Actually, TELEVISION wasn't so NEW when THIS movie was made. But they would've been saying that 3:58 about VIDEO GAMES (which WERE a new phenomenon gaining rapid cultural popularity, especially with youths, at the time of THIS flick).
Television may not have been been new, but cable tv was about to get very popular, and people were already referring to tvs as "electronic babysitters".
The mother in the film you’re asking about is Jobeth Williams. I remember her being a solid supporting actor who was in films regularly back in the 70’s and mid 80’s. I think she’s mostly remembered for this and The Big Chill which is an excellent film.
Yep. She also had a short but memorable role in Kramer vs. Kramer. In 1995 she was a Oscar nominee for "best short film, live action" for the film "On Hope" that she directed. ALSO, also, in 1980 she was in the hit comedy"STIR CRAZY" with her "POLTERGEIST husband" Craig T. Nelson.😁😁😁
She's had some supporting roles that are extensive. But Poltergeist is a definite punch in the map with her career, IMO. But I remember her in "Switch" (early 90's) playing a jilted ex with some comedy thrown in. Her & Craig T Nelson's chemistry in both Poltergeist 1&2 was 👌🏾. However, good for both actors bowing out of the next sequel & looking for other work.
The intro Star Spangled Banner followed by static was because TV stations used to sign off around midnight or 1am, usually with the star spangled banner. Then it would be static til 5 or 6 am. The effect was spooky in and of itself.. with an almost "end of the world" feeling... and its why Carol Anne being stuck "in the static" was so effective at the time.
New Zealand had a similar thing at the end of the night, The first thing that was played in the morning was the National Anthem. Dam I'm old enough to remember watching it.
Good old flick! It has its spooky scenes, its harrowing scenes, its astounding scenes, its gross-out shock scenes, its warm sentimental moments, and funny moments. A tad bombastic and overblown with the visual effects and the score at times (I think), but it's a Spielberg flick so THAT's to be expected. As for your request at 46:55, try one called The Entity. Another flick dealing with a poltergeist from the SAME YEAR as THIS one (82) coincidentally.
25:38. That's actress, Beatrice Straight. She was a respected character actress. In 1976 she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the movie "Network." Her total screentime in that movie is, 5 minutes, 2 seconds, the briefest ever to win an Oscar.
One of the Best moms in movie history! Character and acting. She deserved awards recognition. She's on record saying that she was unknowingly in that muddy pool with real skeletons and she found out later. Not an urban legend.
All the actors in this movie bring top notch performances. The family dynamic is so palpable. Every character is so well written. And indeed Jobeth Williams is phenomenal. And little Carol-Anne is absolutely adorable. RIP Heather O'Rourke. Always in our hearts. ❤
It's not about the TV. The TV is just a receiver / gateway because of the static when there is no broadcast. It could be anything. What is really so good about this horror movie is that Spielberg uses his family-friendly magic feeling to lull you into feeling safe, and then whacks you on the head with the horror! Like the song in the beginning and the neighborly feeling... Horror movies now have to keep reminding you to be scared because this is a horror movie hear? If they don't you wouldn't even know to be scared lol, because modern horror movies are mostly empty bags of air.
One thing I've always enjoyed about this movie's pacing is the way it fakes you out. At first it seems like it's just gonna be a slow, gradual buildup: the daughter talking to the TV, then the dog acting weird, then the chairs move... all small incremental changes.... and then all of a sudden THE TREE REACHES THROUGH THE WINDOW AND TRIES TO *EAT* THE SON WHILE THE DAUGHTER GETS SUCKED INTO A *GLOWING WORMHOLE* IN THE CLOSET. It goes from 5 to 100 almost instantly. Great reactions as always! :)
I saw this as a kid at 10 or 11, and to this day it is still one of the most suspenseful and scary movies I've ever seen. Not done with gore, and blood flying in each scene, just great story telling and an amazing cast of actors making it all seem that much more real.
I was 7 when I first watched this movie. (1984) Scared the living sh1t out of me but I loved it. Back then there were no TV show ratings in my country. Poltergeist was the first horror I ever watched and I still love it to this day. One of the best Horror films ever made IMO.
Twelve years old, sitting in a theater for a movie I figured would be pretty tame since it was rated PG. More than once I nearly shat myself in wide-eyed shock, same with my parents! Sooo many scenes of meat, meat, and more meat. The kid getting EATEN by the tree outside. Evil clown doll. Guy literally claws his face off (he goes through even worse in the novelization with rats and spiders). More of kids almost eaten, this time by a gaping throat in the closet. *Real* bodies used in the rainy pool scene. Only Spielberg could get away with all of that, surpassing even JAWS. Great family fun!
