Poltergeist is a 1982 American horror film, directed by Tobe Hooper and co-written and
produced by Steven
Spielberg. It is the first and most successful film of the Poltergeist film trilogy. Set
in a California suburb, the plot focuses on a family whose home is invaded by
malevolent ghosts that abduct the family's
youngest daughter.
The film was ranked as #80 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments and the Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 20th scariest film ever made.The film also appeared at #84 on American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding movies. Poltergeist was also nominated for three Academy Awards.
The Poltergeist
franchise is believed by some to be cursed due to
the premature deaths of several people associated with the film, a notion that
was the focus of an E! True
Hollywood Story.
this is one of my Top scariest film of all time & still creeps me out today watching it.
Plot
Steven and Diane
Freeling live a quiet life in a California planned community called Cuesta Verde, where
Steven is a successful realtor and Diane is a housewife who cares for their
children Dana, Robbie, and Carol Anne. Carol Anne awakens one night and begins
conversing with the family's television set, which has started transmitting static following a sign-off. The following night, while
the Freelings are sleeping, Carol Anne becomes fixated on the television set as
it transmits static again. Suddenly, an apparition emerges from the television
screen and vanishes into the wall, creating a violent earthquake within the
house in the process, to which Carol Anne announces "They're here."
Bizarre events begin to
occur the following day, such as glasses and utensils that spontaneously break
or bend and furniture that moves of its own accord. The phenomena seem benign at
first, but quickly begin to intensify. That night, a gnarled backyard tree
becomes animated and grabs Robbie through the bedroom window. While Diane and
Steven rescue Robbie, Carol Anne is sucked through a portal in her
closet. The Freelings realize she has been taken when they hear her voice
emanating from a television set.
A group of parapsychologists from UC Irvine—Dr. Lesh, Ryan, and
Marty—come to the Freeling house to investigate and determine that the Freelings
are experiencing a poltergeist
intrusion. They discover that the disturbances involve more than just one ghost.
Steven also finds out in an exchange with his boss, Lewis Teague, that Cuesta
Verde is built where a cemetery was once located.
After Dana and Robbie
are sent away for their safety, Dr. Lesh and Ryan call in Tangina Barrons, a
spiritual medium. Tangina states
that the spirits inhabiting the house are lingering in a different "sphere of
consciousness" and are not at rest. Attracted to Carol Anne's life force,
these spirits are distracted from the real "light" that has come for them. Tangina then adds that
among these ghosts, there is also a demon
known as the "Beast", who has Carol Anne under restraint in an effort to
manipulate the other spirits.
Creative credit
A clause in his contract
with Universal
Studios prevented Spielberg from directing any other film while preparing E.T.
the Extra-Terrestrial.Time and Newsweek tagged the summer of 1982 "The Spielberg
Summer" because E.T. and Poltergeist were released a week apart in
June. As such a marketable name, some began to question Spielberg's role during
production. Suggestions that Spielberg had greater directorial influence than
the credits suggest were aided by comments made by the writer/producer:
The Directors Guild of America "opened an investigation into the question of whether or not Hooper's official credit was being denigrated by statements Spielberg has made, apparently claiming authorship." Co-producer Frank Marshall told the Los Angeles Times that "the creative force of the movie was Steven. Tobe was the director and was on the set every day. But Steven did the design for every storyboard and he was on the set every day except for three days when he was in Hawaii with Lucas." However, Hooper claimed that he "did fully half of the storyboards.""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 agreement, and that become the process of collaboration."
The Hollywood Reporter printed an
open letter from Spielberg to Hooper in the week of the film's release.
Regrettably, some of the press has misunderstood the rather unique, creative relationship which 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.
