A family’s home is haunted by a host of ghosts.
I’m seriously excited to be reviewing this franchise, so lets get on with it!
Writer and Producer Steven Spielberg’s premise for ‘Poltergeist’ was based on the history of Cheeseman Park in Denver, Colorado. The park was originally a cemetery, which was converted into a park during city beautification efforts in the early 20th century. The man hired to move the bodies scammed the city of Denver into overpaying him, and the city quickly ran out of funds to pay for moving the dead. With no money left in the coffers, the city decided to simply leave the remaining ‘residents’ buried in unmarked graves underneath the sod. The park was completed as scheduled, but supernatural occurrences have been reported ever since.
One thing that has always struck me about this release is that despite being a horror film, there are no murders or fatalities depicted in the film. This is why I always like to use this film as evidence that you don’t always need blood, guts and gore to make it a Horror. I’ve also noticed that a few newer releases have also been taking this route aswell and it’s great to see.
The film has many memorable scenes but the one that always got me is the ‘Skeletons’ scene, I remember seeing it as a child and being absolutely terrified! It haunted me for a long time which meant it did it’s job and then when you find out years later that The skeletons that emerge from the swimming pool are actual skeletons, The production crew used real human skeletons because it was cheaper to purchase them instead of plastic ones. Even actress JoBeth Williams didn’t know this until after the scene was shot.
The films cast is absolutely outstanding and not one character is out of place, you get the sense that you are watching a true family going through a terrible ordeal and it really makes for great viewing. But for me personally my favourite character is “Tangina” played by Zelda Rubinstein, that is a great example of perfect casting. I have no idea who else could of played her, she claimed she had genuine psychic ability, claiming to have visions of things before they happened. it’s surprising that she had to audition for the part four times.
“Poltergeist” is one film I consider a Must-See, it touches base on so many levels and one film I’ve never bored of. Treat yourself and this on right now and grab some popcorn and enjoy it all over again.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
Stephen King was briefly approached to write the screenplay. It would have been the first written by King directly for the screen, but the parties could not agree on the terms.
During all the horrors that proceeded while filming Poltergeist (1982), only one scene really scared Heather O’Rourke: that in which she had to hold onto the head-board, while a wind machine blew toys into the closet behind her. She fell apart; Steven Spielberg stopped everything, took her in his arms, and said that she would not have to do that scene again.
The hands which pull the flesh off the investigator’s face in the bathroom mirror are Steven Spielberg’s.
Poltergeist (1982) was filmed on the same street as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) because Steven Spielberg made the two films concurrently.
Robbie has a poster in his room for Superbowl XXII, which would not take place for another six years. Heather O’Rourke died in San Diego the day after Superbowl Sunday of 1988 which was played in San Diego as well.
Both of the terrors that plague Robbie came from Steven Spielberg’s own fears as a child, a fear of clowns and a tree outside his window.
Drew Barrymore was considered for the role of Carol Anne, but Steven Spielberg wanted someone more angelic. It was Barrymore’s audition for this role, however, that landed her a part in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
The shot of the chairs that position themselves in the amazing balancing act on the table was all done in one take. As the camera panned along with JoBeth Williams, who was getting some cleaning materials, several crew members quickly set an already organized pyramid of chairs on the table, then took the single chairs away before the camera scrolled back.
Heather O’Rourke was chosen for the film when she was eating lunch with her mother and sister at an MGM commissary. Steven Spielberg came up to them and wanted O’Rourke for the part of Carol Anne. She initially failed the screentest because she kept laughing her way through the audition, even when she was supposed to be afraid. Spielberg thought she was too young to take the part seriously, but he still recognized something special in her, so he asked her to come back for another audition, and this time, bring a scary storybook with her. He also asked her to scream, so she screamed and screamed until she started crying. This audition got her cast as Carol Anne.
JoBeth Williams had a supernatural experience during the making of the film. Whenever she came home from filming, the pictures on the walls of her house were crooked. Everytime she fixed them they would hang crooked again. Zelda Rubinstein also had an experience when a vision of her dog came to her and said goodbye to her. Hours later, her mother called her and told Rubinstein that her dog had passed away that very day.
The clown puppet used in the film is on display in Planet Hollywood in Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas.
