VeganMoFo: Poltergeist
Nothing says 80’s like the parents of the film getting high and reading books about Reagan.
Poltergeist is one of the classic horror films of the 80’s, and i’m hard pressed to think of a ghostly movie that even comes close. A happy family in the burbs, la la la, chairs are moving around, la la la, holy shit there’s something living in the tv! While it’s true that the effects really don’t hold up (peep the face peeling scene on youtube), there are still some things about this movie that are still great. The movie goes back and forth from things being safe to things being terrifying, so you can never really get comfortable. I always get choked up when Diane smells Carol Anne in her clothes, and I will always and forever be terrified of clowns. This is the movie that had me leaping from my bed to the door when I was in kindergarten.
Poltergeist II takes place one year later (even though it had been four years and you could tell by how much Carol Anne and Robbie had grown), and though the family has moved in with the grandma and things have been quiet for awhile, that’s about to change. I actually had to watch this today because I couldn’t remember a thing about it, and while it loses its steam at the end, the villian is TERRIFYING. I mean, look at this dude. Keep in mind that the actor died from stomach cancer while making it so that’s why he looks like a skeleton. Fun fact: H.R. Giger helped design a beast version of Kane to fill out the scenes at the end of the movie since they were unwilling to pull a Weekend At Bernie’s.
There is a third one that is a total piece of crap, no one but Carol Anne and Tangina appear in it, the new Kane isn’t nearly as scary, and it has god damned Lara Flynn Boyle in it.
There is supposedly a curse associated with the movies, a lot of people died right after/during the making of the films, but none of the deaths were anything related to the movies, like accidents on set.
Craig T. Nelson (Parenthood [the tv series], Coach) and JoBeth Williams (Private Practice, Rita’s mom on Dexter) play the parents, and sadly most of the other cast either died too young, or were pretty old to begin with and have since died.
Entree: For our fair-haired Carol Anne, angel hair pasta in a cream sauce (recipe below).
Side: Take your favorite seitan recipe, cube it and pan fry it in a little oil to make seitan steak bites that WON’T crawl around on your counter. Hopefully.
Dessert: Like Diane, you can hang out with a bunch of Muddy Buddies, but these are the kind you can eat and not skeletons in the rain-filled hole where your pool should be.
Pasta with Asparagus in Lemon Cream Sauce, from The Vegan Girl’s Guide To Life, posted with permission from Melisser Elliot
1 pound angel hair pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound asparagus stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
Lemon Cream Sauce:
1 cup raw cashews
1 1/4 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Prepare the pasta according to the package directions; drain and set aside. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the lemon cream sauce. In your food processor, add the cashews and puree for a few minutes until a smooth paste forms. Add the zest, salt, and pepper and blend again. Pour in the lemon juice and water in a steady stream; process until smooth. The sauce should be thin.
In a deep skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in garlic and red pepper, then add the asparagus and sprinkle on the salt. Saute the asparagus until crisp but tender, and 5-7 minutes, depending on the thickness of your stalks. Add the pasta to the skillet, toss to combine, and remove from heat. Pour in the lemon cream sauce; stir to coat. Once everything is coated, taste for seasoning, and serve hot.
posted: 11 October 20
under: veganmofo
