Poltergeist (1982) (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

[Ruemorgue10]

Originally Posted by cherbert

So tiresome that you through another log on.

And I won't be the last, I'm certain.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by pmil

I saw it in the the theater when it came out and few people I know really thought about as a horror picture. It's much more an adventure type film. I never found anything about it scary.

I saw it when I was 11 years old...I actually jumped and turned around in my seat to turn away from the theater screen during the clown doll attack. The face shredding scene is important, because once a movie has gone that far and you're only halfway through, the moorings are pulled out and you have no idea where they're going next. For whatever reason, I was plagued with bad dreams and nighttime anxiety as a child. I imagined my Jaws toy had come alive and was swimming around my bed. If I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, I had to summon every ounce of courage I had to bolt from the bed for the light switch. In other words, Poltergeist was very much a horror film for me in 1982. Today, sure, it's a fun romp. But as an 11 year old, that film scared me blind.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Impossible

Even worse she had to listen to a wailing guitar heavy metal nightmare every time it happened...

...which was used by Quentin Tarantino in Inglourious Basterds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09nHj9Qd6k0

[Vandal Savage]

I never considered Poltergeist to not be a horror movie. It has ghosts, a haunted house, skeletons popping out of the ground, jump scares, and a guy peeling his own face off.

[pmil]

Originally Posted by happydood

Yes and that was my point.

The language you used wasn't of the type that sounded welcoming of that.

[pmil]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

I saw it when I was 11 years old...I actually jumped and turned around in my seat to turn away from the theater screen during the clown doll attack. The face shredding scene is important, because once a movie has gone that far and you're only halfway through, the moorings are pulled out and you have no idea where they're going next. For whatever reason, I was plagued with bad dreams and nighttime anxiety as a child. I imagined my Jaws toy had come alive and was swimming around my bed. If I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, I had to summon every ounce of courage I had to bolt from the bed for the light switch. In other words, Poltergeist was very much a horror film for me in 1982. Today, sure, it's a fun romp. But as an 11 year old, that film scared me blind.

I saw The Exorcist years before that and at an even younger age, so the Poltergeist was fun in comparison. Every house I grew up in in NY was also haunted at one time or another, so that was a big factor.

For me the thing that makes for a true horror movie is a certain level of seriousness and Poltergeist simply doesn't have that. It's the kind of movie that would be used as a theme for an amusement ride. It's a Steven Spielberg movie, and I don't think he has it in him to create a true horror movie. His strengths lay elsewhere.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by pmil

I saw The Exorcist years before that and at an even younger age, so the Poltergeist was fun in comparison. Every house I grew up in in NY was also haunted at one time or another, so that was a big factor.

For me the thing that makes for a true horror movie is a certain level of seriousness and Poltergeist simply doesn't have that. It's the kind of movie that would be used as a theme for an amusement ride. It's a Steven Spielberg movie, and I don't think he has it in him to create a true horror movie. His strengths lay elsewhere.

Children hiding in a pit of liquid human waste up to their necks, perhaps....

EDIT

And I also saw The Exorcist prior to Poltergeist. Slept next to my mother that night, and my sister, too. I kept staring at my sister thinking she was turning green. Scariest movie I saw as a child, though, was Salem's Lot. To this day, if you want to kill me by inducing a cardiac event, dress up like a vampire and come scratching at my windows at night. Damn vampires.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

Nope. LIFEFORCE is one of Hooper's best films. In fact, it's my fave, and even resides in my top ten films of all time. The last great old-school Britishy Hammery sci-fi/horror film.

Lifeforce only has two good points... and they both belonged to Mathilda May.

Originally Posted by pmil

I saw it in the the theater when it came out and few people I know really thought about as a horror picture. It's much more an adventure type film. I never found anything about it scary.

I've always thought of Poltergeist as a horror movie. More so than Jaws.

Originally Posted by Impossible

Even worse she had to listen to a wailing guitar heavy metal nightmare every time it happened...

That thumping cue was pretty intense.

Bath Attack by Charles Bernstein (from THE ENTITY) - YouTube

[Thomas Irwin]

Originally Posted by MJD64

Y'know, I watched a bit of Poltergeist last week prodded by the current debate and came away with one irrefutable conclusion...JoBeth Williams makes for possibly the coolest (and hottest) mom in all of 80's cinema.

Does Catherine Mary Stewart count?

[Show spoiler]She did kind of adopt the kids at the end of Night of the Comet.

[pmil]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Children hiding in a pit of liquid human waste up to their necks, perhaps....

EDIT

And I also saw The Exorcist prior to Poltergeist. Slept next to my mother that night, and my sister, too. I kept staring at my sister thinking she was turning green. Scariest movie I saw as a child, though, was Salem's Lot. To this day, if you want to kill me by inducing a cardiac event, dress up like a vampire and come scratching at my windows at night. Damn vampires.

What are you referring to regarding a pit of waste.

Salem's Lot is a movie that amazingly I missed watching back then. I bought it recently on Blu-Ray and I still haven't finished watching it. Outside of a few noisy scenes the transfer is excellent, with fantastic detail. Makes me angry thinking of all the other American TV shows that still aren't on Blu-Ray and how good they would look.