When questioned about who had the greater control over Poltergeist (1982), Steven Spielberg or Tobe Hooper, Spielberg replied “Tobe isn’t… a take-charge sort of guy. If a question was asked and an answer wasn’t immediately forthcoming, I’d jump in and say what we could do. Tobe would nod in agreement, and that became the process of our collaboration.” Co-producer Frank Marshall spoke out to the press and claimed “the creative force of the movie was Steven. Tobe was the director and was on set every day. But Steven did the design for every storyboard and was only absent for three days during the shoot, because he was in Hawaii with (George) Lucas.” Hooper later claimed that he did half of the storyboards. Spielberg then sent a letter to Hooper to clarify matters: “Regrettably, some of the press has misunderstood the rather unique, creative relationship you and I shared throughout the making of Poltergeist. I enjoyed your openness in allowing me…a wide berth for creative involvement, just as I know you were happy with the freedom you had to direct Poltergeist so wonderfully. Through the screenplay you accepted a vision of this very intense movie from the start, and as the director, you delivered the goods. You performed responsibly and professionally throughout, and I wish you great success on your next project.” Zelda Rubinstein disagreed. While Hooper set up the shots, it was Spielberg who made the adjustments, and most of the time, Hooper was “only partially there” on set. The issue then of who had creative control over Poltergeist (1982) is still a muddy issue even today.
Poltergeist (1982) was selected by The New York Times as one of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made.
Many people believe there’s a curse on the Poltergeist franchise, that may have been caused by the use of real skeletons on-set, e.g. several actors in the franchise have died, and this became the focus of The E True Hollywood Story.
The word “poltergeist” is German for noisy ghost.
The scene where Diane is attacked in her bedroom by an invisible force was actually filmed in a rotating box with a stationary camera. This gave the appearance she was being dragged up the wall and across the ceiling.
Though on-screen credit goes to Tobe Hooper, a wealth of evidence suggests that most of the directorial decisions were made by Steven Spielberg. In fact, Spielberg had wanted to direct the film himself, but a clause in his contract stated that while still working on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Spielberg could not direct another film. Members of the cast and crew, including Executive Producer Frank Marshall and actress Zelda Rubinstein, have stated that Spielberg cast the film, directed the actors, and designed every single storyboard for the movie himself. Based on this evidence, the DGA opened a probe into the matter, but found no reason that co-director credit should go to Spielberg.
The late 00’s saw a homage to Poltergeist (1982) in a DirecTV commercial. Craig T. Nelson reprised the role of Steve Freeling, complaining to Carol Anne and the audience that the static on the TV set is just bad cable reception and quips “Not getting rid of cable. THAT’S gonna come back to haunt me!” Heather O’Rourke’s family were pleased with the ad, for keeping her memory alive.
Poltergeist (1982) came about from Steven Spielberg’s failed attempt to do a sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
The house used to film this movie is located in Simi Valley, California where it still stands today. The family who owned it when this movie was filmed still live there today.
The swirling, flickering lights coming from the closet during the rescue scene were achieved using a very simple effect by having an aquarium full of water in front of a spotlight. Then a fan blew on the surface of the water to make it swirl.
When Steve Freeling first meets with the university paranormal specialists, he states that his wife, Diane Freeling, was “32” at the time, and their eldest daughter, Dana, was “16”. Thus, Diane was only sixteen years-old when she gave birth to Dana.
Heather O’Rourke kept the pet goldfish Carol Anne has in the film.
The movie’s line “They’re here!” was voted as the #69 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
In reality, Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams are only 14 and 11 years older than Dominique Dunne, who plays their teen-aged daughter.
Zelda Rubinstein filmed her part in six days.
James Karen at the time was also the commercial spokesman for PathMark supermarkets. He received hate mail from people saying they would never shop there again because of his character’s treatment of the Freelings.
One of the rare films where Steven Spielberg has a writing credit.
Steven Spielberg’s first film as a producer.
One of the earliest films to deal with EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).
The highest grossing horror film of 1982, and the eighth highest grossing film of the year. The film was reissued in October, 1982 to take advantage of the Halloween weekend. It was also shown in theaters for one night only on October 4, 2007 to promote the new restored and remastered 25th anniversary DVD, released five days later. The event also included a documentary about poltergeist phenomena, which is available on the DVD.
Spielberg hired Tobe Hooper after being impressed with his work on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).
The only film Dominique Dunne appeared in.
The cemetery Steve and Teague are talking in front of has a tree identical to the one that tried to eat Robbie; a subtle clue that the Freeling house was built over a cemetery.
The highest grossing film of Tobe Hooper’s career.
Steven Spielberg offered Tobe Hooper the script for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), but when Hooper declined Spielberg gave him the script for Poltergeist (1982) instead and directed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) himself.
Steven Spielberg worked on Poltergeist (1982) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) literally back to back. Principal photography on Poltergeist ended in August of 1981, then Spielberg took a few weeks off and began work on E.T. Spielberg also supervised the visual effects for both films simultaneously (which were produced at Industrial Light & Magic under the supervision of Richard Edlund and Dennis Muren). Once post production work on Poltergeist began in early 1982, Spielberg was in total control. He was responsible for the editing of the film (Spielberg’s usual editor Michael Khan edited this film while Carol Littleton edited E.T), the final sound mixes and loops, the supervision of the visual effects, and the selection of Jerry Goldsmith as the composer of the score. Poltergeist and E.T opened to theaters nationwide only a week between each other during the summer of 1982, Poltergeist on June 4th and E.T. one week later on June 11th. Spielberg later said “If E.T. was a whisper, Poltergeist was a scream”.
