Poltergeist Review - Off The Shelf Reviews
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- Join Gary and Iain for a review and discussion of, Poltergeist (1982) by Director, Tobe Hooper. Starring, JoBeth Williams, Heather O'Rourke and Craig T. Nelson.
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I love the ending scene, where Steven rolls the TV outside the Motel
Yeah, me too.
The comedic timing on that was pretty great.
The perfect ending for a great movie
Its a very very good movie. Seen it in its entirity only a week ago.... but had bad childhood Memories, looking at it through a half closed door.....
This was my patreon request! These guys are gentlemen for doing this full review for only a few dollars donation! I'm saving this so I can watch it when I'm old! Thanks OTS reviews
During the 1970s-1980s, most local TV channels would play the National Anthem moments before they concluded their broadcasting day. As a child, who was usually awake because of constant illnesses, I would get an eerie feeling that society has been suspended because everyone was asleep and I was truly alone.
Back in the day long before there was 24 hr television, stations would sign off the air with the National Anthem. That's the reason why. Wasn't any propaganda to speak of.
And isn't that propaganda? LOL
@MrHappyBollox Precisely. Give me something to love, rather than saying oh you are living like slob, but you are part of something great. No tnx, show me the greatness. And just so that we're clear I respect The National Anthem, but it is propaganda.
@@Commentator541 no, it isn't. they need to fill the airtime with something and you can play the national anthem and not pay anything for the rights
We used to have "God Save the Queen" here in the UK, before everything went to 24 hours like in the US. Now when all normal programming finishes it switches to the news. On BBC it switches to News 24.
Same in Spain.
Others have pointed it out, but the anthem was a fixture on TV. It meant you were up way too late, because TV was not 24 hours. Channels would play the anthem (which was free for them to play) and then you get static. At the time, everyone would have understood what that meant.
Saw this on HBO as a kid. Was pretty scary :)
My favorite part is where JoBeth Williams says She moved through my soul! Touching and sad
"You son-of-a-bitch u moved the cematary but u left the bodies didn't ya?!" i would have sued that guy
That's such a unintentional comedy moment when Dana returning at the end is totally freaking out and Robbie just says to his Dad "drive away, Daddy drive away". I'm with Robbie everytime
This is one of the best movies of all time.
The acting is just SO AMAZING. Particularly the dad and mom. I really believed that they were just normal people who were trying to do the best they could.
The scene where Carol Ann's spirit runs through the mom...
And the mom is so happy because she can smell her, and she knows that her baby is alive someplace... I lose my shit EVERY TIME.
And - every time - my daughter Bela makes fun of me for crying... like the fucking troll that she is.
If that kid every gets sucked into a creepy vortex... she's on her own.
I was actually surprised to see Craig T Nelson get teary eyed as Robby gets into the cab. Who would've thought Coach had that kind of range?
The scene where the one investigator "sees" himself pulling his face apart really shocked me at the time.
A real great review :D Subbed - My take on why the hauntings had started after they'd already spent five years in the home was because when the house was built on top of the graves, the Freeling family weren't living there, they came in after the desecration was complete. But they were there and present when the diggers came in to start constructing the pool.
Tobe Hooper is in the light now. Rest in peace, and thank you for not haunting us
And I'm thinking that the 5 year thing is because before, Carol Ann wasn't old enough to be up by herself and able to wander the house at night. She was either an infant or toddler sleeping in a crib. When she finally is old enough to wander the house alone and unsupervised is when the 'other side' is able to reach out to her and make a connection in this world, setting off the chain of events.
21:00 the face ripping scene still horrifies me till this day with it's disgusting, awesomeness. No bullshit CGI here, just good old practical effect's that have aged extremely well. Absolutely brilliant movie.
The lambchop in his mouth is the worst Part
So, as far as the Anthem...back in the 80's there was no 24hr TV cycle. At the end of the TV day which was like at 2am each station would have their own sign off and the Anthem was very common. I always thought it was symbolism of the American dream, the family, the house, etc and how it literally blows up by the Poltergeist as a result of the American Dream.
I often forget there is an entire adult generation that grew up in the 24hr society .
I often forget there is an entire adult generation that grew up in the 24hr society .
