A retrospective on Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg’s “Poltergeist” from 1982, including a look at its hotly debated production, the hit and miss quality of its sequels, and most importantly how it draws its horror from very real ideas of terrible familial loss seen through the lens of a classic haunted house story placed in a modern suburban setting.
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Sources:
https://collider.com/poltergeist-haunted-history-explained/?newsletter_popup=1
https://nerdist.com/article/poltergeist-true-story-inspired-movie/
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/09/poltergeist-at-40 :
https://cranialblowout.blogspot.com/2018/04/poltergeist-in-his-words.html
https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/the-poltergeist-curse-its-heeere
https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/the-poltergeist-curse-its-heeere
https://cranialblowout.blogspot.com/2018/04/poltergeist-in-his-words.html
https://www.slashfilm.com/574185/cool-world-writer-interview/
https://imsdb.com/scripts/Night-Time-(The-Poltergeist-Treatment).html
source
What’s your favorite haunted house story?
Palpable.
I guess the house wasn’t as clean as Tangina thought. In fact it got sucked into a black hole it was so unclean still. 😂
I wouldn’t call a ghost movie “horror” nightmare on elm street, Friday the 13th, Child’s Play.. those were the horror movies of the 80’s. Poltergeist is be definition supernatural horror, key word supernatural. It’s freaky, not scary
I hadn't seen Insidious until yesterday after rewatching Poltergeist and it's so definitely a 2010s update on Poltergeist and Exorcist combined. Entertaining and ghoulish but it doesn't beat either of them. The Conjuring does pretty much the same and clearly shares the credit with Insidious for reviving the popularity of haunted suburban horror for the last decade and a half.
Thank you for not using AI narration!!
What is on the wall behind Dana? 5:23
Poltergeist II came THIS close to being a worthy follow-up to the first film. In some ways it’s scarier.
Julian Beck, who played Kane in part 2, was in a performance art group called the Living Theatre in San Francisco. He had a major influence on The Doors' frontman Jim Morrison. And may have caused the Miami incident, which let to the eventual breakup.
When the coffins rise up, they are not animated, Tangina sent them to the light. The Beast was pissed and ambushed them for taking sending them away. But those were not the only souls, as you know.
I totally agree on the fact people always think this movie is about tribal burial grounds. I hate that people always get that wrong.
Music from Braid ? Haha
I never had any problem whatsoever with the SFX. They were actually extremely good, especially for the period, in particular the scene where you see everything floating around. There's just one scene that stands out as looking a bit crap, even for the period, and that's the face ripping scene. It's so obviously a puppet. But the rest of the SFX? Superb.
The 2015 one came out when I was a kid, and I loved the movie. I recently watched it again as an adult, and still love it. I decided to watch the originals, and they were alright. The first one was pretty okay, but then the sequels were just horrible and very unnecessary.
It all comes down to which one you watch first, or grew up with. I'm not a big fan of the original because my original is the 2015 one, whilst people who watched the original first or grew up with it, will prefer that one. Especially if you have high expectations for a remake. I genuinely prefer the way they did the remake 🤷♂ I liked that the kids had more roles in it.
Carol Ann's canary dying at the beginning is a thing you don't think is that important until rewatches when you realize the bird was literally a "canary in the coal mine." Its grave being disturbed is a huge giveaway for a reveal that comes in the last 15 minutes
TV static isn't that old. We only switched from Analog TV to Digital (albeit by force) on June 12, 2009. What's messed up is no one noticed the red marks on the older sibling's neck only to find out her Boyfriends strangled her to death later.
Steve pushing the tv out the door must be among the best, and funny endings ever put on film.
this movie has scarred me as a child… that scene with the tree. nah dude
I'm probably strange in this regard, but I rank 2 higher than 1. Though, I saw the sequel before the original and watched it a number of times on HBO as a kid. IIRC, I saw them in this order: 2, 3, 1 (but it may have been 2, 1, 3). I agree with your assessment that no one really wanted a remake. It wasn't bad, but it didn't really add anything and, honestly, I think the series should be left alone after so much tragedy with the original 3. Edited to add: Out of respect for the actors, not because I think the series is cursed.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. But one thing that bothered me about this movie, is that if the builders only moved the headstones and left the coffins, when putting in house foundations and installing pools, they would have been hitting coffins left and right. There's no way the Freelings were installing a pool with a deep end at 10 feet and didn't smack into coffins.