I was 10 years old in 1984 when I saw this at my aunt’s house. The thing that sticks with me the most is the dude tearing his face out over the sink and the creepy children’s laughter at the end of the film.
I was 12 and saw it in theaters. The show was sold out and the audience LOST THEIR MIND at that scene! and I'm not gonna lie, it scared me so much I thought my heart was gonna beat outta my chest!!
@@kirk1968 My oldest sister took me. We both have one thing in common, WE! HATE!! CLOWNS!!! the very second his damn clown doll appeared, we both looked at each other...like...oh.....shit!😑😑😒😒🫣🫣
@@joshuah9109 Right? The clown thing seems be international, pretty much everyone in the world hates those things 😆They really knew how to play off childhood fears! The tree and also looking under the bed. Yikes.
5:55 Yes it was a thing for neighbors remotes to interfere with each other. Bizarrely enough, the tech on remotes in the 80s was less advanced, so they had fewer frequencies, but for some reason that signal was much stronger and could go through multiple walls and a much greater distance.
The reason it did it was because of the frequency and amplitude of the signals on them was at a lower frequency. Look at the way modern wireless technology works. As recently as 2010/2015, if your wireless router was getting interference causing it to be slow or disconnect, you would change the channel the signal was operating. When you see specs like 2.4 GHz or 5.0 GHz, these are both fairly "new. the higher that frequency number is, the less "wall penetration" it has, but the more data it can transfer.
Great reaction! All the actors in this are incredible, but yeah JoBeth Williams is a tour de force. She's in so much of the movie, and perfect in every scene. She was a major known actress in the 80's. Some of the top-rated TV movies at the time too, like The Day After and Adam (both movies with intense themes). Worth checking out, but not for the faint of heart. As for Poltergeist, rare to get such an effective horror film where no of the characters get killed.
The ILM documentary on Disney+ features a behind-the-scenes look at how the home implosion was done. I wondered if the oldest daughter was from a previous marriage. Regarding the daughter talking on the phone and being told to get off of it, it wasn't about nights and weekends. That was a cellular phone thing. Only calling long distance would have been costly. He was simply telling the girl it was bedtime and she had to go to sleep. When looking at the filming locations used for this, it is fun to see the now completed houses on top of those concrete slabs.
The mom you asked about is actress JoBeth Williams. She’s still around here and there. She starred in the medical drama Private Practice in the 2000’s. I also remember seeing her as a girlfriend of Frazier’s in the Frazier TV series.
This film actually got it's idea from an early Twilight Zone episode called "Little Girl Lost" which Spielberg really expanded upon. The Ring is from the Japanese novel Ringu by Koji Suzuki first made into a an excellent Japanese film.
If I had to guess, the "one shot" with the chairs was done with good old fashioned man power, as you can see a reflection in the toaster of things being moved. Quick grab of the chairs, then drop in the Tetris set on the table, more than enough time so long as everyone is quick and in sync.
The novelization of the movie is based on an earlier draft of the script, and has some interesting differences. In it, Tangina knows the researchers because she's come to them to help her get rid of her powers. She doesn't like them and never uses them, but agrees to help the Freelings. The Beast is able to hide inside of another spirit called She Who Waits who refuses to go into the light when Tangina guides the other spirits over. This is how it fools her into thinking the house was clean.
@@EleanorMelusine12 Yep! The novelization of the script was written by James Kahn. It's out of print now, but the paperbacks aren't expensive! He did the novelization for Poltergeist II as well. :-) (I don't *think* there was ever one for the third movie.)
He seemed to think that TELEVISION was something new at the time of this movie. I set him straight about that in another comment I've already posted here though.
05:41 - As another commenter already stated: yes, this was entirely possible - and still sometimes is, albeit with other types of devices; for example, I own a cheap pair of wireless headphones that occasionally receives random noise or even music / speech from other devices around the house. But for TV remotes, I don't think this happens anymore, ever since they advanced the technology to infrared (which requires line of sight).
The chairs were indeed assembled, but they are just outside of frame, when she gets the cleaning supplies two stagehands rush to place it on the table. If you look closely, you can see their reflection in the toaster on the counter.
The mother was played by JoBeth Williams and she was also in the sequel and she was in Fraser and a movie called teacher than Kramer versus Kramer. And Dexter. Yeah, she’s a pretty busy actress.