The film was originally given a R rating, but the filmmakers protested successfully and got a PG rating (the PG-13 rating did not exist at the time).
The crawling steak was done by using a real steak which was laid over a slot cut between the tiles in the counter top. Two wires were fastened to the bottom of the steak and a special effects operator, hidden under the counter, simply moved the wires to make the steak crawl like a caterpillar. A similar operation was done when Diane presents to Steven the chairs that move across the room by themselves. A wire was fastened to one of the chair’s legs under the set. An operator first wobbled the chair with the wire, then dragged the chair across to its destination.
One of the reasons Steven Spielberg spent more time on-set than he should have done as a producer was due to delays on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
One of the few Steven Spielberg films not to feature music by John Williams.
Steven Spielberg first approached Universal about distributing the film before he sold the idea to MGM.
In one scene, Steve and Diane Freeling are in their bedroom and the movie A Guy Named Joe (1943) is playing on their television. Not only is this a movie about a dead person who is still “hanging around” as the spirits in this film are, but Steven Spielberg remade A Guy Named Joe seven years later as Always (1989).
Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper wanted virtually unknown actors to play the Freelings because they wanted to add a realism to the family that would off-balance the ghost story. They felt that if the audience watched well-known stars, then it would take away from the realistic feel of the characters.
Poltergeist’s special effects were nominated for an Academy Award, but they lost to Spielberg’s other big film of the year, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). The score was also nominated for an Oscar, but again the film lost to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
On top of the master bedroom television set sits an Atari Video Computer System console with its two joysticks; later known as the Atari 2600.
Time magazine and Newsweek tagged the Summer of 1982 as “The Spielberg Summer” because Poltergeist (1982) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) were released a week apart from one another in June.
The theme music is known as “Carol Anne’s theme”. It was originally titled “Bless this House” and was written like a lullaby as a contrast to the horror in the film. There are lyrics which can be found on the Internet.
When writers Michael Grais and Mark Victor first met with Steven Spielberg, they were being hired to write the film that eventually became Always (1989). When Spielberg happened to mention he also had an idea for a ghost story, Grais and Victor said they’d rather write the ghost story than Always and that’s how they got this job.
Poltergeist (1982) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) were filmed within 20 minutes of each location.
The most commercially successful film of the Poltergeist trilogy.
When Carol-Ann sits in front of the TV in her parents bedroom, the time on the TV-set shows 2.37. This could very well be an homage to the hotel-room 237 in The Shining (1980).
The sign at the Holiday Inn reads, Welcome Dr. Fantasy and Friends. Dr. Fantasy is a nickname for producer Frank Marshall.
The scene in which Diane opens the bedroom door and is met with a fearsome scream was the first to be filmed.
When originally released in the UK the film was given an ‘X’ certificate, prohibiting anyone under 18 from seeing the film. This was due to a delay in the BBFC’s introduction of the new ’15’ certificate (which replaced the old ‘AA’ rating), and UIP’s wish to release the film as soon as possible. When the ’15’ certificate was introduced in August 1983 the film was re-rated.
The spirits trying to snatch back Carol Anne and the destruction of the Freeling house takes up the last 14 minutes of the film.
Shirley MacLaine was offered a starring role in the film, but backed out in order to make Terms of Endearment (1983).
The scene in which Marty hallucinates in the bathroom was the last to be filmed.
A common translation of the German word “Poltergeist” is “rumbling spirit”.
The original cast of Poltergeist (1982) included veteran actor Edward Ashley, who portrayed Dr Lesh’s older and wiser colleague, who convinced her to bring in Tangina to handle the case. The scene was cut from the film.
In the scene with the boy looking at the clown doll, You can catch a Darth Vader bust on a shelf behind him.
Footage from this movie was used in a 2008 DirecTV commercial.
According to William Finley he was originally cast as Marty but replaced before filming.
JoBeth Williams was hesitant about shooting the swimming pool scene because of the large amount of electrical equipment positioned over and around the pool. In order to comfort her, Steven Spielberg crawled in the pool with her to shoot the screen. Spielberg told her, “Now if a light falls in, we will both fry.” The strategy worked and Williams got in the pool.
During the scene where Robbie (Oliver Robins) is being strangled, the clown’s arms became extremely tight and Robbins started to choke. When he screamed out, “I can’t breathe!” Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper thought that the boy was ad-libbing and just instructed him to look at the camera. When Spielberg saw Robbins’s face turning purple, he ran over and removed the clown’s arms from Robbins’s neck.
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