It Knows What Scares You

Sorry, D

I know that I've written about Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist several times. And there's a very good reason for that: it's a true modern genre classic. And I'll get to the why's and wherefores in just a minute.

First, I would like to note that Poltergeist serves as one of four movies with which I can always win a bar bet. I've seen this film so many times, you can play any scene without dialogue and I can tell you exactly what's happening on screen just by listening to the score. The other movies I can do this with are Raiders of the Lost Ark; Psycho and the original version of King Kong. I know my sister can also do this with Poltergeist; probably with Raiders... and maybe with Kong. But that's beside the point...

The Freelings are a typical suburban family of the early 1980's. Father Steven (Craig T. Nelson) is a successful realtor in Cuesta Verde, the planned California community in which they reside. Mom Diane (Jobeth Williams) is young and hip, while rebellious teenaged daughter Dana (Dominique Dunne) and her younger siblings Robbie (Oliver Robins) and Carol Anne (Heather O'Roarke) are typical kids. They all live typically messy suburban lives. A construction team installing their in-ground pool has the backyard in a tizzy, while the death of the family canary Tweety has Carol Anne wanting a canary funeral and Robby wanting to dig Tweety up after it rots.* One night, while Steven and Diane fall asleep in front of the TV, Carol Anne comes in to watch the post Anthem buzz (this was before the days of 24 hour cable) and begins talking to the "TV people." Soon, furniture in the kitchen begins to rearrange itself and Carol Anne can slide across the kitchen floor without being pushed. These seemingly harmless events soon escalate and Carol Anne is eventually captured by the "TV People" during a thunderstorm, her voice crying out from the TV for help. 

At their wits' end, the Freelings call in a team of parapsychologists, led by Dr. Lesh (Beatrice Straight) who brings her assistants Ryan (Richard Lawson) and Marty (Martin Casella). After a particularly awful night in the house in which Marty sees himself tearing off his own face, Dr. Lesh calls in diminutive psychic Tangina (Zelda Rubenstein), who sends Steven on a journey through the Other Side to rescue Carol Anne from the 'Beast' which holds her captive. Tangina declares the house 'clean,' though the horror isn't over. It is eventually discovered (after Diane spends some horrifying moments among the corpses in her unfinished pool) that Steven's boss, developer Teague (James Karen) has built Cuesta Verde on an old cemetery where he moved the headstones, but left the bodies. The Freeling's house is eventually consumed by a psychic black hole.

Tobe Hooper, best known as the writer and director of the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, had his undisputed best success with Poltergeist, though there are those who would argue that producer Steven Spielberg actually directed the movie. There are 'Speilbergian' touches all over the place, including his trademark close-ups and reaction shots. Of course, the performances of the (mostly) then unknown cast that make Poltergeist so good. Nelson and Williams are just terrific as the suburbanites who find themselves up against forces beyond their comprehension, while the accomplished Straight (Network) lends gravitas to the role of the bewildered parapsychologist (and I must admit to using part of her performance to inform my own performance in a college production of Equus). Add loads of foreshadowing in the brilliant script from Spielberg, Michael Grais and Mark Victor; a creepy clown doll; a terrifying tree; a ceiling crawl and amazing effects from Jeff Jarvis, Jose Abel and company, and you have the iconic ghost movie of all time. Oh, and then there's Jerry Goldsmith's aforementioned score. Genius doesn't even begin to cover how brilliantly Goldsmith was able to musically convey what's happening on screen. Can you say "Perfect Movie?"

Sadly, increasingly inferior sequels and the unfortunate deaths of several actors involved in the film and it's sequels (including young Heather O'Roarke's untimely death from an intestinal blockage and the murder of Dominique Dunne at the hands of an unstable ex) have led to a bizarre, cultish following to what should be considered one of the 80's best horror films.

Unfortunately, a completely unnecessary remake has been announced, though I (for one) am hoping the project never comes to fruition. Poltergeist remains one of the few ghost movies that scares, entertains and fascinates all at the same time. Any remake would have to prove exceptionally extraordinary to be worth seeing. Personally, I don't see that happening.

More, anon.

Prospero

They Were Hee-ere!

How on Earth did I miss the 30th Anniversary of one of the best horror movies of 1980's? I have to thank JA at My New Plaid Pants for reminding me.

Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist turned 30 yesterday. Produced by Steven Spielberg (whose fingerprints are all over it), Poltergeist  was released on the heels of the rather disappointing film adaptation of Peter Straub's terrifying novel Ghost Story with the tagline "A real Ghost Story."

The 80's were very much a decade of movies that were shared with my sister and we both have many fond memories of sitting in awe of some rather amazing films. The Empire Strikes Back; Superman II; E.T.; Gremlins; Raiders of the Lost Ark; The Color Purple; Goonies... Still, Poltergeist remains probably the only movie from the era that we have both seen enough times that we can tell you exactly what's happening on screen, just by listening to the score. 

The Freeling family lives in a very ordinary suburban development called Cuesta Verde. Steven Freeling is a successful realtor for the company that built Cuesta Verde and his wife Diane is a happy, stay-at-home mom. Their three kids (Dana, Robbie and Carol Anne) have the usual sibling relationships. The Freelings are having an in-ground pool installed, further proof that their happy lives will only get happier. One night, young Carol Anne awakens and comes into her parents' room to watch TV. Of course, this was back when many regular stations signed off at midnight, so we are left to wonder just exactly what Carol Anne is watching and who she is talking to after the broadcast ends. After a strange light pours from the TV and leaves a black mark on the bedroom wall, Carol Anne announces "They're here!" to her startled parents. Thus begins a supernatural nightmare that will eventually drive the family from their home.

The excellent cast includes Craig T. Nelson; Jobeth Williams; Beatrice Straight; Zelda Rubinstein and James Karen. The special effects were state-of-the-art at the time and still manage to hold up 30 years later. While neither of us were ever actually scared by the film, there were plenty of things that managed to creep my sister and I out. The backwards music and menacing compass in the bedroom; the slithering steak and Ryan's face peeling; the evil tree and even more evil clown doll; Diane being thrust to the ceiling; the lengthening hall and skeletal demon; the rotting corpses in the muddy swimming pool... And of course, the loads of little touches that lent an air of foreboding, like the foreshadowing disinterment of the late Tweety, the canary.

Of course, there is the rumored 'Poltergeist curse,' thanks to the untimely deaths of young Dominique Dunne ('Dana'); murdered not long after the film's release by an insanely jealous boyfriend and Heather O'Rourke (Carol Anne); who died during surgery to repair an intestinal blockage just before the second (and far inferior) sequel was released. The so-called 'curse' is also often blamed for the deaths of several actors in the film's sequels, including Will Sampson, Julian Beck and even Rubinstein, herself. Nonsense and coincidences, of course. Both Williams and Nelson went on to successful careers in TV and films; most notably Nelson on "Coach;" "The District" and "Parenthood" (as well the voice of Mr. Incredible in Pixar's brilliant superhero/spy parody The Incredibles).

Plans for an inevitable and unnecessary remake have been announced, despite the movie still being able to surprise and scare those who've never seen it before. Truth be told, all the 3D CGI in the world won't make up for the excitement and awe of seeing the original Poltergeist for the first time. They just don't make 'em like that, anymore.

If you are a housing developer, please promise me that you'll move the bodies and not just the headstones. There'll be hell to pay, otherwise.

More, anon.
Prospero