Poltergeist

Name: Poltergeist
Director: Tobe Hooper
Released: 1982
Cast: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Beatrice Straight

Transcript

1136 segments · machine-generated, may contain errors

Show full transcript

Lee Good evening and welcome to Hora.

Lee I'm Lee.

Chris I'm Chris.

Adam I'm Adam.

Lee Sorry, I started the introduction and then realised Adam was taking a massive glug of water.

Lee I do apologise.

Adam That's alright.

Adam I will I will apologise now if my voice eventually cracks into tricky.

Adam So,

Adam it's I'm I'm I'm hoping that I might go husky and sexy.

Adam But I get the feeling it's going to be much more like scratchy pensioner.

Lee Yeah, so you've got the cold that I had for two episodes.

Lee Which to remind people when we recall once a fortnight is three weeks worth of cold, what the fuck?

Lee also, there will be spoilers and swearing for anybody who's never listened before.

Adam Oh well done.

Lee try.

Lee get in there.

Lee So, this evening, we are covering a film that I cannot believe.

Lee It's taken us nearly 130 episodes to get to.

Lee But because it's such a staple, it just feels like it's always there and you never need to talk about it or watch it.

Lee but we have recovered 1982's Poltergeist.

Lee I may be super excited about talking about this, we shall see.

Lee I'm not giving that away as a spoiler, because you know,

Lee I've got to keep some cards close to my chest.

Lee So,

Lee Chris.

Lee What have you been watching?

Chris Right, let me let me throw this one out there as I,

Chris let's see if either of the listeners,

Lee Not again.

Chris Oh, oh, oh, now that you've you've seen right through me.

Chris There's there's something off that in this, right, there's a little hint to get you started.

Chris Right.

Chris So, so I think this was recommended by Bobby from Not for Everyone,

Chris quite a long time ago.

Chris It's I'm think it's also one of those that in the video shop the cover stood out quite a bit.

Chris But I think there's a couple of different covers.

Chris Okay.

Chris Now, I didn't really know what to expect from it.

Chris I assumed it was going to be

Chris a a bit of a what you call it like a a using horror to look at us.

Chris Look at how we are in life.

Adam Reflect down.

Chris Yeah.

Chris Now I don't want to use the word to give it away.

Chris That's the trouble.

Chris I was trying to think.

Lee It's a Serbian film.

Chris No.

Lee Fucking hell.

Adam I'm not quite sure.

Chris Right.

Chris But so, so let me.

Adam That's what I hope.

Chris Yeah.

Lee I don't need an intervention, it's not like.

Chris That was

Chris yeah, I mean it's it's it might be getting that way.

Chris I don't know.

Chris You can tell me.

Chris I've seen that film.

Chris Yeah, well, no, look,

Chris we got to, you know,

Adam Okay, play the game.

Lee So get it out of him.

Chris Yeah, yeah.

Chris We're going to see which of you can get the answer here, right?

Chris So I'm just going to say I now know all about shunting.

Lee It was a Serbian film.

Chris Well,

Adam society.

Chris Yes.

Chris Very good.

Chris Adam.

Chris Now, now I can just say I did not see coming what came at me.

Lee It was a lot closer than I thought to what I was seeing.

Chris Right, yeah.

Adam And then you kind of did.

Chris Yeah.

Adam You see a lot of things coming.

Chris You did, yeah.

Chris Quite a lot, a bit too much.

Chris Yeah.

Chris And I'm I now well versed in in that.

Lee Would you like to leave a message for Bobby to either tell him to delete your phone number from his phone?

Lee Or if he's got any phone any photos you'd like to share with you at all.

Chris No, no, it's it's a good film.

Chris It's and it turns out.

Lee Great fun, great fun film.

Chris Yeah.

Adam Can can I just say we should fucking cover it?

Lee Absolutely.

Lee I've seen it once and that was God, I was living at Butlin's at the time.

Lee So,

Lee that was what 98, 97.

Lee So yeah.

Adam Yeah around that sort of time.

