Night 11 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.
****
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 11....Double Feature "Halloween" and "Halloween H20"

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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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/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.

Night 10 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.

****

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.

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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!

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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.

Night 9 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.

****

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.

****

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.

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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?

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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.

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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/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.

Night 8 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.
****
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.
****
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 8...."Single White Female"

I remember seeing this at the drive in with a bunch of girlfriends. It still holds up 17 years later.
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Barbet Schroeder (Reversal of Fortune and Desperate Measures) directed this film based on the novel "SWF Seeks Same" by John Lutz. Released on August 14, 1992 by Columbia Pictures. Alison Jones (Bridget Fonda) is madly in love with Sam Rawson (Steven Weber) and happily planning their wedding. That is until Sam's ex-wife calls and Alison finds out that they just had sex earlier that day. What is a girl to do? Kick his sorry ass out and place an add for a new roommate. Unfortunately Alison does not pick the right roommate.
Hedy Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a shy and frumpy girl that Alison starts to bond with. She tells her friend and upstairs neighbor Graham (Peter Friedman) "It's fun having a girlfriend to hang out with". Everything is great until Sam convinces Alison to forgive him and they are once again engaged. Hedy is far from happy about this.
Alison starts to realize that something is very wrong with Hedy and she may not be who she pretends to be. Can Alison get rid of Hedy before Hedy gets rid of her?
****
This movie is just a fun watch. We all know that Hedy is the wrong choice but Alison is not as quick as the rest of us. She will just have to learn the hard way and that's what makes for a fun ride. It's great to see Hedy slowly take over Alison's life as she continues to loose her grasp on reality. Not that she had much of a grasp to start with!
The movie becomes a bit campy and over the top as the big ending starts to unfold but that's the beauty of it. Watching Hedy go crazy and Alison kicking her butt is just great. I have always been a huge fan of Steven Weber (most will remember him from the TV show "Wings") and lets just say his final scene in this movie...priceless!!!
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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/8LQd6 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.

Night 7 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.

****

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.

****

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 7...."Cujo"

Too bad Cujo did not have a catchy theme song. I've had The Blob stuck in my head all day!!!

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Lewis Teague (Alligator, Cat's Eye and The Jewel of the Nile) directed this film based on the novel by Stephen King. Released on August 12, 1983 by Warner Brothers Pictures. Donna (Dee Wallace) is married to Vic (Daniel Hugh Kelly) but having an affair with Steve (Christopher Stone). Tad (Danny Pintauro) is Donna and Vic's son who is very afraid of the monsters and the dark. Vic goes out of town on business and Donna and Tad take the family car, a Ford Pinto that's on it's last leg, out to the Camber farm to get it fixed.

Earlier that week, the Camber's dog Cujo was happily chasing a bunny rabbit until it ran down a hole. Unfortunately for Cujo the hole was a cave filled with rabid bite-happy bats that chomp on his nose. Cujo's owners are a sad sack of losers that are too preoccupied with their sad lives that no one notices that their dog is becoming an ooey gooey angry mess.

Fast forward back to present date as the Pinto drives up the Cambers driveway and dies. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, no one is home and Cujo is not a happy camper. How will Donna and Tad get home?

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I grew up with a mom who read lots of Stephen King books so I suppose that is where my interest in his stories started. While a lot of his stories started to get a bit silly the older ones are still much fun. Cujo may not be the scariest but it's a good one.

It's a bit hard for me to hate the villain here because it's just a poor puppy who nobody loved enough to see he was sick. I find it kinda sad. On the other hand, he does make for a big scary mass of yellow and red slimy goo covered moose of a dog! There are spots in the showdown between him and the Pinto that really are suspenseful. I'll admit it did get me once and made me jump.

It really all works because it's back in a time with no cell phones. If you got stuck out in scary land there really was no way to contact anyone for help. And well, they still had Pintos. Enough said. 8)

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Some trivia about the movie....