Several members of the
Poltergeist cast and crew have over the years consistently alleged that
Spielberg was the 'de facto director' of the picture, while other actors have
claimed Hooper directed the film. In a 2007 interview with Ain't It Cool News, Rubinstein
discussed her recollections of the shooting process. She said that "Steven
directed all six days" that she was on set: "Tobe set up the shots and Steven
made the adjustments." She also alleged that Hooper "allowed some unacceptable
chemical agents into his work," and at her interview felt that time "Tobe was
only partially there."[
Special effects
In 2002, on an episode of VH1's I Love the '80s, JoBeth Williams
revealed that the production used real human skeletons when filming the swimming pool
scene. Many of the people on the set were alarmed by this and led others to
believe the "curse" on the
film series was because of this use. Craig Reardon, a special effects artist who
worked on the film, commented at the time that it was cheaper to purchase real
skeletons than plastic ones, as the plastic ones involved labor in making them.
Williams was not afraid of the prop skeletons, but she was nervous working in
water around so many electrically powered lights. Producer Spielberg comforted
her by being in the water during her scenes, claiming that if a light fell into
the pool, they would both be killed. Poltergeist was awarded the BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual
Effects and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual
Effects losing that award to Spielberg's other summer hit, E.T.
The Extra Terrestrial
Soundtrack
The music for Poltergeist was written by veteran composer Jerry Goldsmith. He
wrote several themes for the score including the lullaby "Carol Anne's Theme" to
represent blissful suburban life and the young female protagonist, an elegant
semi-religious melody for dealings of the souls caught between worlds, and
several dissonant, atonal blasts during moments of terror. The score went on
to garner Goldsmith an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score,
though he lost to fellow composer John Williams for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Reception
Poltergeist was
a box office success worldwide. The film grossed $76,606,280 in the United
States, making it the highest-grossing horror film of 1982 and 8th overall for the year.
Poltergeist was
well received by critics and is considered by many as one of the best films of
1982. Douglas Brode
compares the "family values" in Poltergeist to the Bush/Quayle 1992 reelection
campaign. Andrew
Sarris, in The Village
Voice, wrote that when Carol Anne is lost the parents and the two older
children "come together in blood-kin empathy to form a larger-than-life family
that will reach down to the gates of hell to save its loved ones." In the L.A. Herald
Examiner, Peter Rainer wrote:
Buried within the plot of Poltergeist is a basic, splendid fairy tale scheme: the story of a little girl who puts her parents through the most outrageous tribulation to prove their love for her. Underlying most fairy tales is a common theme: the comforts of family. Virtually all fairy tales begin with a disrupting of the family order, and their conclusion is usually a return to order.
The film received three
Academy Award
nominations: Best Original Score, Best Sound Effects
Editing, and Best Visual Effects.
Nearly 30 years after
its release, the film is regarded by many critics as a classic of the horror
genre and maintains an
87% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Poltergeist
was selected by The New York
Times as one of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made. The film also
received recognition from the American Film Institute. The film
ranked number 84 on AFI's 100 Years…100 Thrills
list and the tag line
"They're here" was named the 69th greatest movie quote on AFI's 100 Years…100 Movie
Quotes
Home video release
In 1997, MGM released Poltergeist on DVD
in a snap case, and the only special feature was a trailer. In 1998, Poltergeist
was re-released on DVD with the same cover and disc as the 1997 release, but in
a keep case and with an eight page booklet. In 1999, it was released on DVD
again by Warner Home
Video in a snap case with the same disc, but a different cover. Warner Home
Video tentatively scheduled releases for the 25th anniversary edition of the
film on standard DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray[ in Spain and the
US on October 9, 2007. The re-release claimed to have digitally remastered
picture and sound, and a two-part documentary: "They Are Here: The Real World of
Poltergeists", which makes extensive use of clips from the film. The remastered
DVD of the film was released as scheduled but both high-definition releases were
eventually canceled. Warner rescheduled the high definition version of the film
and eventually released it only on the Blu-ray disc format on October 14,
2008.
The Blu-ray disc
release still had the "25th Anniversary Edition" banner even though this
particular release was a full year behind the actual anniversary of the film.
The Blu-ray disc release was packaged in collectible, non-standard Blu-ray disc
packaging Warner Home Video calls "digibook" which is supposed to resemble a
coffee table book and contains pictures from the film on its pages.