Among the things they may have had in mind was an old episode of "The Twilight Zone" titled "Little Girl Lost", about a child who disappears into another dimension in her bedroom. The white streaks in the mom's hair are a subtle reference to "The Bride Of Frankenstein" ( 1935). The imploding house was also accomplished with old school effects. A large scale model of the house was filmed separately on a stage with cables rigged to pull sections inward and have it collapse in on itself.
A fun fact about the Rams is that they actually originated in Cleveland. In 1946 when they moved to LA, they were the first major-league sports franchise west of the Mississippi. My parents grew up near St Louis, so we were Rams fans for a few years.
NOT TIGER. Leo the Lion has been the most regular star of MGM Pictures since it was founded on this day in 1924, and his roar is probably the sound most commonly associated with the studio. It’s one of the noises most reminiscent of the Golden Age of Hollywood, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (generally known as MGM) was one of the biggest studios around.
19:34 "yo this movie got intense real quick" Tobe Hooper, of Texas Chain Saw Massacre fame, puts the car in "parental trauma" gear and slams on the gas.
I was twelve when I saw this movie, actually saw it at the show. I actually wanted to be one of the investigators for a job after seeing this, I thought actually chasing ghosts was such a cool thing!!
Bro 1982! I think they had one PA for each chair to drag them away and then two or three guys brought in the pre-assembled chair sculpture. If you look closely you can see them moving in the toaster. Probably pretty noisy on set but salute to the sound editors.
The actress who played the older daughter died sometime after this movie was released an the same with the actress who played Carolyn the youngest daughter
on the scene in kitchen where its a 1 shot and the chairs are stacked on the tablet when shes in the cupboard you see the reflection of the film crew in i think its a metal toaster or something on the counter top scrambling to put the chairs on the table quick. someone removed the single chairs and those on the table were actually glued together and just lifted onto the table
You really should watch The Big Chill. Jobetb Williams is in that also with a stellar cast including Jeff Goldblum, Glenn Close, William Hurt, Kevin Klein, and Meg Tilly. It's a great movie.
27:17. Those are Steven Spielberg's hand ripping the face apart. Apparently, the sculpted was an expensive prop, it was important to get this shot in one take. The actor was so afraid he would mess it up, so Spielberg did the scene for him.
Part two stinks because it retcons the first and makes it less scary. The third one is a joke that completely ruins the story and should never be watched by anyone.
The movie was filmed in the subdivision in or near Danville Ca. Now known as Pleasanton. The crazy lightning effects were done with aquariums full of shiny stuff being stirred vigorously and the cloud effects were overlaid in of bleach being poured into water.
Not bleach. It was paint being poured in saltwater tanks. Theyre known as ILM clouds in the industry back then as it was a cool effect. Seen a couple years before in close encounters.
Poltergeist locations were not in the east bay, but just north of LA. The house is in Simi Valley and the rest of the neighborhood was in Agoura Hills.
I’ve lived in the Bay Area and Los Angeles and I’ve been to the Poltergeist house many times. It’s just north of Los Angeles in Simi Valley, but about 350 miles south of Pleasanton.
Keep in mind the corpses they show poping out of the ground were real corpses as they couldn't afford to make fake ones. Also, the actors were not told they were real until filming was done
CRAP! I totally forgot just how spin tingling this movie was. It had just enough humor to keep me from remembering the horror. Unlike the movie, the 74 version of the Exorcist. Lind Blair version. There was positively no humor in that movie. And I slept with the lights on for two weeks after that. Of course I was 14 years old then.
"In 1987. In one shot. How?" We were not in the media stone age back then 🤣 Good CGI was already a reality since the late 60s (Kubrick's 2001) and 70s (StarWars). But in this case I assume they just exchanged the empty table quickly with a stacked-chairs-table. Alfred Hitchcock did this in his 1948 movie "Rope" which were 10-minutes shots only, without any cut. He used furniture on wheels for smooth set changes.
Yes, the skeletons in the pool were real: Medical colleges would get bodies from 3rd world countries to use in classrooms. Once done, the skeletons were thrown into a landfill. The studio took the skeletons, added "gore" and used them in the pool because it was cheaper. It's rumored the skeletons that fell on Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark were likely real as well. The acress didn't know they were real until AFTER filming the scene.
The actors, particularly JoBeth Williams, really gave it their all. If they hadn't this would have been just another cheesy 80s film. I miss actors who really acted in the roles they played with skill. I really believed her motherly responses 100%.
What really bugs me about this series of movies is... it's NOT a freaking poltergeist. It's a classic haunting (as defined by their own rules). But yes, I love all three of this movies.
