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Vegetarian Protagonists in Horror Movies

Animal Rights, Film Reviews, Vegan MoFo , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

After seeing a couple of horror movies that surprised me by featuring vegetarian protagonists, I was inspired to try to find more. Here is a brief list of what I came up with in my research. Feel free to add to the list in the comments section, as I’m sure I’ve missed some of them.

1. Halloween II (2009) Director Rob Zombie. When I saw this movie in the theater a couple of years back, I was pleasantly amused to see a scene where the main character, Laurie Strode (played by Scout Taylor-Compton) and her best friend, Annie (played by Danielle Harris), taunted Annie’s father (Brad Dourif) for eating meat. The girls even ordered a vegetarian pizza. There are other scenes in the movie as well that have a strong AR message. It should not be too much of a surprise though, considering that director Rob Zombie is an ethical vegetarian himself. Check out this article from ecorazzi about the vegetarian protagonists in H2.

2. Hostel (2005) Director Eli Roth. One of the most memorable scenes of this film for me were between the main character Paxton (Jay Hernandez) and the Dutch businessman (Jan Vlasák), as quoted from IMDB:
Paxton: …you need a fork there chief?
The Dutch Businessman: No. I prefer to use my hands. I believe people have lost their relationship with food. They do not think “this is something that died for me so that I would not go hungry.” I like that connection with something you die for. I appreciate it more.
Paxton: Well I’m a vegetarian.
The Dutch Businessman: I am a meat-eater. It is human nature.
Paxton: Well I’m human and it’s not my nature.

Again, it also should not be too shocking here that the hero of the movie is veg considering director Eli Roth is also not a vegetarian, but a supporter of PETA. Check out this PETA interview with Eli Roth.  ::Swoons::

3. Grace (2009) Director Paul Solet. This is a movie that I personally have not seen yet, but was recommended to me by fellow vegan blogger and Halloween fan extraordinaire, The Spooky Vegan. According to Spooky Vegan, Grace features a vegan mom, Madeline Matheson (Jordan Ladd) whose baby has an insatiable hunger. She notes the movie is very well made, and just checking out the trailer alone gives me the goosebumps. I must add this to my Netflix queue!

4. The X-Files (TV show 1993-2002) Creator Chris Carter, The X-Files (Movie 1998) Director Rob Bowman, & The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Movie 2008) Director Chris Carter. Admittedly, I never really watched the show while it was in its prime on television. I think I may have turned on an episode once when I was living in an apartment by myself (for the first time) and got so spooked, I didn’t watch any more of The X Files for a long, long time. I saw the most recent movie in 2008 in the theater though and wished that I had watched the show on a more regular basis. According to poster Thirsty Johann in a veggieboards forum on 3/15/2005, “There’s one or two screwups by guest-writers, but Mulder & Scully from The X-Files are vegetarians. They don’t mention it specifically during the show, but in one of the novels Scully is vegan, and in one episode she eats vegan ice-cream.” Additionally, The Informed Vegan blogged about animal rights and key episodes of The X-Files that had AR messages on 2/18/11. Digging a little further into this story, I found that actress Gillian Anderson (who played the character of Dana Scully) is vegan, an active member of PETA, and an animal rights activist. Additionally, David Duchovny (who played the character of Fox Mulder) is a former vegetarian, now pescetarian (according to wikipedia).

I have been a long time fan of horror movies and for the past 10 years have been interested in vegetarianism and animal rights. It tickles my brain to see the merging of these two passions on the big screen!

So, grab a bowl of popcorn, sprinkle a little nooch (aka nutritional yeast) or some vegan chocolate chips on top, and settle in for a night of terror! Happy Halloween!

Chocolate Chip Popcorn

St. Patrick’s Day Vegan-Style

Desserts, Dinner, Film Reviews, Holiday Foods, Music , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Finding alternatives for a meat-free St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t difficult. I was never a corned beef fan in my pre-vegan days anyway, so finding a substitute for salty beef was not necessary. I decided to stick with mostly whole foods and forgo any faux meat products for this year’s feast. While listening to Flogging Molly in the background, I concocted our Irish feast.

The menu consisted of an Irish Carrot Soup, Kale Salad, Chickpea Shepard’s Pie, sour gherkins, castelvetrano olives, whole wheat Irish Soda Bread, Shamrock Shakes for dessert, and a veganized Bailey’s Irish Cream.

We started off with some freshly baked whole wheat Irish Soda Bread (minus the raisins) from Happy Herbivore. The bread was dense, moist, and chewy. It was great with some vegan butter and dipped into our next soup course.

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

Next we had Irish Carrot Soup from this Epicurious recipe (minus the whipping cream). The soup was described by others as tasty and “carrot-y.” I found it a tad bitter for my taste, which could have been attributed to either the lemon juice or cloves included in the ingredient mix. I would make it again in the future if I omitted one or both of those ingredients.

Irish Carrot Soup

The soup was followed by a nice green salad and our main course. I had previously made the kale salad numerous other times and blogged about it. I also have made the Chickpea Shepherd’s Pie before, but it came out even better this time because I used a different mixture of veggies from my first attempt. I used a mixed bag of frozen corn, peas, and carrots. I also added some nutritional yeast in the chickpea mixture as the original creator of the recipe recommended. Delish! The sour gherkins and castelvetrano olives were a nice salty side dish to the meal as well. Okay, so the olives were actually Sicilian (not Irish), but they were green and addicting.

Chickpea Shepherd's Pie, Kale Salad, gherkins, olives, and Irish soda bread

Beverage wise, we were delighted by some spirits that our friend Brent brought over. The men enjoyed Guinness Extra Stout, which according to Barnivore, is the only vegan Guinness beverage. Normally Guinness is made with a fining process using isinglass (from the swimbladders of fish).

After dinner, we had a nightcap of a veganized Bailey’s Irish Cream (consisting of a coconut milk base) that was absolutely amazing. It was creamy, smooth, and sweet with just the right amount of Jameson.

Vegan Bailey's Irish Cream

Since it was a warm evening, I decided to make veganized Shamrock Shakes for dessert. I added a healthier version of Oreos to the mix for a cookies and cream appeal.

Shamrock Shakes (2 servings)

2 to 2 1/2 cups of Rice Dream vanilla ice cream
3/4 to 1 cup of rice milk
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1 cup of fresh cilantro (more or less until desired “green” color is reached)
4-6 Oreo-style cookies (broken in half)
Fresh mint for garnish (optional)
Straws (optional)

Put all of the ingredients (minus the mint and straws!) into a blender and puree until desired consistency is reached. Add more ice cream or milk depending on how thin or thick you want it. Garnish with mint and stick a straw in the glass for easier drinking.

This was the perfect blend of mint, vanilla, and cookie-goodness! The cilantro was a nice addition and wasn’t too strong or overbearing (for those who aren’t cilantro fans).

Vegan Shamrock Shakes

To top of our St. Patty’s Day vegan feast, we watched the campy, cult horror film Leprechaun, featuring a young Jennifer Aniston. It was hilarious and silly and the perfect ending for a great dinner with friends. It turns out that Jennifer Aniston’s character is vegetarian in the movie, thus prepping me up for another future edition of Vegetarian Protaganists in Horror Movies. Erin go Braugh!

Overall, I’d give this meal a 4 1/2 out of 5 carrots on the veganlicious scale!