Adam Yeah.

Lee Definitely needs a rewatch.

Lee It was one that was on late one night and I came home drunk and put it on and was just like,

Lee oh, I'm sure I've heard of this.

Lee It's a horror film.

Lee That I've never got around to watching.

Lee Yeah, and it just kind of half half watched it until the last 15 minutes and then went,

Lee Wooh.

Chris Yeah.

Chris Yeah, it has an effect.

Adam Double billet with the stuff.

Adam And sell ice cream.

Chris But I would like to know if anyone guessed it before I said that.

Chris Or even when I said that, it'll be interesting to see.

Adam Yeah, I because I was, yeah, no, I think you've summed it up perfectly actually, Chris.

Adam Now you it was just the key.

Adam The the keyword, the IMDB keyword there was shunt.

Adam But yeah, your description is very accurate, it is, yeah.

Chris And so, so it's Brian Yuzna, Yuzna.

Adam Yeah.

Chris who he did something else, Reanimator.

Adam Yeah.

Adam Yeah, Reanimator and a lot of pretty good.

Adam And also ranging from pretty good to pretty shit Lovecraft adaptations.

Chris Okay.

Chris But did they all have pretty serious effects?

Chris Because I remember Reanimator I had some along the lines of of yeah.

Adam Because I I can never remember which way around it is but it's him and Stuart him and the director Stuart Gordon sort of basically like interchange producing and directing.

Chris

Adam For each other.

Adam so I might be getting mixed up but yeah, I know that like from Beyond, I think yeah.

Adam they both use the same effects crew and stuff like that.

Adam And it's yeah, it's just wow.

Adam It's that that's that's that's where you like you know that it must be that lovely thing.

Adam I've just finding someone it's like you've got it absolutely what I want.

Lee And that must be a very small amount of people who are into that and yeah.

Lee Thankfully, I mean,

Adam It's it's weird, it's it's like cartoon Cronenberg.

Chris Yes.

Adam It's yeah, but it's yeah, no, it's a fucking glorious film that is.

Lee Well done, Chris.

Lee Thanks Bobby.

Lee I'm super pleased actually because I was like, oh, it's going to be something possibly, you know, borderline horror.

Lee And then when I was like, fucking hell, Serbia, that's quite cool.

Adam Can I make a can I make a proposal?

Adam I know we had plans, but I need to review my I need to review those plans.

Adam I need to review the plans, short, before we do short.

Adam Shall we watch Serbia for our next project for our next film?

Adam Like, you know, next episode.

Lee Yeah.

Lee Why not?

Lee Chris has already seen it so he's got it in mind.

Chris Yeah.

Chris I'm rararin' to go.

Lee I've only seen it once.

Lee Right.

Adam That's true, that's true.

Adam Chris.

Chris Let's let's shun it on to the next.

Adam Do you want to rewatch it that quickly?

Chris Well, I could do that, yeah.

Lee Or can you remember it well enough that I'm going to push you through it again?

Chris I probably, you know, I I'll I'll make a couple of notes, yeah.

Chris Oh, what I what I, you know, what I liked about it was that I didn't see it coming.

Chris I just did not.

Adam Yeah.

Adam That'll be that's the other thing as well as you get that interesting rewatch when you're like, oh, now I know actually what's going on.

Chris Yeah.

Adam And you and there's lots of like,

Chris bits that you'll pick up on.

Adam Steaded puns and stuff like that.

Lee Yeah, you should have seen that coming a mile off.

Adam Yeah.

Lee Excellent.

Lee Cool.

Lee well done, Chris.

Lee So Adam,

Lee what have you been watching?

Adam well, fortunately, fortunately for speed but also for later on in the episode, I would imagine.

Adam I plowed through after Poltergeist and so I watched Poltergeist 2 the other side.

Adam And Poltergeist 3.

Lee Oh, that's.

Adam Because I need that sense of completion.

Adam so, yeah.

Adam I can bring I can bring those up.

Adam I can also safely say now I think I might.