A six disc prototype,
from the abandoned 20th Anniversary Special Edition, surfaced on eBay a few years ago and still crops up from time to time.
Special features included The First Real Ghost Story and The Making of
Poltergeist featurettes, screenplay, several photo galleries and Fangoria interviews, and the documentaries E! True
Hollywood Story, Hollywood Ghost Stories and Terror in The
Aisles. The 6th disc was a copy of the original motion picture soundtrack by
Jerry Goldsmith.
The film was reissued on sues and sequels
October 29, 1982 to take advantage of the Halloween
weekend. It was 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. This event also included the documentary "They Are Here: The Real World
of Poltergeists," which was created for the new DVD.
The film spawned two
sequels, Poltergeist II: The Other
Side and Poltergeist III.
The first retained the family but introduced a new motive for the Beast's
behavior, tying him to an evil cult leader named Henry Kane, who led his
religious sect to their doom in the 1820s. As the Beast, Kane went to
extraordinary lengths to keep his "flock" under his control, even in death. The
original motive of the cemetery's souls disturbed by the housing development was
thereby altered; the cemetery was now explained to be built above a cave where
Kane and his flock met their ends.
In 2008, MGM announced
that Vadim Perelman
would helm a remake, to be written by Juliet Snowden and Stiles White. The
remake was put on hold in 2010, because of MGM's financial problems. However, on
February 18, 2011, MGM announced they still had plans for the remake
Novelization
A novelization was
written by James Kahn, adapted
from the film's original screenplay. The copyright is 1982 by Amblin'
Enterprises, Inc. It was printed in the United States through Warner Books, with
the first printing in May 1982.The novel expands
upon many scenes that took place in the film, such as an extended version of the
kitchen scene in which Marty watches the steak crawl across a countertop. In the
book, Marty is frozen in place and is skeletonized by the maggots that crawl out
of the steak . There are also additional elements not in the film, such as
Robbie's mysterious discovery of the clown doll in the yard during his birthday
party, and a benevolent spirit, "The Waiting Woman", who protects Carol Anne in
the spirit world.
Poltergeist II: The Other Side is a 1986 horror film. A sequel to Poltergeist, it features the return of
the original family, who are once again confronted by a spirit trying to harm
their daughter, Carol Anne. It received mixed reviews from critics (41% on Rotten Tomatoes) and
did not gross as much at the box office as its predecessor, although it was
still financially successful. It ended up making over $40 million against a $19
million (estimated) production budget and was nominated for the Academy Award for Visual
Effects. The film was also nominated for a Razzie Award for Zelda Rubinstein as
Worst Supporting Actress. It was followed in 1988 by Poltergeist III.
Plot
One year after the
events of Poltergeist, Cuesta Verde, the Freelings' neighborhood from the
first film, is being evacuated and turned into an archeological paranormal dig,
centered around the spot where the Freelings' home stood before it imploded. The
excavation leads to the discovery of an underground cave by a ground crew. Its
existence is revealed to psychic Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein), who tells a friend of hers,
Taylor (Will Sampson), an
American Indian shaman. After
investigating the cave for himself, Taylor realizes that Kane, a demon disguised
as a preacher, has located Carol Anne and goes to defend her.
The Freeling family,
Steven (Craig T.
Nelson), Diane (JoBeth Williams), Robbie (Oliver Robins), and Carol
Anne (Heather
O'Rourke), has relocated to Phoenix, Arizona and now live in a house with
Diane's mother, Jessica "Grandma Jess" Wilson (Geraldine Fitzgerald). Having lost his
real estate license, Steve is reduced to selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door
while filing repeated insurance claims to cover the missing home. Grandma Jess
is highly clairvoyant, and says that Diane and Carol Anne are clairvoyant as
well. Grandma Jess later dies from natural causes, but not before telling Diane
one last time that she'll always "be there" if she needs her.