1. To make the St. Bernard's attack the car, animal trainers put the dog's favorite toys inside the car so the dogs would try to get them.

2. The foam around Cujo's mouth was made of a concoction of egg whites and sugar. The dogs caused problems on the set by constantly licking the tasty stuff off.

3. After the film Dee Wallace went on record saying she hoped she'd never see another Pinto in her life.

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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/s9msy 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.

Night 6 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.

****

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.

****

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 6...."The Blob"

I love B movies and the old classics are just too fun. This movie is a great example of how fun they can be.

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Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr (The Flaming Teen-Age and 4-D Man) and released on September 12, 1958 by Paramount Studios. While on a date up at Inspiration Point, Steve (Steve McQueen) and Jane (Aneta Corsaut) see a falling star shoot across the night sky and crash in the distance. Clearly more excited by that than by his girlfriend Steve insist they go look for it. Before they get very far they come across an old man wandering in the road with a strange goo on his hand. Steve and Jane leave him at the local doctor's office and head out to see if they can find any information about what happened to him. Upon returning to the doctor's office Steve sees the doctor attack by the strange goo that is quickly growing larger.

Will anyone believe him? Can teenagers be trusted? Will the bumbling townspeople get wise before it's too late? Who can stop....The Blob??!

****

This is just plain cheesy fun. The color is great old Technicolor looking. The writing is bad. The acting is bad. The music is priceless.

First off The Blob has it's own theme song playing over the opening credits. "It creeps, and leaps, and glides and slides across the floor" done to a nice little bouncy music track. I love it! It makes me laugh it's so silly.

While Steve McQueen (listed here as Steven) would come to be a fine actor, you would never know from this movie. He is trying so hard to do his best James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. No one is saved from the bad acting bug on this movie but it might have a little something to do with the writing. It's not good. And then, in case you don't know what just happened, the music will help you out. Da Da Daaaaaaa!!!

And these are all the reasons why this movie is so fun. It works on a great B movie level that not all B movies manage to hit. It's great silly fun that will make you laugh!

****

Some trivia about the movie...

1. Multiple working titles for this movie included..."The Glob", "The Glob That Girdled the Globe", "The Meteorite Monster", "The Molten Meteorite" and "The Night of the Creeping Dead".

2. The title song, "The Blob", was co-written by Burt Bacharach and can be found on his CD "Look of Love".

3. Paramount originally picked up the "The Blob" to use as the bottom half of a double bill with "I Married a Monster from Outer Space". When they realized that more people were coming to see "The Blob" it was moved to the top billing.

4. The movie being shown at the theater was "Daughter of Horror" which was originally released as "Dementia". The poster that is displayed out front is for a movie entitled "The Vampire and the Robot". The movie isn't real and the poster is fashioned out of the poster for "Forbidden Planet".

5. There was a sequel in 1972 "Beware the Blob" directed by Larry Hagman (Dallas' J.R.) and a remake in 1988 with Kevin Dillon and Donovan Leitch. And I have heard tales of a new remake coming soon!

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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/idYPO 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.

Night 5 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.

****

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.

****
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.

****

Night 5...."The Shining"

This is just classic Stephen King fun. When his stories were simple, gritty and scary!

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Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket) directed this film version of Stephen King's best selling novel. Released in 1980 by Warner Brothers Pictures. Recovering alcoholic, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), has accepted a job as winter caretaker of the grand Overlook Hotel in an attempt to put his life back on track. The hotel manager warns him of the long and lonely winter ahead as he and his family will be alone there for the five month off-season. Jack assures him it's just what he needs to work on his writing. The manager also informs him of a little "mishap" that happened to the last winter caretaker and his family. Jack laughs this off and is sure his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) will find it fascinating.

As the snow sets in and the months start to pass Jack finds himself feeling more at home in the Overlook then he expected. Wendy quickly realize that something is not right with Jack. Their son Danny (Danny Lloyd), born with the gift of "shining", is learning that something is very wrong with the Overlook and it's "guests" that still reside there.