Adam Number two might be my favourite.

Adam Which is.

Adam Which is quite rare.

Lee Yeah.

Adam Of like film sequences where it's like the sequel necessarily will be one that you really, or like the immediate sequel.

Lee Yeah.

Adam Because a lot of the time it's like the second one's like, oh, what did we do, oh, quickly, yeah, bung that in and do that, oh, that's fucked.

Adam And then three, they hit their stride.

Adam You know.

Adam So yeah, so but I think, yeah, number number two might be my favourite, so but I think that might just be the Reverend Kane.

Lee Yeah, oh, God, what a fantastic character.

Lee But we'll we'll get into that on the.

Adam Yeah.

Lee okay.

Lee So I have seen some interesting stuffs.

Lee I have watched the new Netflix show Nightbooks.

Lee Have you seen this?

Chris Not I've not heard of that.

Adam No.

Adam Me neither.

Lee So Netflix original film, it's pretty family-friendly.

Lee the kid in it, again, Chris, is literally a spitting image of Toby, you should go and Google it and see.

Lee

Lee so it's basically it's a Hansel and Gretel story, a boy gets tricked by a witch and kept in a house.

Lee But ultimately, she keeps people who are useful to her and he writes scary stories.

Lee So she's just about to kill him and he says, I'll write scary stories.

Lee Because she says is there anything is there any use for me keeping you alive, if not, I'm going to kill you.

Lee So he says, I'll write scary stories.

Lee So she says, okay, you're going to write me one every day and read it to me at night and as soon as they're no good, you have stopped being useful and I'm going to kill you, basically.

Lee although that sounds like quite a evil premise, it is done in a relatively family-friendly way.

Lee and I just really enjoyed it.

Lee I was really surprised, I was like this looks super kiddy, but the witch it looks cool so I'm definitely going to give it a go.

Lee And I just had a fantastic time for an hour and a half, I was really surprised.

Chris Yeah, it does look good.

Chris And you're right, yeah, he does certainly have a a bit of a Toby look about him.

Lee I mean it's got a 5.8 on IMDB, so I thought it's got a it's got a good rate I said of 6,000 reviews as well.

Lee So I thought it's got a good rating.

Lee I'll give it a punt and see.

Lee It's on Netflix, so if I get 10 minutes in and it isn't for me.

Chris It's got a bit of a a Disney look to it.

Lee Yes, it's all very like UV looking.

Chris Yeah, but maybe a step up in the extreme or dark look.

Chris I don't know.

Chris Yeah, so some of the monster that just came up looked quite impressive.

Lee And the witch dresses exactly like Lady Jennifer did, as I would imagine in the 1990s.

Chris Yeah, definitely.

Lee Yeah.

Lee But yeah, yeah, really good film, really enjoyed it.

Lee So I'll recommend that.

Lee unlike my next film.

Lee So I watched Halloween Kills, which a lot of people are kind of raving about at the moment.

Lee Again, I tried to stay away from.

Adam I've seen half and half on it, really, extremely half and half on it.

Adam Yeah.

Lee so I hated it.

Lee Like which is terrible because I'm I'm not going to give you any spoilers.

Lee But the film begins with a things that happened on the night in 1978 that you've not seen before.

Lee And then comes to the present day.

Lee And one of the cops in the 1978 flashbacks is my favourite policeman of all time.

Lee Didn't know he was in it until he appeared on screen.

Lee I literally stood up, put my arms above my head like someone had scored a goal in the ice hockey and cheered, I was so excited.

Lee

Lee but.

Adam wasn't.

Lee The film went.

Lee I I won't tell you who it is, but I will tell you,

Lee at one point he does face Michael Myers and I thought he was going to give him a full open-handed slap as a way of putting him in his place.

Adam Right, okay.

Lee Does that help?

Adam Not at all.

Lee The policeman from the Wolf of Snow Hollow.

Adam Oh, the the main guy.

Lee Yeah.

Lee Who wrote and directed.

Adam Oh, yeah, okay.