I saw Poltergeist when I was 10 years old and it freaked me out completely. I couldn't sleep for weeks, haunted by the events in the film. It's an absolute masterpiece. Stephen King's IT is commonly regarded as the main reason people hate clowns but I think Poltergeist planted the seed.
This movie is probably why IT was written.
@@mrg3241 IT = Poltergeist + Freddy Kruger - story logic
One of the best films ever made in my opinion. Awesome review guys, I can't wait for the next one!
Poltergeist, It, and The thing all scarred me as a child but now they are my favorites.
Craig T Nelson & Jo Beth Williams did an amazing job playing distraught parents who just wanted their daughter back. Stephen’s (Nelson) reaction to his Boss the real estate guy at the end is a man who’s absolutely gone mad...”you son of a bitch! You only removed the head stones, you left the bodies! You ONLY MOVED THE HEADSTONES!”
The most thrilling, exciting, and entertaining haunted house films ever. 10/10
Please do The Omen (1976) next
Kristen Annear yes the entire trilogy
And three years later, they did.
No, those old clickers could do that. We lived in an apartment and there was remote control interference between neighbors.
Amazing review guys! I love Poltergeist. Seen it hundreds of times along with the sequels, but I'm not really in a hurry to watch the remake anytime soon. How about reviewing the 1981 made for TV film, "Dark Night of the Scarecrow" starring Larry Drake. Many credit it as the film that started the "killer scarecrow" genre, and I heard that it's so scary that it even scared film legend Vincent Price.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow is terrific and I remember seeing it when it first premiered on tv...see it.
You guys nailed it. So many great things about this movie, but the cast is stellar. They make you believe in and love this family. 2 lovable weed smoking sort of hippies, kinda turned yuppie, but didn't lose their souls. Nelson and Williams' performances are perfect. When Zelda comes into the picture stressing the bond between them all, you believe it. This house has many hearts. I saw it at the theater when I was 10. Didn't sleep all night. Scared the holy living piss out of me. Loved it! I don't think Hooper or Spielberg ever did anything better.😄
Been sick lately and binging your videos for days great stuff
R.I.P. Tobe Hooper
The clown which became possessed.... that scared the sxxt out of me when I was a child. I was just 8 years old when I first saw this, and that was in 1982, when the film was first released. Tobe Hooper was another legend.
That clown though.....urghh....my god.... and the storm!! Another thing to note is.... look at the clown's hand, then look at the poster for "Alien".The part where the clown hand literally wraps itself around Robbie.... eerie similarities, and the "laugh" which comes from the clown, deliberately taunting the entire family when the psychic investigators first go into the children's bedroom!!😱
Remote controls on good Sony TVs at that time were very powerful. Their range was about 30 feet. Maybe more.
That's one cool Big trouble in little China top! Ty for the vid
I didn't know about the weird cut in this film. I had a similar experience with Star Trek II, where there were cuts mid sentence a couple of times.
Poltergeist had everything modern horror films don't, such as a slow build to the supernatural events. The remake felt like it wanted to be cram The Conjuring into the Poltergeist mold, and it didn't work. At all.
Had no idea that the older sister was that was murdered was Griffin Dunne's sister. He was the backpack buddy of David in American Werewolf in London
Back in the early 1980's and prior to that time, America only had 3 CORE television channels that would sign-off late at night with the national anthem. After the anthem, all you got was static for a few hours.
People say this was Speilberg directed but after watching Lifeforce you can very easily see the visual work and directing being Hooper and family and characters being Speilberg. The ensemble feel is verh Speilberg but i can see the Hooper influence after watching Lifeforce.
I went to college on an Indian burial ground. Xhundreds of years after moving the cemetery down the hill, they found more bodies in the foundation when doing asbestos remediation.
One time I got dizzy in that building, but I can't say there were ghosts or anything. Maybe it was the radon.
that one line "they're here" freaked me out as a kid, i was fine with everything else in it lol
i remember watching it as a kid on laser disc
FYI... Long ago at the end of every broadcast day american tv would end with the anthem... thats the context for it being in the film.
I just ignore the sequels. This one stands alone and head and shoulders above most ALL movies. Not a bad thing to say about this movie. What got me the most were the family dynamics. As Iain says, they are very relatable and nice people and you're almost immediately heavily invested in them and you care about them and what happens. My fav little bit from an entire list of favorite bits is where Tangina is warning the family that someTHING is keeping Carol Ann from answering and she asks which parent the girl is most scared of. Mom and Dad have a few lines where they stop to argue about who is nicer. But the father wins and Tangina insists "Make her answer!" Which, if you don't have children, is a very strange line, but totally again reasonable with children. The music is both wistful, beautiful and a little 'something ain't right'. Great movie. Great.