One night, Steven lets
his guard down and gets drunk, swallowing a Mezcal worm that is possessed by Kane, who
temporarily possesses him. He attacks and tries to rape Diane, who cries out
that she loves him. Steven then vomits up the worm possessed by Kane, which
grows into a huge, tentacled monstrosity. In this form Kane attacks Steven from
the ceiling, but Steven uses the smoke spirit to send him away. The Beast then
decides on another assault, and this time, the family decides to confront the
Beast on his own turf, the Other Side.
Production
Dana, the eldest
daughter, was supposed to be written as being away at college, however that
scene never made it into the final theatrical version. In real life the actress
who played Dana, Dominique Dunne, was murdered by her boyfriend
shortly after the first film came out.
This film was at one
point intended to be filmed in 3-D. (The 3-D revival of the early eighties came to a
close in early 1984.) Several scenes, such as the appearance of the Beast and
the flying chainsaw were filmed to take advantage of the process. Several scenes
that appeared in press stills or promotional posters were cut from the finished
film including Tangina confronting Kane when he tries to enter the house again
after Diane finds out about his past and also Steve and Diane looking at a
flying toaster during a breakfast scene.
Because Julian Beck, who played Kane,
died during filming, the filmmakers enlisted the help of H R Giger, who created the
"Beast" version of Kane to replace Beck's remaining scenes. Giger created
several designs but only two appeared, receiving limited screen time in the
final cut of the film. Giger's designs are displayed on his official website.
Many of Kane's lines were looped in post-production by noted voice actor Corey Burton.
This film and its
successor were rated PG-13 by the MPAA. The original was rated PG, as there was
no PG-13 rating at the time (the rating was created in 1984, largely in response
to films such as the first Poltergeist, Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple
of Doom.
Music
Composer Jerry Goldsmith, who had written the Academy Award nominated soundtrack to the first Poltergeist film, returned to compose and conduct a score to Poltergeist II: The Other Side. Though "Carol Anne's Theme" returns from the first film's soundtrack, the score for Poltergeist II: The Other Side consisted of mostly new material blending traditional orchestral elements with new electronic sounds. The soundtrack has been released three times; through Varèse Sarabande in 1986, Intrada Records in 1993, and a deluxe edition by Varèse Sarabande in 2003
Box office
Although it was financially successful, Poltergeist II: The Other Side
proved to be a box office disappointment when compared to its predecessor.
Nevertheless, the film still grossed a respectable $40,996,665 at the United States
box office
Novelization
The novelization was Poltergeist II: The Other Side, by James Kahn. On the cover it also
has Carol Anne's catch phrase "They're back" and under the title it says "The
Freeling family's struggle with spirits begins again..." The copyright is 1986
by Ballantine Books, New York. It was based on the motion picture written by
Michael Grais and Mark Victor. The characters from the first film are all in the
book except for Dana Freeling. However, the character Dana is mentioned and her
absence is explained as having moved as far East as she could after what had
happened in Cuesta Verde and is attending college. The book also includes new
characters as well and is no longer in print
Poltergeist
III (otherwise known as Poltergeist 3 or Poltergeist 3: We're
Back) is a 1988 American horror film. It is the third and final film of the
Poltergeist film series.
Writers Michael Grais
and Mark Victor, who wrote
the screenplay for the first two films, did not return for this second sequel;
it was co-written, executive produced and directed by Gary
Sherman, and was released on June 10, 1988 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. The film was
panned by critics, and was a box office disappointment.
Heather O'Rourke
and Zelda
Rubinstein were the only original cast members to return. O'Rourke died four
months before the film was released and before post-production could be
completed. It was dedicated to her memory
Now this Third instalment of poltergeist has to be seriously the most creepiest film ever with the mirrors.
Plot
The Freeling family
has sent Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) to live with Diane's
sister Pat (Nancy Allen) and her husband Bruce
Gardner (Tom Skerritt).
