Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Fearless Vampire Killers

The Halloween countdown continues.

This one’s kinda bittersweet.

It’s Roman Polanski and the stunningly beautiful Sharon Tate trading rather tame sexual innuendo in The Fearless Vampire Killers, which Polanski directed before he got famous directing Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby.

It’s bittersweet because Sharon Tate died a few years later (while pregnant with Polanski’s baby) in the gruesome Manson family murders. I won’t go into all the details, or any details, actually – you can look em up on Wikipedia - but it was a pretty horrific scene. Surreal. What a strange time.

I haven’t seen this movie for decades, but I remember thinking it was very funny and very good when I was a kid. It used to get shown once or twice a year on TV, usually late at night. Its tragic history, along with Sharon Tate’s abundant cleavage, made me run to the TV set every time. Moth to a flame. Perfect fodder for a pre-adolescent boy.

I don’t know why they don’t show it anymore.

7 comments:

Wizardry said...

HALLOWEEN. Hurrah. But mostly I came by to really thank you for your comment. I can always trust Eric to look at it like any editor in the world would, which is what I like to hear from him. I respect his opinion and wisdom on the subject of writing and editing as a whole if nothing other than his raw experience with it. While I enjoy his constructive criticism, I find enjoyment on a whole other level when someone reads my work and actually likes it. Shallow, yes, but happy nonetheless. So thanks. And it pretty much was straight reporting. I contemplated going back at some point, revising and the likes. Mostly I wanted to write the whole experience before I forgot, but only time will tell if revisions will happen.

Hilary said...

Never saw the movie but I sure do remember the horrible stories of her and the others' murders. I recall being so shaken by the thought that someone could just take her and her baby's lives like that. I hadn't been familiar with her before the Manson murders but after that, I remember noticing her name show up in the credits of occasional reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies of all shows (I was young.. ish). She sure was a beauty.

Anonymous said...

Sweet merciful heavens that's impressive! AND a redhead? Be still my beating hard... er... heart.

Anonymous said...

I adore the stuffed horse and fake alpine backdrop!

And those were the days when you could just enjoy breasts instead of wondering if the boobs are real or not.

Clowncar said...

You're very welcome, Vic. Glad to read it.

Hilary, it is strange how genuinely shocking the details of those murders are 40 years later. I thought we we supposed to be desensitized to that sort of thing. And,yes, she was a great beauty.

You think, Irr? I wish I could say I loved that movie as a kid because of Polanski's film-making skills, but I'm afraod it had more to do with the wall-to-wall cleavage. Oh, my.

Daze: that's a fake horse? So what movie are you and the thing-lings going to watch tonight?

Anonymous said...

CC, the truth will set you free. If I'd had cable as a kid I'd be in the same boat. As it stood, I had to make do with the Sears catalog, Intimates section.

Anonymous said...

The kids are with their dad. So I went downtown into the perfect storm created when Halloween meets world series frenzy.... Daring, I know, but a friend is visiting from New Orleans.