****

Being a fan of the book there are some aspects of this movie version that I don't care for. Jack seems to not like his family from the start and he almost changes into a crazy man overnight. A little more of a transition into madness would have been nice.

That being said I really do like this movie. It's creepy, creepy and then a bit more creepy! What really makes this movie creepy is the time period. I never could put my finger on it when I was a teenager as to why it left me with an unpleasant feeling. As I got older I began to realize it's the late 70's look of it. The colors and the patterns of the floors, walls and furniture. The color and the style of the clothing. And the fact that the film used makes the colors look a little off or maybe too vivid.

I liken it to when you were younger and you went to visit your grandparents. The ones that still lived in that old house with the furniture from many decades past. The one where you open the door and an instant musty smell filled your nose. That's how I think the Overlook would feel like now. While grand in it's day, now it's outdated and needs to be aired out. The dated wall paper would be pealing around the edges and the bathroom tiles would be old an worn looking. While it was high fashion when the movie was made now it just adds to the uneasiness of it.

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Some trivia about the movie...

1. Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood in Oregon stood in for the exterior shots of the Overlook. Being from Portland I take great pride in seeing Timberline up there on the screen. It should be noted though that all interior shots of the hotel were filmed on a sound stage in London. So if you should visit Timberline don't expect the inside to look the same and don't expect to find room 237. Afraid that no one would want to stay in the room after the film came out, the management asked that the original room number, 217, be changed to something else. 237 was picked as there was no existing room with that number.

2. The opening scene of the Volkswagen driving is shot in Glacier National Park, Montana. The road is know as the "Going-to-the-sun" road.

3. The area that the set for the Colorado Lounge, where Jack does his typing, was built was also used as the Well of the Souls in Raiders of the lost ark.

4. The interior of the Overlook was made to look like bits and pieces of real hotels. The Colorado Lounge was modeled on the lounge at the Ahwanee Hotel in Yosemite Valley. It resembled it so well that people entering the Ahwanee often asked "is this the Shining hotel?"

5. The US version had Jack typing the same line "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" over and over. In the Italian version it's "He who wakes up early meets a golden day". In the German version it's "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today". The Spanish version has "Rising early will not make dawn sooner". The French went with "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".

6. Stephen King has said that the name was inspired by the John Lennon song "Instant Karma" which features the chorus "We all shine on".

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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/obRFh

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.

Night 4 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 4...."The Hitcher"

I used to love Tommy Howell. The I grew up and realized a cute boy does not a good actor make! That aside, this movie is still creepy and fun.

Directed by Robert Harmon (They) and released in 1986 by HBO Pictures. A young man, Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell), is delivering a car from Chicago to San Diego. Unable to keep his eyes open, he decides to pick up a hitcher, John Ryder (Rutger Hauer), standing on the side of the road so he could have someone to talk to. As the passenger door opens Jim utters the infamous line "My mother always told me not to do this". We the viewer know that mom was right but Jim has to learn the hard way.

Jim quickly realizes he has made a terrible mistake as he discovers the hitcher has killed his last ride. Luckily, Jim manages to get shove the hitcher out the door and assures himself that it's all over. The hitcher has other plans. Throw in a dozen cops who think Jim is the killer, some more murders and Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh) as the overly trusting love interest. The movie plays out as a cat and mouse game along a desolate highway that Jim will have to finish whether he likes it or not.

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OK...this movie has lots of flaws. Mr. Howell really can't act and it does show in this movie. I don't remember him being so painful in the Outsiders but it has been a long time since I've seen it. Also, it's quite amazing how the hitcher can always be hiding right where Jim is about to show up. Maybe his character is psychic and they forgot to tell us. It's probably laying on the editing room floor.

