Tag Archives: Night on Bald Mountain

Happy Halloween 2018!

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Halloween is finally here and the trickĀ  or treaters are raring to go. Candy has been purchased, popcorn popped, and even a witch has a smile or two. There are plenty of ways to celebrate the day. One way is to watch classic or new classic horror movies. Last year I came across one that really impressed me. It is is in the “found footage” niche.

For those who have no idea what that means, it is a fake documentary supposedly relating true events through this footage. Sometimes it can be good but other times not so good. This one is a bright spot in that tired niche and titled Horror House LLC (2015). This little gem is about an investigation into the tragic events of a Halloween Haunted House where 15 people died. Wrapped within another documentary, the story that unfolds is both intriguing and scary at times. Consider taking a look at this Halloween on Amazon Prime and other places on the Internet.There is a sequel but I have not viewed it yet. Note: This movie is not for kids under 17. It has scary scenes and language adults will find offensive.

On a lighter side though, the Muppet Science Labs tried to determine the existence of ghosts by sending an intrepid investigator to find out the truth in an haunted house. All did not go well….

Not to be outdone, those feisty Angry Birds enjoy Halloween as well. It is not without its perils though as this short animation demonstrates. Of course if you decide to not play nice with them, they might bring out the Big Guy.

The 1941 Disney movie Fantasia has a classic scene where all the evil of the land comes forth for a night of merriment with a demon on Bald Mountain. This scene with an excellent score is Night On Bald Mountain. A true classic and scary when the lights are low.

And of course to wrap it all up that classic tune done by Mannheim Steamroller.

Countdown To Halloween#3

Fantasia (1941) is perhaps Disney animation at its finest. While Disney has done other animations that get praise, this movie is at the top of most lists. There are two sequences of interest in the Halloween season. One is the famous-and scary-Night on Bald Mountain using the music composed by Modest Mussorgsky in 1867. Mussorgsky composed it as a symphonic poem but it was not well liked in his day and never performed. In 1886, five years after his death, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov arranged the music as a fantasy for orchestra. And it is this version that is used rather than the original one composed by Mussorgsky. It was first performed in Saint Petersburg in 1886 to great acclaim and became a concert favorite. For the Night On Bald Mountain chapter in Fantasia,Leopold Stokowski arranged this version based on Rimsky-Korsakov. It has become a classic. And now here it is.[Disclaimer: Our attorneys at Dewey,Cheateam, and Howe want to remind that unless the video is an authentic authorized version by permission of the copyright holder,this public showing may be in violation of copyright law. While this has been posted to YouTube, it does not mean the copyright holder has given permission to be shown on YouTube.]