat when it started. My parents stuck it out for about 30 minutes before they shook their heads and left.

****

Directed by John Carpenter (Halloween, Christine and Escape from New York) this film is a fairly faithful remake of the 1951 "The Thing from Another World". Both film versions are based on a short story called "Who Goes There" by John W. Campbell Jr. Released on June 25, 1982 by Universal Pictures. A group of American scientists up in the Antarctic have their day interrupted by a helicopter trying to shoot a dog. The helicopter crashes and no is left to explain just what the hell was going on. Strange, but not enough to make any of these guys worry much. Head honcho MacReady (Kurt Russell) takes a couple others over to the base camp the helicopter came from to see what they can find out. Meanwhile the dog is left to roam around unattended. Surely there's nothing to worry about there!

MacReady and the others return to camp with a strange human-like burnt body that they found at the other base camp. What could it be? Where did it come from? Shouldn't we be worried about that dog roaming around camp? OK, so we are the only ones asking that last question.

After a little more snooping they find that the other camp had found a space craft frozen in the snow. It also looks like they dug something (or someone) else up and took it back to their camp. Finally, the dog starts to do some ooey gooey morphing and the boys start to realize something is wrong. Yes, they are a very swift group!

Now it's a matter of finding out who is infected by this "Thing" and who can they trust??!

****

This is a very bloody movie and I wouldn't suggest trying to eat while watching it. While the special effects are a bit outdated by today's standards it still works. I'd rather have these effects than some poorly done CGI.

The movie plays out like a traditional scary movie and has lots of jumps and scares. Everyone is paranoid and suspicious which makes it all the more hard to figure out who is the next to go. Best of all Kurt Russell is looking young, cute and sporting his best Grizzly Addams look. How bad can it be?

****

Some trivia about the movie....

1. This is one of the few Universal movies that do not start with the Universal logo.

2. This is the first movie that John Carpenter did not score himself. Though it would be hard to tell as it sounds almost identical to that signature John Carpenter sound.

3. The opening title exactly duplicates the original 1951 film. To create the effect of the title, an animation cell with "The Thing" written on it was placed behind a fish tank filled with smoke that was covered with a plastic garbage bag. The garbage bag was ignited, creating the effect of the title burning onto the screen.

****

Rules for pendant giveaway...
(1) comment about a movie per movie.
(1) extra entry by following this Blog and (1) extra for following on Twitter (You can only take the blog and twitter entries once for the whole contest).
(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/BBL8T 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour!
(1) extra entry for guessing the next film. I will tweet hints on Twitter about the next days movie and you can post your guess as a comment. Doesn't have to be right just your best guess.
Make sure to post each entry as an individual comment on any of the movies comment pages. You can comment on past movies. Make sure you can be contacted from your post.