Chris Jim Cummings.

Lee Yes.

Adam Yeah.

Lee When he came into it, I was like, oh my God, this is going to be amazing.

Lee but yeah, he's only in the flashback bit, which is a finish off.

Lee

Lee And then the rest of the film basically was a it's a bit like.

Lee I was saying with the with the Jordan Peel films.

Lee Where I feel like they went, right, let's do a horror film, now let's think of a, you know, a political point we want to make.

Lee And then make a film around it.

Lee And that was exactly what it felt like.

Lee It was like, right, we're making a Halloween film, we've got no idea what to do.

Lee Let's pick a hot topic situation and make it around that.

Lee There's a lot of vigilantism going on at the moment.

Lee Let's make it an anti-vigilante film.

Lee And there is no story other than vigilantism and that is all it was.

Lee And it was so so horrible to watch.

Lee It was terrible.

Lee Nothing happens.

Adam I also I also hear that Jamie Lee Curtis isn't in it that much either.

Lee No, well she gets stabbed up it all when it comes back, it carries on on the night from the 2018 one.

Lee Yes, So obviously, she has a stomach she basically half died.

Adam Yeah, she got.

Lee yeah, so it carries on from there.

Lee So she's kind of in the background.

Lee So that was the thing.

Lee So when it kind of started again, I was like, right, so she's in the hospital, somebody is going to have to come in to take her place to go searching for Mike Myers or the next person he's going to hunt down.

Lee And that's how they're going to reboot the series, so they're going to give it a new Michael Myers target effectively.

Lee So that they can create a whole new.

Lee But yeah, no, they don't really.

Adam They're trying to pass it on.

Lee Exactly.

Lee Yeah, But yeah, they don't really, it's just terrible.

Lee And it's not, it's it's like.

Lee Like we said before, with Dawn of the Dead, Romero was saying,

Lee he made the film and then he said afterwards, this is me saying about modern people and their

Adam The consumerist society.

Lee That's the word.

Lee Thank you.

Lee Yeah.

Lee Consumerism.

Lee and you watch the film and enjoy the film, some more than others, but you watch it as a film and then go,

Lee oh, yeah, that makes sense, but at the time, you're not watching it the whole time going,

Lee yeah, we get it, we get it.

Chris So what is it's more subliminal, subtle, the social commentary isn't in your face.

Lee Yeah, whereas this.

Chris Yeah.

Lee This it could not be.

Chris But would you think they've realised we're all pretty dumb and we just need it to be laid or we don't we don't we don't get it.

Adam What was the film where a guy came on loads of points, it was like a sort of piss take of.

Adam Like sort of 90s Spike Lee like black cinema where it's just a bloke kept coming up and going message.

Lee You know what, if they did that every time that they were pointing it out,

Lee it would have become a drinking game that would murder you.

Chris Oh.

Lee It was literally just.

Chris But but would it have improved the film?

Lee If I was unconsciously drunk.

Chris Yeah.

Chris No.

Lee I'm right.

Lee Maybe.

Chris Oh, right, could could could they have made it with this social aspect and vigilantism?

Chris And made it good, like, is it?

Lee It could have it could have been a really good film and at the end it could have been the town turns.

Lee And everyone the whole town is out looking for him and those who are out looking for him.

Lee But that is all the film is is just,

Lee two or three people going, right, police aren't dealing with this, we're going to go and deal with it.

Lee So they go looking for him, they find him, he murders them.

Lee Two or three other people go, he's killed two more people, this is a step beyond the pale, let's get in the car and look for him and they go and look for him and then he murders those people.

Lee And then it's just that for an hour and a half.

Lee And I was like, just like it's not going over.

Chris So.

Chris The thoughts.

Chris I've got are.

Lee Yeah.

Chris Yeah.

Chris Okay.

Chris The thoughts I've got are, right, I might have the idea watching say one of these films like Halloween and thinking, well, why don't they just sort of spread it around.

Chris Really quick say, look, this is going on.

