If horror in the 1970s was defined by serious, intense movies such as The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Don't Look Now, the 1980s was the decade when the genre became fun again. This was the decade of the horror comedy, and the biggest scary movies of the '80s were increasingly silly franchise films such as Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th.
Horror in the '80s kicked off in wildly entertaining style with 1982's Poltergeist. The film was ostensibly directed by Tobe Hooper, the man behind the utterly terrifying Texas Chainsaw, but it was very much a Steven Spielberg movie. Spielberg produced and wrote it, based on an earlier story idea titled Night Skies. And thematically, Poltergeist is absolutely in keeping with his other films of the era, most notably Close Encounters of the Third Kind and ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, in which normal suburban families encounter something strange beyond their understanding.
As we'll see shortly, the true "author" of Poltergeist has been debated for decades, But there was no denying the huge success of the movie--it was the eighth highest grossing movie of 1982 and is now considered a horror classic. The blend of engrossing family drama, scares, suspense, and dazzling thrills is masterfully done. It's that rare thing--a scary movie loved by horror and non-horror fans alike.
The success of the Poltergeist led to inevitable sequels and remakes, but none are remotely in the same league as the original. The film can now be streamed in Netflix, so this is a great time to revisit it--or perhaps even check it out for the first time if you're yet to experience its wonders. And once you've done that, read our guide to all the things you didn't know about Poltergeist...
1. Spielberg wanted Stephen King to write the movie
Considering they are such giants of modern pop culture, Spielberg and Stephen King have never worked together. As Entertainment Weekly explained, they came close on Poltergeist. Spielberg stated that he wanted King to help him with the script, but that he was "unavailable." King himself revealed a bit more about his unavailability--it seems he was on a Transatlantic cruise when the call came in. "It didn't work out because it was before the internet and we had a communication breakdown," he said. "I was on a ship going across the Atlantic to England."
2. Drew Barrymore auditioned
Drew Barrymore, then aged seven, auditioned for the role of Carrie-Anne, which subsequently went to Heather O’Rourke. Spielberg told her that she wasn't right for the role, but Barrymore later revealed that the filmmaker told her she had another project in mind for her. "I was like, 'Oh yeah, OK, I'm sure he won't call,'" Barrymore said. And, of course, he did call and that next movie--ET: The Extra-Terrestrial--made her a star.
3. A very expensive model house was destroyed in a few seconds
One of the most coolest effects in the movie happens right near the end, as the Freeling's entire house is sucked into a vortex in the cursed ground below it. For this iconic moment, Industrial Light and Magic built an incredibly expensive and detailed model reconstruction of the house, which was about six feet wide and held together with hidden wires. The model was then placed over a vacuum funnel. As the cameras rolled in super slow motion, the wires were pulled, the house collapsed, and the whole thing was sucked into the "ground." Needless to say, this was a one-shot deal. Check out this image of the model house on the set, as well as the pieces of debris which have been stored in a glass cube ever since.
4. The movie used a revolving room
The amazing scene in which Diane is dragged around the walls and ceiling of her bedroom by the unseen forces was achieved with the use of a revolving room. The set was built on a gimbal, with a fixed camera position; as the room slowly turned, actor JoBeth Williams rolls from one surface to the next, but the camera placement makes it looks like she is being pulled up the wall. You can see footage of the set in this behind-the-scenes featurette, from about three minutes in.
5. Spielberg's hands make a cameo
Poltergeist's most memorably gruesome scene comes when Marty, one of the paranormal investigators, hallucinates that he is tearing the flesh off his own face. An animatronic head was built for these scenes, and the hands we see tearing at the face are Spielberg's own. Check out Spielberg at work in this behind-the-scenes image.
6. Kitchen chairs were quickly switched
One of the most brilliantly effective moments in the movie is the moment when the ghosts rearrange the kitchen tables while Diane looks away for a few seconds. It was a simple trick--as the camera follows JoBeth Williams as she opens a cupboard, crew members ran in and swapped the chairs for a pre-glued stack which they placed on top of the table. If you watch this clip of the scene carefully, you can see the reflection in an appliance of the crew moving in, and the plant rustling as the chair switch was made.
7. There's a weird cut to avoid upsetting Pizza Hut
Fans who have seen Poltergeist many times will know that there's a very strange jump cut. At the 32 minute mark, Diane is telling Steve about her initial experience with the ghosts, when mid-sentence, it suddenly cuts to the Freelings standing outside their neighbors house. For such a slick and professional movie, it seems very strange and sloppy. The answer to why it's there lies in the script. As the scene continues, there is a negative reference to Pizza Hut (specifically Steve saying "I hate Pizza Hut!") that was cut at the minute.
8. Spielberg appealed to get an PG rating
Unsurprisingly, Poltergeist was initially given an R rating by the MPAA, due to "children in peril." However, Spielberg, MGM chairman Frank Rosenfelt, and psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Jones flew to New York in April 1982 to appeal that rating. Ultimately, the MPPA's appeal board voted unanimously to reduce the rating to a PG.
9. Spielberg was contractually forbidden from directing the movie
Even though he wrote and produced it, Spielberg was in pre-production on ET at the time, and was contractually obliged not to direct anything else during this period. So he handed directional reins over to Tobe Hooper.
10. Rumors about directorial credit led to a fine and decades of controversy
The rumors that Spielberg in fact directed the film started back in 1981, long before the movie was released the following year, when it was reported that he was on set every day and calling the shots. Since producers are not allowed to simply take over in this way, there was subsequent investigation by the Directors Guild of America, which fined MGM $15,000 for under-representing Hooper in publicity for the movie. The controversy also led Spielberg to take out an ad in the Hollywood Reporter, in which he semi-apologised to Hooper for the way their "unique, creative relationship" had been misrepresented.
But the issue has never gone away. Prior to his death in 2017, Hooper was regularly asked if Spielberg was really the director--in 2014 he simply stated "I was making the movie and later on, I heard this stuff after it was finished." The recollections of different cast and crew members have frequently contradicted each other too--actor James Karen, who played Mr. Teague said "I considered Tobe my director," while cinematographer Matthew Leonetti said "Hooper was just happy to be there...but really, Steven directed it."
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