About the Remotes: Back in the 80's and 90's it was common for a kid to take his home remote with him as you could easily change the channel of any cable box from the same company. and I am talking about taking them half way down the block and through a window. as long as it was directed in the direction of a tv box. Not sure how popular cable was at this time but still..
"So some of you may be too young to know this, but there was a time when local TV stations went off the air..." I know it's dumb of me, but somehow hearing you say these words somehow made me feel far less old than I do watching internet reviews. Thank you for this.
Honestly the reason I feel Tobe Hooper isn't given enough credit is because I really do feel a strong connection between Poltergeist and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, at least when it comes to the way the pacing will be slow and often just explode into sudden unfathomable horror. The way no characters are given proper introductions (sans Tangina) and the static cinematography to reflect the "stability" of the suburban home. I just feel a strong thematic connection in the way the film opens with the Star Spangled Banner, takes place in a idyllic neighborhood that represents "normal" American life that is literally built over hundreds of graves, a young American child of the 80s talking to the TV, obsessively watching "nothing", and becoming trapped inside the television. The way the neighborhood is looked over by dead trees, and is filled with old dead trees. The ghosts hang over the neighborhood and travel above it like the radio waves, so they can use the tv to make contact. It reminds me a lot of the way Hooper portrayed themes in TCM, the way it's sharply critical of average American life without making it more obvious, like Spielberg did with Jaws. TCM opens on footage of solar flares and radio broadcasts about violence in Texas, and becomes an indirect criticism about how industrialism has forced hard working people into poverty, forcing them to become cannibals. And because the impoverished are forgotten and deserted parts of the country are forgotten and left to rot, the cannibal family is never caught. Honestly I'm just rambling and probably not making any sense but I really like both of these movies and think Tobe Hooper is incredible at portraying themes, political messages, and social commentary without making it apparent. That's where I think he shines in Poltergeist because I don't think of Spielberg as a director who portrays messages like that subtly. Spielberg wouldn't want it to be subtext he would want it to be the text and want the audience to understand what he's getting at, like the corruption of Amity Island in Jaws, where the politicians feed the common folk to sharks to line their pockets.
Hey Dena, I HIGHLY suggest you look up another 1982 horror film about poltergeists, The Entity all I'll say is that it's horrific and some of the best special effects and one of the best performances in a horror film imaginable! ;)
Awesome work Dena! Really like these past videos, I'd love to support you through Patreon, but I sadly have no money, but anyway, keep up the good work.
I've got a weird relationship with this movie. I know it's good, but it's not one I fondly think of like other films of the '80s like Robocop, Predator and the like. Yet every time I actually rewatch it, or see footage of it like in this review, I remember just how excellent it actually is. Really effective in building atmosphere, hitting the right emotional notes as well as being scary as hell in places, and has a great cast. I don't know quite why I have this weird disconnect, but I wish I'd quit it, the movie is fricken awesome. When I think of the great '80s movies, I think of Robocop, Predator, Die Hard, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, The Terminator, Aliens, The Thing...I really need to start adding Poltergeist to that list of true genre classics, it definitely belongs in that company.
Paul Dennett I don't personally think Predator has aged very well. It's so ridiculously macho with unlikable sexist homophobic douchebags as main characters, and it hasn't much going for it when you cut Arnold and the predator itself out of it. Honestly, I personally think the third movie Predators is by far better. I know it's an unpopular opinion to have, but I have good reasons for it.
kurvos What made Predator interesting was that the movie's opening was effectively the finale of Commando, but then you realize that for once Arnold isn't the walking juggernaut that he typically is in his movies.
Lotus Prince I do not care as much for references to other movies in such fashion as I care about establishing a world with movies. And, well... both of the Predator sequels were better at establishing the universe of their lore than the first one was. Heck, why do people always forget what a silly cartoony laugh the predator does at the end of the first movie?
Paul Dennett Maybe subconsciously it's because Poltergeist doesn't seem to have a central memorable character you can focus on. I mean Robocop has Murphy who we follow throughout the film and can relate to, and Predator has Arnold and the predator, Die Hard's got John McClane, Nightmare has Freddy and Nancy battling each other, The Terminator, Alien and The Thing have characters as well that you can attach yourself to or relate to. Poltergeist has The little girl (who is missing the latter half of the film) The old psychic lady who is also not in the film as much, the Dad and Mom and the ghostly apparitions which take different forms through the film. It's kind of all over the place at times and so you don't get a centralized character you can focus on throughout the film. It sort of feels like your just watching something to happen to people who you aren't emotionally invested in as much as wanting to see some creepy ghosts. I don't know...this is just my guess. I haven't seen the film in a long time, I just remember it being pretty cool.
Cyborcat your videos are so much fun to watch. Thank you so very much! OMG this is one of my favorite films of all time. I love it better than E.T. It's a masterpiece, & I think it's PERFECT. It does NOT need a remake. I have low expectations, but maybe it'll be semi-decent. But it can't compare to the awesomeness of 80s practical effects & scary puppetry & light effects. What you DON'T see is what made it scary. The scariest part for me, was when the mom (while doing laundry) quietly knocks & opened the kids' bedroom door & the spirits shrieked at her the moment she cracked it open. OMFG I about shit myself. She cries & says, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."