Chris Let's get as many people doing it as trying to find him as possible.

Chris I might think, how would that work?

Chris And that could be interesting.

Lee Oh, no.

Chris But it might be that it just doesn't work at all.

Lee But they do that.

Lee I'm not going to spoil it.

Lee But it is when I reached the absolute, oh, get fucked.

Lee moment of the film.

Lee So

Chris Perhaps that is a bad idea.

Lee I'm going to say people just message us and let us know.

Lee Is it?

Chris Yeah.

Lee I've got no problem.

Lee I mean other people listeners, tell me if I'm fucking wrong, but it is.

Chris What what you said Adam, you said it's like 50/50.

Chris As far as you can tell.

Adam No, no, this is this is the this seems to be the response.

Adam There are people and the weird thing is it's people a lot of it it's people who I trust in films going both ways.

Adam

Adam There was a similar I know there was a similar split with the recent Candyman where it was like people people whose judgment I I trust.

Adam But there were but everyone was like saying different things they loved it or hated it and seems seems to be a similar thing with this.

Lee It's because it's exactly the same thing.

Lee It's a this film was, okay, we need to make this film.

Lee What's a big you know, like what's everybody talking about at the moment?

Lee Oh, this, you know, this thing that, you know, it it was with this it was vigilantism with that it was Black Lives Matter.

Lee But it was the same thing where it was just.

Lee Just kept hitting you over the head with it.

Lee Every two minutes.

Lee To the point where you were like.

Adam The subtext is a subtext.

Lee Yeah.

Lee Just get on with the film, I know what you're trying to say, you don't have to keep reminding me at the beginning of every single scene.

Lee Just make the film play.

Lee It just.

Lee Oh, it's horrible.

Lee Really, really horrible.

Adam So that was Lee's review of the new film Halloween Blues.

Lee God damn it.

Lee Right, well that's left a horrible taste in my mouth.

Lee oh,

Lee but also the Netflix also just did the

Lee the movies that made us.

Chris

Adam Oh, yes.

Lee and they've done Halloween, Friday the 13th and a Nightmare on Elm Street.

Chris Oh, well, okay.

Lee

Lee Yeah, so last night Jennifer and I watched the Nightmare on Elm Street and the Friday the 13th ones back-to-back.

Lee Oh, they're really good.

Chris Yeah.

Chris I really enjoyed the Aliens one that I saw.

Chris So I imagine it's a similar format it was very entertaining.

Chris Yeah.

Lee It's 45 minutes, it's got a lot of the key players involved.

Chris Covers a lot, yeah.

Lee It's kind of a lot of it is stuff that we would already know as fans.

Lee But there's also a lot of stuff that I didn't know in there.

Chris Yeah.

Lee Okay.

Lee Like really in-depth interviews with Tom Savini and stuff where they're talking about specific, oh, we saw them filming this because we were sitting in the van having a beer.

Lee And we saw what they were doing and saw it was wrong so we went over and intervened and all that kind of like.

Lee Just really good for fans and good for like non-fans.

Chris Yeah, good for fans and good for like non-fans.

Lee Yeah, and they get so much into 45 minutes.

Lee It's one of those, you know, like the the Elm Street one.

Lee that I've got, I'm not sure where it is, the Blu-ray, so I can't remember what it's called.

Lee

Lee But it's like four and a half hours long and it's really good.

Lee But it's pretty gruesome.

Adam Yeah.

Lee yeah, whereas this is just if you know the franchise, this is it in 45 minutes and it's really interesting.

Lee So,

Adam Never Sleep Again.

Lee Yes.

Lee That's the one.

Lee I should know because I've got a poster for it signed by Heather Langenkamp downstairs.

Lee Yeah.

Lee So.

Adam I for a second I thought you just going meow then.

Adam I was like.

Lee Meow.

Adam Seductive.

Lee Heather Lang and Camp, if you're listening.

Lee so onto 1982's Poltergeist.

Lee So,

Lee Chris.

Adam the wobbles.