Amazing video! Great job! Thanks for making it! Especially great job on the who directed it controversy as nobody has handled it better than you have!
I think some of the practical effects still hold up. I learned that canned tomatoes were used for the face ripping scenes to look like bloody flesh.
You are quite right. The crazy 4th act is a great catharsis. A beautiful horror for all the family.
beautiful ending
Excellent as always! The novelization of the film is beyond excellent! Like a director’s cut giving you more including more shivers and creeps….read it!
Great video! I really enjoyed hearing your perspective on this film. It's been a favorite since I first saw it in the theaters in the summer of '82. The emotional story is certainly the heart of the film. The manifestations have a "kitchen sink" feel towards the end of the movie, but the overall, character-driven narrative really holds together. I actually quite like the remake – it doesn't add much to original, but it has some fun moments.
Great as usual, Matt!! Thanx!!
Poltergeist is one of my all-time favorites. Love it! Love the Jerry Goldsmith score! I always see the bird dying as the canary in a coalmine. 12:55 That's such a great cue. That, and the ghosts on the stairs are two of my favorites.
I would take this video more seriously if your voice actually sounded the part. You shouldn't be narrating a horror movie review you sound like you should be doing a Disney movie.
House being sucked into the vortex and none of the neighbours are watching out on the lawn 😂
Absolutely one of my favorite movies. Saw it in the the theater when i was 11 and it was awesome. Great video, lots of memories of that era for me. Thank you
This movie honestly terrifies me. I love everything about it, it’s my favorite horror film of all time.
Heather O’Rourke dying really sucked. We were both about the same age when she passed, and it felt so unreal. How could someone so close to my age be gone, and just like that!?
I don't agree about the direction part. It IS a Tobe Hooper directed film. Yes, Spielberg was all over it, but the flow and setups are different. Also the cast and crew members tell us contrary stories, some say Spielberg, most say Hooper directed.
Poltergeist was the first horror movie I saw, and I was only 8 years old. My family had rented the movie on VHS and it left a huge impression on me. I remember clearly that when I saw sent to bed, after the movie, the hallway lightbulb went out with a very bright flash and it freaked me out, resembling the light effects in the film of course. I insisted that my father change out the lightbulb that night or I would not be able to fall asleep! Today, I love everything about the movie, and it is one of my favorite movies overall.
I'm not opposed to remakes, but, what do you do when the original was such a rollercoster of à film where it is hard to even come close to the grand décisions made? To me Poltregeist is one of those films. Why even bother as what can you do to set yourself apart?
Poltergeist is in my top three movies of all time.
Poltergeist 2 is such an underrated film and I adore it and especially loved Taylor the shaman. Also Reverend Kane was really scary. Poltergeist 3 we don't talk about because it makes me sad.
Spielberg absolutely shadow-directed this film. Both this film and E.T. were originally intended as films representing urban dreams vs. urban nightmares. But overlapping schedules made this difficult. Even the visual similarities & characters in both films give evidence – like how the kid's rooms have a lot of the same toys & decor, the presence of a family dog in both that reacts to the "visitors", the fact that both stories are happening during the same season of the year (Poltergeist is happening a bit earlier in late September as opposed to E.T.'s late October timeline), that the mom characters factor into the plot, that in one the title character comes from the stars and is abandoned and left alone in an unfamiliar world, while Carol Ann is taken from the comfort & familiarity of her earthly home into the mysterious world of the supernatural. I truly consider Poltergeist & E.T. to be bookend stories.
my first horror movie
I place each one in the exact same order. 1,2,3 and 4. The original is the best and I wouldn't waste my time with the remake.
I loved and was terrified of it as a child and feel like it aged so well if it came today it would be Oscar worthy
The face tearing scene definitely stuck with me after I watched it all those years ago.