16:32 now that you say it, that always baffled me since a poltergeist is always associated to a house or a building, so this should be the other way around as they said it in the movie (and frankly also shown it, since it is about the place and the house that later gets sucked in the other dimension) and poltern is literally associtated to a noise that happens exclusively indoors, something that falls on or rolls over the floor, stuff like that, poltern doesn't accure outside or has something to do with a person...and yes, geist is, pretty obvious, just ghost...
Also awesome movie, I never thought it to be that scary overall because it was way too interesting and curiosity kills fear to an extend but makes it an equally enjoyable experience.
Oh yeah! I forgot that they remade this movie! 🤣🤣
You guys going to review it?? 😝🤣
Great video as always, guys! 👏👏
Scott
🤓🤓
The Poltergeist series has long been the subject of a legend that holds that there is a "curse" associated with it, largely because of four cast member deaths that occurred between 1982 and 1988. Of these four deaths, however, only one could be called "unnatural" in any way - the 1982 death of 22-year-old Dominique Dunne (Dana Freeling in the first movie). Dunne was murdered by her ex-boyfriend when he strangled her after she rebuffed his attempt to reconcile. Of the other three deaths, all were the results of long-term, chronic illnesses: Julian Beck (Kane in Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)) died in 1985 after a long battle with stomach cancer; Will Sampson (Taylor in Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)) died of complications from a heart-lung transplant; and Heather O'Rourke (Carol Anne in all three movies) died in 1988 at age 12 from cardiac arrest caused by septic shock from a bowel obstruction caused by intestinal stenosis after being misdiagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 1987. Of the other main cast members in the first three movies (for example, JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Tom Skerritt, Nancy Allen, etc.) most are still alive as of 2020.
Spielberg hired Tobe Hooper after being impressed with his work on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
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).
Despite being a horror film, there are no murders or fatalities depicted in the film.
This movie scared the shit out of me as a kid especially the tree scene & the meat moving on its own.
The Jerry Goldsmith score is very dominant in the sound mix and it really helps the film. Compare this with the John Williams score (at certain times) in 'E.T.', where the music is mixed down in the dub for a film without that much of a complex sound design to make that understandable. I always respected the way this film built up the characters and environment through details carefully placed and how natural it felt. The photography and lighting are great too and help to avoid the usual studio set look and feel.
Numinous20111 The late Jerry Goldsmith was a master! Also did a AmZing job the same year scoring First Blood
This was one of, if not the first horror film I ever watched I was like 10, and I discovered that feeling of being so scared, and hating everything I saw happening (I closed my eyes most of the time)but also wanting more, I hated horror as a kid but loved the feeling, now I'm in love with it.
Wow! I never noticed the Alien poster before! I usually notice things but I missed that one.
JoBeth was so hot.
I saw poltergeist alone on cable when i was like 7 or 8 yrs old- i'll never forget how gnarly that scene was when that guy peeled his face off! In my opinion, a very underrated brutal scene in the history of horror-
There's a Original Twilight Zone episode that Poltergeist borrowed heavily from, where the Daughter Falls into another Dimension in the Wall and they call a theoretical Physicist to help Find her, Poltergeist is Awesome Haunting Energy
This film terrified me as a kid, i think what did it, was the bit when the guy from the ghost investigation crew goes into the bathroom and starts pulling all the flesh from his face, that fuckin freaked me out!
I think Hooper directed this film. I've been back and forth about who directed the film but Spielberg would never allow that edit that you guys talk about but Hooper would. There is a similar edit in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, a film Hooper directed.
Having seen this when it came out and knowing nothing about the movie or what happens in it, when those skeletons pop out of the swimming pool I just about popped my heart out of my chest. Wasn't expecting that.
Great review, and may those two young actresses rest in peace. A little trivia for you: the black paranormal investigator is played by Richard Lawson who played a vampire in the blaxploitation horror film Scream Blacula Scream. He's also the stepdad of the singer Beyoncé LOL.
lone wolf He's also the father of actress Bianca Lawson.
joel1975 I didn't know about that! I've seen her before.