Lee Yeah.

Lee Oh, bless it, he's too ill to whistle.

Lee Oh.

Lee There we go.

Adam We've got a Poltergoose.

Lee I wonder how long it would take for that to come out.

Adam Sorry.

Adam Yeah.

Lee And non-British listeners will be going, what the fuck, why is he saying like that every time?

Lee because we grew up with the young ones.

Adam non-British listeners who do know.

Adam Yeah.

Adam Well done.

Adam You are good.

Lee So, Chris,

Lee have you seen this before and what did you think of it this time?

Chris I've got a funny story about this.

Chris Right.

Chris So I thought I'd seen it.

Chris I thought it was.

Chris Like quite scary, yeah.

Chris Like really creepy, eerie.

Chris Right.

Chris So this is what I was went in to watching it.

Chris I'm watching it, I'm thinking this is this.

Chris Oh right.

Chris So and I saw the who I thought was both the director and possibly the writer.

Chris And you know, whatever, Tobe, Tobe Hooper.

Chris Right.

Chris I saw him flash up, yeah.

Chris And I thought,

Chris oh, I know him.

Chris He's from a Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Chris So I was like, right, okay.

Chris I I have this memory of having watched this many years ago.

Chris And then I'm also sort of expecting that, I don't know, okay, it's going to be a scary sort of thing.

Chris All right.

Chris So I'm watching it, I'm thinking, this is this is a fun like entertaining action kind of movie, right?

Chris So I'm thinking what what is going on?

Chris And it's like, it's giving me sense of possibly Jaws.

Chris And there's definitely ET in there.

Chris And I'm like, what is going on?

Chris This is definitely very enjoyable.

Chris But I don't get it.

Chris Like, what has happened?

Chris And I just going further and further and it's like, yeah, there's big stuff happening, yeah, there's there's horror elements, but it's definitely got this action feel.

Chris And I was like, no, if Steven Spielberg made a horror movie, surely this would be it.

Lee And of course.

Chris Yeah.

Chris Got.

Chris Got to the end.

Chris And I thought I'm going to have to look into this.

Chris And I'll normally like to wait and I'll see what Adam's going to tell me about it and what Lee's going to add to it.

Chris And it's like, no, I'm I'm going to have to check what's going on here.

Chris And of course.

Chris Right, written by Stevenberg, which I completely missed.

Chris And it all made a lot of sense.

Chris So it is like a a full on horror version of kind of ET with a supernatural more supernatural element.

Lee He had a big hand in it than that.

Lee He didn't just.

Lee Right, it.

Lee But we'll get to that.

Lee Later.

Chris Oh, okay.

Chris No, and you might have mentioned this.

Adam Well, I'm I'm happy to I'm happy to start because I think it's like.

Adam Because everyone always talks about the curse.

Adam But this is the much this is the other big thing about Poltergeist.

Chris So I did see I did see when I searched it said something about curse.

Chris And.

Chris Yeah, and also potentially something about.

Adam We'll cover the curse.

Adam Because curses, it's, you know.

Adam That's that's clickbait, mate.

Chris Yeah.

Adam Like who directed this film versus hear about the curse of the film.

Adam but yeah, so.

Adam originally, Stephen Spielberg intended to direct it.

Adam But he was also contracted to direct ET.

Chris

Adam So.

Adam And so he couldn't.

Adam You know, just he literally.

Chris Couldn't possibly do.

Adam Do both at the same time.

Adam Basically, you know, legally, he could not do both at the same time because it's kind of.

Adam Yeah.

Adam So.

Adam so he chose Toby Hooper because he was like, right, I want I want this made.

Adam so he chose Toby Hooper because he liked Texas Chainsaw Massacre and.

Adam Toby Hooper done another thing called Funhouse at that point.

Adam I don't he hadn't done Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, I don't think.

Lee And the funny thing is, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is much closer to Funhouse.

Lee So it is.

Adam Oh yeah.

Adam Yeah.

Adam Definitely.