"It's not some ancient tribal burial ground. It's just people." As an 80s kid, I saw this movie a couple of times while growing up. I always thought that was a weird statement and I'm still not sure of what he was getting at. Like does he not think the beings buried in ancient tribal burials grounds are people?
@@Seraphim4190 The statement refers to the fact that tribal burial sites were considered sacred and were not to be disturbed or even walked on by non tribal people... So he thought that a regular cemetery was somehow not hallow ground...but us Christians know that the ground has to blessed and made holy for proper burial. Hope that clears that up.
Stone cold classic. Yes, JoBeth Williams is fantastic as Diane. She is my favourite movie mom. And they did already remake this several years ago and it was terrible.
People often say this movie was cursed, among other things, the actress who played the teenage daughter was murdered by her boyfriend and the actress who played Carol Anne died of cardiac arrest at tender age of 12 after shooting POLTERGEIST 3. But it's not often mentioned that the guy who played the construction worker who (rudely) helped himself to the food cooking on the stove was murdered with an axe by a man named Christopher Tatum. He was 67yrs. old at the time of his death.
@@JasonKreider-eq8kp Yeah. I tend to "ramble" in the comment section. While I, personally don't believe in "curses" the fact that 2 people from this film were brutally murdered is creepy and I don't hear many people talk about the "axe murder" incident. The final days of that poor girl are heartbreaking (her last words were: "I love you," said to her mother who was by her side) and the "official" cause of death was cardiac arrest, but it was caused by her medical condition that her mother claims was misdiagnosed. But thanks for adding that, it's tragic what happened to all 3 of them.😔
@@JasonKreider-eq8kp I personally don't believe in curses. The Exorcist is the movie that has the most creepy and disturbing things that happened both on and off the set. But The Omen has weird things happen and it's not always horror movies, the 50's classic "GIANT" had an all-star cast and for a short while it was considered "cursed" because of bizarre things happen behind the scenes with that movie as well. Weird $hit happens all the time.
If you *had* a remote yes it interfered with your neighbors tv if they also had a remote because they were pretty much all using the same frequency. 😂 You don't know Reagan fans very well. I was one and my roommates and I *grew* weed. We had the plants between our tomato plants.😂 While the mom was digging in the cabinet the prop people quietly zipped in, removed the single chairs and placed the already glued together chairs on the table. No this wasn't shown in 3D in theaters as far as I remember. Dominique Dunne who played the oldest daughter was murdered by her ex-boyfriend about 5/6 months after the movie was released. Heather O'Rourke who played the youngest daughter died about 6 years later from cardiac arrest following intestinal surgery at age 12. They had recently finished filming the 3rd Poltergeist movie.
Hello! Spielberg always brings out the best of his actors! It shows with, Jo Beth Williams! Movie recommendation, I got really scared watching, Aracnophobia!
Hey, I have a recommendation for you. Watch the 1951 Sci-Fi classed, “ THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL”. Of course effects may not be up to par with now days movies, but it’s still a great film and even has moral attached to it.
So many good movies came out the year I was born. This movie, Poltergeist, ET, The Thing... After seeing you a bit here, I have to ask, how old are you? Cause everything your asking if 'was this real' yes it was real. These things did happen, etc. And that was 'The Times.'
13:00. I get your reaction, but this was 1982. Sadly, people were somewhat dismissive about this kinda (very gross) behavior. (No joke) for a while this was even considered flattering. You notice the mom watching from the kitchen window, she's ready to defend her daughter. However, the daughter's (f'ck you) response was bold: she didn't blush and run away from them, she stood up for herself. The mom's reaction (turning away and laughing) was meant to reflect that Dana wasn't gonna just put up with that bull$hit and she was proud of her daughter's ability to stand up for herself.
If you want to see another great 80’s campy “End of the World” movie, please react to “Night of the Comet”, it’s a cult classic that I’ve never seen reacted to on here. Also, sadly, so many people from this first movie and subsequent sequel’s died, it was said to be cursed.
There's one more thing. A terrible presence is in there with her. (the TV) So much rage, so much betrayal, (the TV) I've never sensed anything like it. I don't know what hovers over this house, (the TV aerial) but it was strong enough to punch a hole into this world (the TV set) and take your daughter away from you. (the TV People) It keeps Carol Anne very close to it and away from the spectral light. (the TV) It LIES to her, it tells her things only a child could understand. (the TV) It has been using her to restrain the others. (parents listening to their kids and not the other way around) To her, it simply IS another child. To us, it is the BEAST. (the TV) Now, let's go get your daughter !