The most recent Poltergeist movie, in my opinion is not a remake, it is about another family. I liked the teenager in it. She is selfish, but she is very brave and did not abandoned her family.
The best thing about this movie was the music and the sound effects.
All these years later and they STILL haven't fixed that broken edit (after the remote control scenes)
did you know the hands that are pulling the flesh off of the guy are speilburgs hands
This was the only movie that legitmately scared me. We moved behind a cemetery when I was 5. I could see tombstones from my bed. My brother had me watch this movie the following & told us that our home was built on graves . It scared the shit out of me.
Love the Lo Pan shirt.
The trailer of this film terrified me as a child the trailer alone lol
But apart from that I loved this movie as a kid and still do to this day.
Good review. I've always loved Poltergeist, it's absolutely one of my top ten films of all time. I too thought the Poltergeist remake was an absolute disgrace. It felt more like I was watching an Insidious or The Conjuring type film. Absolutely abysmal.
You should review some other films like Return of the Living Dead or some of the lesser known 80s slashers like The Prowler, My Bloody Valentine, Sleepaway Camp, House on Sorority Row, The Funhouse, Pieces, etc. Just a thought.
I thought that the ghosts woke up because he dug a pool that desecrated the ground. The houses that were built (you can see this in the clip you showed) are all on slabs.
But I never watched the sequels.
They used to play the national anthem when ever the broadcast went out at night
Yup. The younger generation that has had t.v. shows available 24/7 hasn't had that experience of simply having nothing available on the television after the late night show.
Yes this happened through maybe 1984/85, at least in NY (Long Island) that I can remember, broadcast TV. It was usually either at 3 or 4 AM and went essentially “dark” till the 6 am news would come on. Different time back then
Just my 2 cents: as an American kid of the 80s, I can tell you that it was quite common for the national anthem to play when a TV channel was signing off for the day, early in the AM.
People these days don't even know that there was a time when TV signed off at all...I've seen more than one commentator claim that the TV turning to static was the first sign of the ghosts coming, when it was just a sign that it was 2:00 AM.
They started with the American national anthem because, at one time, TV channels closed down at a certain time and the national anthem was often played. Also happened over here. I don't think all the channels did it but the BBC did. My point is it wasn't Spielberg flag-waving Michael Bay style, it was chosen because Americans were familiar with this nightly event that the anthem marks the sound of.
And some networks were still signing off with The Star Spangled Banner in 1982 when this came out.
Poltergeist is very good, but The Entity (1982) is really scarry :O
That one is so scary. I saw it as a kid and it felt sordid and sleazy. That made it way scarier.
Excellent review. Personally, the best cinematic reimagining of Poltergeist, is the first Insidious flick.
you forgot the awesome Life Force and brilliant Eaten Alive 😊
After all these years and multiple viewings, I just realized daughter Dana has a bowl of ice cream and a pickle...😮
Can you review American History X someday please????!
I absolutely love Poltergeist and part 2 and I love the effects in the second one with Steven throwing that spere at the Kane creature even though I've seen it loads of times I can still pop it on any time
I'd put Goldsmiths Poltergeist score just a bit above John Williams E.T. score.
Can you review the remake?
I agree with you guys this movie is a classic, and has a lot of good stuff in it.
Great casting and acting, especially the family, cool effects, decent story,
I like the most it's first half, unsettling opening which foreshadows horrific future events, and the comedic everyday life sequence which comes afterwards (which reminds me of Jaws), and helps to get invested in the characters.
In the second half it is too over the top for me, I wish it was less adventurous and spilbergesque, and more intense and cameral.
The wide range of various threats like evil trees, tornado, ghosts, beast, tornado, clown, orange vagina tunnel, corpses, etc.
It's too much, I find it overpowering.
It doesn't bring much to the story, but it's rather a show off for creativity and special effects, which are great to this day, for sure, but you know what I mean.
It worked better for me when I was young, now I find it a bit tiring.
Anyway, Poltergeist is a very good family horror movie, and it earned its place in a cinema history.
Cheers guys.
A fun moving movie that is enjoyed by my husband and I.