The type of TV remote control shown is based on ultrasound which isn't as line-of-sight as its infrared counterpart, and this particular one simply cycles through channels as seen by the single button, and the TV would still cycle even if the channel was selected manually, although in that scene the neighbour's are futilely changing each other's channels.
Aw man, I'm so excited for Part 2!! I freaking love this movie! It still gives me the creeps when I watch it as an adult! This was one of the many horror movies I was introduced to as a child by my mom. I'll admit, I had a pretty odd childhood. It was totally okay to show me Poltergeist, Jaws, The Exorcist, and Carrie, but I wasn't allowed to watch Beavis and Butthead, South Park, or listen to Marilyn Manson. Go figure. :P I am greatful that my mom decided to show me these movies as a kid, because it played a big part in me being the horror fan I am today.
One of my favorites. I can't even count how many times I've seen it. We actually had a movie night last week and watched all three of them again. People love to hate on 3, but the SFX for the different mirror sequences still look amazing and IMO are only bested in the series by The Beast in this one. And maybe the worm in 2 before it gets big. Looking forward to the rest :)
I remember watching the face peeling scene as a kid, it scared the crap out of me and I could barely sitting through. Now it's just awesome. dated by awesome.
Poltergeist is still my favourite horror film and the remake is just tells the first film story and it’s an insult and it’s disrespectful to Heather O Rourke
We had that anthem thing in the great white north of Canada (Or used to.) On the station YTV it would happen around 6am (I used to wake up early to catch Yu-Gi-Oh at 5:30am) But it didn't go off the air, just resume programming right after.
I love Beatrice Straight as Dr. Lesh; she was in in the film "Network" & played the best version of "Queen Hippolyta" on the Lynda Carter "Wonder Woman" series (the other two women who played her were Cloris Leachman and Carolyn Jones of "Addams Family" fame.)
One thing I found kind of oddly amusing was that Richard Lawson's character (one of the paranormal investigators) wears a jacket which reminds me of the jumpsuits worn by the Ghostbusters. I know there's no connection, I just found that mildly amusing XD
Poltergeist is one of my favorite horror films, up there with Evil Dead and The Grudge. While I'm not exactly thrilled with them making a remake of it, after seeing some of the trailers, it looks like a decent remake.
Should The Goonies be considered a Steven Speilberg movie because he wrote the story along with Richard Donner and Chris Columbus and he directed a few scenes in the film such as the pipe banging scene and the wishing well (you call tell it’s Speilberg)
I love this movie, but personally, I've never found it that scary. I think most of the effects just come off as a little too cartoony for me. They're not bad effects, but something about the way things move around just reminds me of a kids' show. Probably had to do with Spielberg's input, but who knows. It does have some good unsettling moments, but I think it works better as a family drama than a scary movie. There was a made-for-tv movie called The Haunted that I was always more frightened by. Since its budget was lower, it uses a lot more subtle scares, or uses some cheaper techniques that come across as disturbing for some reason, such as when the house freaks the fuck out when the owners are away and scares the shit out of the neighbors. The jumpy shadows and violent screams just...work.
ok, I assumed Poltergeist was just another Exorcist type movie (which I don't care for), but seeing this I am looking forward to watching it and dreading the (probably found footage) remake. The fuck is up with that? Thanks for this channel :D
Digging this so far! But I do have to say that I always felt like Poltergeist felt like a Hooper film, but with a very heavily Speilberg creative influence. The Spielberg influence is obvious as day, but a lot of Hooper's tropes and methods of handling suspense, etc, are present, particularly when you compare it to his 1979 miniseries film version of Salem's Lot and also The Funhouse. So to me, I always considered it both their baby.
Flowtac Entertainment Well, to be fair, I'm a lot more familiar with Spielberg than I am with Hooper, so maybe I just only notice Spielberg's influence.
I can totally understand that. For the longest time, it even took me a while to pick up on Hooper's trademarks & influence in the film, particularly because he is so well known for the original TCM, it unfortunately overshadows the rest of his work. But a few years back, after watching Salem's Lot, I began to note some huge coorelations between the way he handled Salem's Lot and the way he handled the material in Poltergeist. This was further set when looking at The Funhouse, a film I don't really think is all that good, but the atmosphere is top notch at least (though I would love to see a remake of it based off the novelization that Dean Koontz did for it under his pen name Owen West). But yeah, it's not something that jumps out at you. Hooper's style & influence is WAY MORE subtle while Spielberg's style & influence is so in your face, it overshadows Hooper easily, particularly considering that Hooper himself gets overshadowed by the original TCM..
I don't assume remakes will be bad when their announced, but the trailer has already given away the new clown jumpscare. It's not bad, but the fact that they gave it away bugs me a bit
AnvilPro100 To be fair, that's the one part of the movie that everyone knows. If it was supposed to be a proper jump scare in the movie, then yeah, that's one dumb trailer.
I can see why you pronounce his name like that I mean it’s not spelled the typical way. So that makes a lot of sense. I don’t mean to be rude. It just took me aback when I heard you pronounce it that way.