Carol Anne has been told she is in Chicago temporarily to attend a unique school
for gifted children with emotional problems, though Pat thinks it is because
Steven and Diane just wanted Carol Anne out of their house. Pat and Bruce are
unaware of the events of the first two films, just noting that Steven was
involved in a bad land deal. Along with Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle), Bruce's daughter from a
previous marriage, they live in the luxury skyscraper (Chicago's 100-story John Hancock
Center) of which Bruce is the manager.
Carol Anne has been
made by her teacher/psychiatrist, Dr. Seaton (Richard Fire), to discuss her
experiences from the first and second films. Seaton believes her to be delusional;
however, the constant discussion has enabled Rev. Henry Kane (Nathan Davis)
to locate Carol Anne and bring him back from the limbo he was sent into at the
end of the second film. Not believing in ghosts, Dr. Seaton has come to the
conclusion that Carol Anne is a manipulative child with the ability to create mass hysteria and to
perform mass hypnosis, making people
believe they were attacked by ghosts. Also during this period, Tangina Barrons
(Zelda Rubinstein)
realizes that Kane has found Carol Anne and travels cross-country to protect
her.
Production
Director Gary Sherman
thought the idea of the city setting was just as scary as isolated suburbia. His
feeling was that there are people on the other side of the wall, and no one
cares that you are in trouble.
Unlike the previous
films, nearly all of the special effects were live and were performed on stage.
The only visual effect added in post-production was the lightning casting over
the John Hancock
Center in the very final shot of the picture. Sherman himself designed the
special visual effects.
Corey Burton provided the
voice work for Kane, although he was uncredited for this effort.
Reception
The film received extremely negative reviews from critics, resulting in a 15%
rating on RottenTomatoes.com. Zelda Rubinstein's performance earned rather mixed
reviews, causing to grant both nominations for a Saturn Award and a Razzie
Award (which she also received previously for the first sequel) at the same time.
However, despite the poor reviews for the film overall, Heather O'Rourke's
performance earned generally favorable reviews from both critics and viewers
Box office
While Poltergeist III made back its $9.5 million budget, it wound up
being the lowest grossing and least attended film in the Poltergeist
trilogy. The film opened at #5, making $4,344,308 on its opening weekend,
averaging about $2,953 from 1,471 theaters. The bottom fell out
from then on, as the film then fell out of the top 10 in only its second
weekend, dropping 52 percent to only $2,093,783 (1,467 theaters, $1,427 average)
ranking at #11, and bringing the 10-day cume to $8,165,286. Poltergeist
III ended up with a domestic box office total of $14,114,488. The film sold
3.434 million tickets at 1988's ticket price of $4.11, compared with 25.410
million tickets for the first film, and 11.050 million tickets for the second
film
Sadly Cast member of the film died
Heather O'Rourke's death and a revised ending
At the time
Poltergeist III began shooting in Spring 1987, Heather O'Rourke
had been ill for several months with what was misdiagnosed as Crohn's disease, and
subsequently underwent medical treatment during parts of the filming. Principal
photography for the movie began on Monday April 13, 1987 and lasted for 11
weeks, ending on Friday June 19, 1987, with June 10, 1988 as the film's
scheduled release date. After O'Rourke completed filming, she returned home to
California with her illness appearing to be in remission. However, in late
January 1988, O'Rourke suddenly became ill again, her condition rapidly
deteriorated, and she died during Poltergeist III's post-production
period on Monday February 1, 1988, barely one month after her twelfth
birthday.
Shortly before
O'Rourke's death, the studio had requested that the ending of the film be
reshot. However, with her death, this made filming a new
ending very difficult, given how central her character was to the film. Rather
than cancel the project with so much of the film already completed, the ending
was written in a way that a body double could be used in O'Rourke's place. This
is why Carol Anne's face is never seen when she comes back from the Other Side
during the final scene of the film. The new ending was filmed in March 1988.
O'Rourke's death
complicated MGM's marketing for Poltergeist III, out of fear of appearing
to be exploiting her death Tom Skerritt and Nancy Allen
were discouraged from giving interviews about the film to avoid questions about
O'Rourke's death