Chris Was going to say it's closer to this in a way, it's it's not, but I wouldn't necessarily have thought of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1 and this.

Adam Yeah.

Adam So, so Spielberg, yes.

Adam So he like he thought.

Adam Well, Toby Hooper did a, you know, good horror.

Adam So we go to him.

Adam And originally this was called something like either nighttime or night skies.

Adam Or something, this was like the original idea.

Adam Which was basically rather than a supernatural.

Adam Exhalation, it was aliens.

Chris Yeah.

Adam So it was intended to be like.

Adam The dark half of close encounters.

Adam So.

Adam And actually, weirdly enough, it is one of those things where when you look at it, it's like, maybe not the carnivorous tree.

Adam But a lot of the other stuff could be alien abduction and stuff.

Adam And.

Adam You know, floating objects, all that sort of thing.

Adam It's it might go more that direction.

Adam But basically, yeah, Toby Hooper didn't want to do a sci-fi film.

Adam So he said, well, can we make it supernatural?

Adam And.

Adam Yeah, so but.

Adam Spielberg was clearly he was the producer, he was the writer.

Adam

Adam He was clearly very hands-on and was often on set while they were making the film.

Adam And.

Adam It's so a lot of people and also I think ET got delayed, like production on ET got delayed.

Adam So he literally wasn't he wasn't doing anything over on that side of things.

Adam So he was spending a lot of time on the set of Poltergeist.

Adam And.

Adam and some actors say they were only ever directed by Spielberg.

Adam They don't mention Toby Hooper or they.

Adam but

Adam So.

Adam And also there's loads of stories where he directly intervenes.

Adam Like and this kind of feeds into the curse.

Adam

Adam Oliver Robbins, who plays Bobby, Robbie.

Adam

Adam The bit where the clown attacks him, that was like a mechanical puppet.

Lee Wow.

Adam And yeah, and it did actually start strangling him.

Lee Wow.

Adam And yeah, so he and literally he at first they thought he was acting.

Adam And like and and and the story goes, it's like Steve Spielberg's going, yeah, that's great.

Adam That's great.

Adam And then realized what had happened and rushed in and and ripped the the prop off him.

Adam Because he realised what had that he realised that he was actually choking, it wasn't acting or anything else like that.

Adam And.

Adam Also when Caroline is hanging from the bed's head, Heather O'Rourke, I mean Heather O'Rourke I think was, I mean she's five when she made this, which is bloody remarkable anyway.

Lee That is out of this world.

Lee That she's.

Adam But.

Adam I know.

Adam It's fuck it's insane.

Adam But when yeah, when she's hanging off the headboard when the closet sort of vortex is happening, that was the only point she became distressed during the filming.

Adam They said she was really cool with all the other effects and all stuff happening.

Adam And everything else like that.

Adam But yeah, I think she just found that too she found that too much.

Adam And she burst into tears.

Adam And apparently Stephen Spielberg then like went over to her, cuddled her, said, no, that's absolutely all right, and don't worry, you don't have to do this anymore.

Adam And then a stunt performer stood in.

Adam for subsequent bits they needed to film to get it all sorted.

Adam And

Adam

Adam Basically Hooper and Spielberg do say that the film's Hooper's, although clearly it feels really fucking Spielberg.

Adam Even like Jerry Goldsmith's score sounds like Jerry Goldsmith.

Chris Yeah.

Chris That's it, I was I was I was feeling like, yeah, there's a bit of Star Wars going on, yeah, it's a bit of it's it's definitely like even in the scary sequences had that action sound to them.

Lee It works, it's yeah, that were very, even when what was going on didn't quite suit it, I made a note of it, I was like, some places the music felt kind of out of place, but it worked because it felt kind of too light-hearted and then when it therefore switched to darkness, it gave you that proper, oh, shit, something's really kicking off now.

Chris That's why it made this feel like a very good family horror.

Lee Yes.

Lee Well, it's Spielberg.

Lee Again.

Lee Something of.

Lee The example I I was thinking was like Jurassic Park.