The silliness aside, there really are some great scary and creepy elements here. It plays on all of those terrible "what could happens" of traveling, especially on your on. Driving in out of the way places, stopping at gas station and rest areas and crossing paths with lots of strangers. Usually harmless things but we all know the horrible things that do happen to people sometimes and that's what feeds the fear here.

What takes that fear and kicks it into high gear is Mr. Hauer himself. This is the first movie I really noticed Rutger Hauer in and it took a good decade to be able to separate him from this character. He is truly scary as the villain here and it shows just how talented of an act he can be.

Besides, the scene with Nash at the truck stop is just classic horror film making. Maybe you don't get to see as much as nowadays but it's horrible all the same.

Some trivia about the movie...

1.The writer of the screenplay, Eric Red, has said the story was inspired by the Doors song "Riders on the Storm".

2. Sam Elliott was originally signed up to play the hitcher but had to back out due to a scheduling conflict.

3. Rutger Hauer knocked out one of his teeth with the shotgun he was holding during the windshield scene.

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/SB74Z . 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour! You can also get (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. 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.

Night 3 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.
****
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 3..."The Burbs" I remember seeing this movie in the theater when I was a teenager. It wasn't much of a hit but I've always loved it.
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Joe Dante (The Howling and Gremlins) directed this comedy-thriller released in 1989 by Universal Studios. Suburbanite Ray Peterson (Tom Hanks) is setting in for a week long vacation of relaxing at home. That is until strange things start to happen in the house next door. The Klopek family, a very "private" people, have just moved in and they don't take kindly to their nosey neighbors. Ray starts to suspect something is not right when the neighborhood grouch goes missing. Despite his wife Carol's (Carrie Fisher) insistence that he needs to leave the house and take a real vacation, Ray is determined to stay at home and solve the mystery. With the help of Art (Rick Ducommun), the neighbor who helps himself to the contents of every one's fridge, and Rumsfeild (Bruce Dern), the over-excited ex-soldier, Ray will set out to find out just what is really going on next door.
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This movie is a great example of when comedies were slightly silly but very funny and Tom Hanks was goofy and made you laugh. The scene where he eats the anchovy just makes me laugh so hard I about cry. The sound effects are priceless and just add to the unpleasantness of it.
Yes, it's a bygone era that is very much missed. OK, so maybe I don't miss Corey Feldman too much (yep, he's in there too). It's always nice to have comedy mixed with a little spookiness.
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Some trivia about the movie...
1. The back lot at Universal where they filmed "The Burbs" has been used for many TV shows and movies. It was the street for "Leave it to Beaver" and most recently it is Wisteria Lane for "Desperate Housewives". And don't quote me but I'm almost positive it's the same street that the Munster's House still resides on. It would have been painted a light blue at this point in time and look quite a bit different. Keep your eyes open. You may just see it in the background somewhere.
2. When the Peterson's son Dave is eating breakfast you can see a box of "Gremlins" cereal on the counter in the background. Joe Dante directed Gremlins in 1984 and Corey Feldman was also in it. Did they really have a Gremlins cereal? Wow, how did I miss that?
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Rules for pendant giveaway...
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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/3RR4W . 3 Tweets a day max and no more than 1 an hour! You can also get (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. 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.

Winner of the Halloween Goodie Bag Giveaway

Thanks to all who entered and spent lots of their time visiting the shops and following us all over the place. We love and appreciate everyone of you!

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And lets all give a big thanks to all of the shops who gave their designs and time to make this giveaway possible. It would not have been a succsess without any of you.

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The winner is.....Stephanie (@sgrant2005 )

Everyone give her a big congrats! She pretty much did every entry possible and it payed off. Here are her choices.

From Laughing Vixen Lounge "Jack and Sally" pendant, from The Family Jewels "Skeleton Arms" necklace and from Dirty Dishes "Your Trailer Park Called. They Are Missing Their Trash" mug.