The one thing I’ve learned from poltergeist and I haven’t even seen the movie is if your going to build a house on top of a cemetery make sure you remove the tombstones and the bodies underneath them or something like that scary shit will happen
When i first saw poltergeist, it was 2012 and i was in my teens, and i could not sleep for months.
Yes the 1982 first Poltergeist is definitely the best 👌. Poltergeist 2 good but . Poltergeist 3 eh . I mean Heather o'Rourke was the best .. They're here! It knows what scares you!
This film was a PG in America? A guy pulls his face off!
So you slap an R on that Momma Humper!
they did but after an appeal, they lowered it and at the time there was no pg 13
A JK but you have to remember there was no pg 13 back then
This was before the PG-13 rating, which was created because of Gremlins (1984) and Temple of Doom (1984), which are both rated PG.
Yeah I can imagine certain parts being quite scary for young children.
A top 10 80's horror movie.
That edit from kitchen to neighbours house is tied with the awful transition in Alien of the decapitated Ash head puppet to actual Ian Holm's head sticking through a table during the Ash confession scene, as two of the worst editing decisions by talented directors in cinematic history.
Always a classic. It's a great film still.
Saw the sequels all these years later and when watching the remake I wondered if it too was a sequel (ignoring the events of the second and third movies) as there is some small evidence for it....
Maybe I missed it, but I don't think you guys mentioned the long horror career of the realtor, played by the great James Karen, of "The Return of the Living Dead" trilogy fame.🤔
Furthermore, you never brought up the fact that Heather O'Rourke died while filming the 3rd movie, giving us that terrible ending. That's why it's a not a great sequel.
The real house looks 100% the same now in 2018. There are houses for sale in the real neighbourhood. I saw one online recently with virtually the same kitchen. Amazing
Poltergeist 3's best scene: Death of Tangina
hr giger created the monster in this movie too
That was the sequel dude
Any millennial kids who say today's movies are better than the '80s movies, don't know what they're talking about. As someone who was born in '93, I love '80s movies, even my #1 all-time personal favorite movie is _Back_ _to_ _the_ _Future_. ;)
all clear hehe nice. i think the same way
The crawling maggot meat & noodle arm clown attack?
Classic. Luvvv Carol Ann
It's weird isn't it? There's like an entire category of films that are "Spielberg" in tone but not directed by Spielberg. There's Poltergeist, and there's also The Goonies and Back to the Future.
I recently watched Poltergeist III for the first time in about 25 years, and even though its not a patch on the original I thought it wasn't horrible. Definitely watchable. I've seen a lot worse in the A Nightmare On Elm Street, Halloween and Friday the 13th series.
I actually felt Sam Rockwell was slumming it in the remake. I found him really bad. The one highlight I found was the kids, even if the little girl is not as good as Heather Rourke. I did find the actress playing the big sister was actually a surprise. She gave a genuine performance.
It felt real. The brother was pretty good too, but he's given bad material. :/
One of my all time favourite movies. I just watched your Robocop and Halloween 1 & 2 reviews. They don't make them like they used to 😠
OMG YES
I feel like they might have bowroed the celing scene in this for Nightmare in Elm Street.
To me I always felt there was very little Tobe Hooper in this movie. Sad to think Spielberg was pulling the strings, but still an epic movie nonetheless.
twitter.com/poltrg_thoughts
Think of the films Spielberg was developing/producing at that point - Gremlins, Twilight Zone, soon enough Back to the Future and The Goonies. He was just off 1941 and Raiders. He was into light-hearted, adventurous fare. The script he put down on paper had included such things as more goofy neighbors, a tree that doesn't eat Robbie, Tangina as a sweet Texas tea-drinker who drops curse words every now and then, tennis balls falling onto people's heads, etc. I think Hooper got more than his fair share of input in tearing down Spielberg's designs, outside of directing the picture, making it darker and more realistic, rather than explicitly creating a "Movie World" like in Gremlins and The Goonies.
I do love Poltergeist, prefer the Stone Tape. The woman in black 89 style writing trumps everything except the FX
Poltergeist Part 1 & part 2 masterpiece in a family haunting x The beast as a character is great rather then most movie monsters as a plot device etc. Especially the new remake.. we never even hear of the beast.. kane
Is that David Lopan on your T-Shirt???????????
Plot hole: No one buys a clown like that for a kid. And btw any kid that grew up in the UK in the 70s knew what a Poltergeist was, from Rentaghost.