Chris

Chris Yeah.

Lee Which has scary tense moments that would not be out of place in a film aimed at a more adult audience.

Lee But equally, yeah, but Jurassic Park is a family film.

Lee And I think Poltergeist.

Chris Yeah.

Lee Yeah, is weirdly a family film.

Lee I also think there's.

Lee Because the one thing I got with it and certainly Claire did was a dissonance with.

Lee like Diane, like the mum's reaction to like at the start of it where she's just.

Lee Wow, this is amazing.

Lee Science projects.

Lee Like very much how Richard Dryfus is in Close Encounters.

Lee You know what I mean?

Lee Where you would be like, you're sitting there thinking, actually, I'm going to just shit my pants and run and similarly with this.

Lee It's like, you know, you've got these people and I think it that maybe.

Lee That's the start of tongue, but I think we all know it's a fucking horror movie.

Lee So we're all starting at.

Lee No, this is just creepy now.

Lee This is already creepy.

Lee I had written down an alternative title for this film.

Lee Would be it's all good fun till someone's face falls off, because like you say, it's.

Lee Like the kids.

Lee And the chair sliding around on the floor, that's kind of good fun.

Lee And then, you know, the when they go into.

Lee Obviously the little girl's disappeared.

Lee But when they go into the bedroom and it's like the toy horse is running like a horse.

Lee And the book's flapping like a bat.

Lee And it's all feels pretty family-friendly and stuff.

Lee Yeah.

Lee And then all of a sudden he goes in the bathroom and his face slides off his skull and I was like, yeah, this took a real turn.

Lee I'm not.

Lee I'm doing that.

Lee Quickly, really.

Lee Yeah.

Adam Yeah, because because when they open the door and it's just the stuff going on in there.

Adam That's like fucking Beetlejuice.

Adam Or something.

Lee Yeah.

Adam Yeah.

Adam Do you know what I mean, it's proper like.

Adam You say it's proper comic.

Adam This does seem to.

Adam Maybe that is what happens.

Adam Maybe that is the.

Adam This probably we we we might have hit the nail on the head here that it is both Spielberg and Hooper.

Lee Yeah.

Adam Yeah.

Adam And the majority of the feels is definitely Spielberg.

Adam And then Hooper comes in.

Adam And it blows.

Adam Face melts.

Adam He's like, right, he's there.

Adam Stand back.

Adam Just a massive top on the joint.

Adam Stand there.

Adam Stephen.

Adam I've got this.

Adam And then just rambles in and a man's face falls off.

Adam Or, you know, that.

Lee That giant white-haired ghost thing that's like, shielding the troll, like it's just it just comes so out of nowhere, it's like, oh, it's just very pretty, light, like fairies or angels or I thought, yeah.

Lee Yes.

Adam As I fought.

Lee Yeah.

Lee And all of a sudden.

Lee Massive fucking ghost dog thing.

Lee And you go, whoa, yeah, I didn't see that coming.

Lee But I know the what was it the last yeah, they basically some Spielberg said, where is it?

Lee people seem to say that Spielberg directed it.

Lee And Toby Hooper was more of a technician.

Lee Basically.

Lee He was the guy saying, put the camera there, point at that one there, while Stephen Spielberg was like, right, and your motivation is.

Lee So.

Lee

Lee And also Spielberg was quoted at one point.

Lee With the rather telling phrase that Toby Hooper's not a take-charge sort of guy.

Lee So I think I think Hooper might have been.

Lee Like.

Lee Yeah.

Lee So that.

Lee

Lee He's.

Lee He.

Lee He's in the film.

Lee Yeah.

Lee So.

Lee He's in it.

Lee So.

Lee He's.

Lee He.

Poltergeist

About

Cast

Famous lines

Transcript

Listen anywhere you get podcasts

Poltergeist

About

Cast

Famous lines

Transcript

Ep 212 Ghostbusters

Ep 233 House II: The Second Story

Ep 175 House

Listen anywhere you get podcasts