From Hat Creek Creations "Witch's Hat Pitcher", from Marmalade Grenade "Haunting" soap and from Moxie Mia Makeup "Without a Trace and Shiver" eyeshadows.

From Darkside Soap "My Goodness it's Guinneshhhh, Dragon Droppings and Spellbound Woods" soaps and from Glama Ray "Angel and Witch's Brew" bath salts.

From S H Creations "Curly Red and Black" feather headband, from Groupie Glam "Brick House" headband and from Boutique Julie "Halloween" card set.

From Sugarcandie Beauty Bar "Candy Corn Cupcake Sugar Scrub", from Agony's Decay "Spider Bracelet" in green and purple and from Madame Cupcake "Trick or Treat Bats" zippered pouch.

From Hearse Boutique "Skeleton Hands Hairclips", from Bloodbath "Coffin Candy" lip balm and from Groovy Spookieville "Bigfoot's Girlfriend" ice cream soap and "Vampire Soccer Mom" lip conditioner.
From DixiexKing's Monkey Emporium "Halloween Monkey and Bag", from Bittersweet Boo "Bride of Frankenstein and Frankenstein" hair bows and from Hell in a Handbag "Skeleton Hands" sweater chain.

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.

Twitter Contest Winner

And the winner of the Twitter Contest is.... Wendy (@omgitswendy). She picked this lovely bit of Pulp Fiction beauty. Lets all give her a big "congrats" on her win.

And a big thanks to everyone who played along. Here is a little sneak peak at the big Halloween Giveaway coming soon to The Laughing Vixen Lounge Blog. Up for grabs is a Goodie Bag filled with spooktacular trinkets and beauties from 20+ hip and fabulous shops. Just a few pictures to get you excited...
Skeleton Arms Necklace and Halloween Cosmetic Bag
Sinfully yummy soap in scents of "Debauchery" and "Zombie Pinup"

Lip balms in a variety of Bloody Good flavours

Don't miss your chance to win! The September "Halloween Goodie Bag" Giveaway starts Monday, September 14th. You could be the lucky ghoul to walk away with a whole bag of Tricks and Treats!

Twitter Contest

Come on over and visit The Lounge at LaughingVixen on Twitter. You can win a pendant of your choice. Just be the 213 RT. Stop by and take a look.
http://twitter.com/LaughingVixen

Winner of August Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered the August Giveaway for the incredibly cool Goodie Bag. We really appreciate it. And everyone give a big round of "Thanks Gals" to all the great shops who donated the goodies!!! Make sure to check back on the 14th as our September Giveaway will start. The Lounge is working on a Halloween themed Goodie Bag that already has about 10 shops participating (and counting).

And the winner of the August Goodie Bag is...Irina (Nina). Everyone give her congrats on being the lucky one. Here are her picks...

From Laughing Vixen Lounge "Marilyn Monroe Style A Glass Pendant" and from Marmalade Grenade "Zombie Pinup Soap"

From The Family Jewels "White Chrysanthemum Ring" and from To Hell in a Handbag "Black Evil Eye Rose Hairpins"
From Dirty Dishes "I Have A P---- So I Make The Rules Mug" and from Haut Totes " Large Mahogany Red Faux Leather Zippered Pouch"

And from Moxi Mia Makeup "Punk Ass Bitch, Only in Dreams and Blue Mix Eyeshadow"

Wizard of Oz Collection

As a way to keep you up on all the goodies offered in the shop the Laughing Vixen Lounge blog will be showing collections. It's an easy way to see all items offered in a common theme without having to search the whole shop's data base. The collections will also be listed on the right side bar so you can easily access past collections.

This week we present the "Wizard of Oz" collection. This is an ever growing collection so make sure to check back from time to time. You can find all of these over at Laughing Vixen Lounge on Etsy. Just click here and you'll be magically transported there. I also love custom work so if you have a special Wizard of Oz item you'd like just drop me a line through the shop.