[pmil]

Originally Posted by Markgway

Lifeforce only has two good points... and they both belonged to Mathilda May.



I've always thought of Poltergeist as a horror movie. More so than Jaws.



That thumping cue was pretty intense.

Bath Attack by Charles Bernstein (from THE ENTITY) - YouTube

I see Jaws as more of a drama than anything else.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by pmil

What are you referring to regarding a pit of waste.

Schindler's List.

Salem's Lot is a movie that amazingly I missed watching back then. I bought it recently on Blu-Ray and I still haven't finished watching it. Outside of a few noisy scenes the transfer is excellent, with fantastic detail. Makes me angry thinking of all the other American TV shows that still aren't on Blu-Ray and how good they would look.

Watched it on a transistor TV because Mom and Dad were watching Football...

Scared the crap out of me. Like a branding iron. Kid with night terrors watches that...yeah, good luck going to sleep.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by Markgway

Lifeforce only has two good points... and they both belonged to Mathilda May.

Those are merely two of many good points. I'll never understand the inexplicable hate this one gets. Such an excellent genre film.

[pmil]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Schindler's List.



Watched it on a transistor TV because Mom and Dad were watching Football...

Scared the crap out of me. Like a branding iron. Kid with night terrors watches that...yeah, good luck going to sleep.

Well, Schinder's List is certainly presenting some horrors but it certainly isn't a horror movie.

When I was around 10 I had a spirit or demon that would laugh at me as I was trying to go to sleep with the most evil sounding laugh. How's that for horror?

[MJD64]

Originally Posted by Thomas Irwin

Does Catherine Mary Stewart count?

[Show spoiler]She did kind of adopt the kids at the end of Night of the Comet.

Catherine Mary Stewart ALWAYS counts; a gorgeous girl who could kick-ass at both arcade games and fighting zombies would've been my idea of heaven back then...and am I the only one who kinda misses that 80's big hair?

Some stray observations from the above posts:

Those vampire kids floating at the window are an indelibly creepy and even iconic image from Salem's Lot...but that scene of the sheet slowly falling away revealing Mrs. Glick to be a vampire is pretty damn eerie as well.

I love me some Lifeforce. This movie starts with a bonkers premise which just keeps escalating in lunacy and by the conclusion is a vampire/zombie apocalyptic free-for-all; I'd like to see a big-budget film nowadays that takes it to the limit and is fearless enough to come across as downright certifiable. God bless Tobe Hooper for taking tawdry B-movie material and just going for broke and shooting the works on an A-budget...they don't have the balls to make 'em like that anymore!

Are we really arguing whether Poltergeist is a horror film?

I really do need, after decades of hearing about it, to finally watch The Entity.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by MJD64

Catherine Mary Stewart ALWAYS counts; a gorgeous girl who could kick-ass at both arcade games and fighting zombies would've been my idea of heaven back then...and am I the only one who kinda misses that 80's big hair?

Some stray observations from the above posts:

Those vampire kids floating at the window are an indelibly creepy and even iconic image from Salem's Lot...but that scene of the sheet slowly falling away revealing Mrs. Glick to be a vampire is pretty damn eerie as well.

I love me some Lifeforce. This movie starts with a bonkers premise which just keeps escalating in lunacy and by the conclusion is a vampire/zombie apocalyptic free-for-all; I'd like to see a big-budget film nowadays that takes it to the limit and is fearless enough to come across as downright certifiable. God bless Tobe Hooper for taking tawdry B-movie material and just going for broke and shooting the works on an A-budget...they don't have the balls to make 'em like that anymore!

Are we really arguing whether Poltergeist is a horror film?

I really do need, after decades of hearing about it, to finally watch The Entity.

Haven't seen The Entity since the mid-90's. It's solid, not your typical ghost story in any way. It's allegedly based on a true story of a woman who claimed she was being raped repeatedly by a spirit.

[DNSK]

Not only is Poltergeist my favorite horror movie of all time but I rank it as one of the scariest of all time for the simple fact how that movie had an effect on so many people scaring them of so much in their own house. I was a kid when it came out but it made people I knew scared of their closets, going to bed at night, fuzzy tv screens and their toys especially if it could stare at you like that clown doll. I even had a girlfriend when I was older that had to cover her tv every night before bed because she was scared of the tv from watching Poltergeist as a child. It’s these kinds of effects it had on people that make it such a great horror film.

[Jay Mammoth]

Watching this now with my daughter

[RedHarvest]

I love Poltergeist if, for no other reason, just the abundance of creative energy flowing through it, and other films Spielberg produced in that era, namely Goonies and Gremlins. The man was a force in those days, and had enough power and creative energy to realize the vision of his films simply as a producer and writer. He did not need to direct them to get his vision across. Yes, he utilized other directors (Dante, Hooper, Donner) to help realize his vision, but it was HIS vision, and even though I'm sure his chosen directors extended some creative choices here and there, these are Spielberg films (Money Pit, too), with Spielberg working at his highest potential, in the decade he was born to make films in. I'm not even the biggest Spielberg fan by any means, but there is no denying his power in the 80s, and his vision.

[captainjoe]

Well said, he really was the driving force behind all those films you mention. Even though there was someone else at the helm you can feel a connection between them all and that's Steven's creativity