A LOT of Reagan republicans smoked weed. The “yuppies” were middle-class kids in the 60s, probably had a lot of access to grass because they could afford it easily. Also, many former hippies turned republican in the 80s because of the false atmosphere of unlimited wealth and prosperity promised by the Reagan administration.
You should checkout a movie called the haunted. It's based on actual events, about the Smurl family and there battle with a demon in their house, its on UA-cam ad free too! Its a really good movie.
Actually, TELEVISION wasn't so NEW when THIS movie was made. But they would've been saying that 3:58 about VIDEO GAMES (which WERE a new phenomenon gaining rapid cultural popularity, especially with youths, at the time of THIS flick).
Television may not have been been new, but cable tv was about to get very popular, and people were already referring to tvs as "electronic babysitters".
The mother in the film you’re asking about is Jobeth Williams. I remember her being a solid supporting actor who was in films regularly back in the 70’s and mid 80’s. I think she’s mostly remembered for this and The Big Chill which is an excellent film.
Yep.
She also had a short but memorable role in Kramer vs. Kramer. In 1995 she was a Oscar nominee for "best short film, live action" for the film "On Hope" that she directed.
ALSO, also, in 1980 she was in the hit comedy"STIR CRAZY" with her "POLTERGEIST husband" Craig T. Nelson.😁😁😁
She's in Jungle 2 Jungle. One of my favorite movies. Although she has a smaller role.
She's had some supporting roles that are extensive. But Poltergeist is a definite punch in the map with her career, IMO. But I remember her in "Switch" (early 90's) playing a jilted ex with some comedy thrown in. Her & Craig T Nelson's chemistry in both Poltergeist 1&2 was 👌🏾. However, good for both actors bowing out of the next sequel & looking for other work.
The intro Star Spangled Banner followed by static was because TV stations used to sign off around midnight or 1am, usually with the star spangled banner. Then it would be static til 5 or 6 am. The effect was spooky in and of itself.. with an almost "end of the world" feeling... and its why Carol Anne being stuck "in the static" was so effective at the time.
New Zealand had a similar thing at the end of the night, The first thing that was played in the morning was the National Anthem. Dam I'm old enough to remember watching it.
It wasn’t spooky at all, you clearly weren’t there.
The days back before the advent of infomercials filling all those hours.
@@mugwump242 Not so much the advent, but the laws being change to allow them.
Good old flick! It has its spooky scenes, its harrowing scenes, its astounding scenes, its gross-out shock scenes, its warm sentimental moments, and funny moments. A tad bombastic and overblown with the visual effects and the score at times (I think), but it's a Spielberg flick so THAT's to be expected. As for your request at 46:55, try one called The Entity. Another flick dealing with a poltergeist from the SAME YEAR as THIS one (82) coincidentally.
25:38. That's actress, Beatrice Straight. She was a respected character actress. In 1976 she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the movie "Network." Her total screentime in that movie is, 5 minutes, 2 seconds, the briefest ever to win an Oscar.
One of the Best moms in movie history! Character and acting. She deserved awards recognition. She's on record saying that she was unknowingly in that muddy pool with real skeletons and she found out later. Not an urban legend.
All the actors in this movie bring top notch performances. The family dynamic is so palpable. Every character is so well written. And indeed Jobeth Williams is phenomenal. And little Carol-Anne is absolutely adorable. RIP Heather O'Rourke. Always in our hearts. ❤
It's not about the TV. The TV is just a receiver / gateway because of the static when there is no broadcast. It could be anything.
What is really so good about this horror movie is that Spielberg uses his family-friendly magic feeling to lull you into feeling safe, and then whacks you on the head with the horror! Like the song in the beginning and the neighborly feeling... Horror movies now have to keep reminding you to be scared because this is a horror movie hear? If they don't you wouldn't even know to be scared lol, because modern horror movies are mostly empty bags of air.
Yep, modern horror has no substance, just glits and glam with forced jump scares.
One thing I've always enjoyed about this movie's pacing is the way it fakes you out. At first it seems like it's just gonna be a slow, gradual buildup: the daughter talking to the TV, then the dog acting weird, then the chairs move... all small incremental changes.... and then all of a sudden THE TREE REACHES THROUGH THE WINDOW AND TRIES TO *EAT* THE SON WHILE THE DAUGHTER GETS SUCKED INTO A *GLOWING WORMHOLE* IN THE CLOSET. It goes from 5 to 100 almost instantly. Great reactions as always! :)
Love seeing the appreciation of JoBeth William’s performance. That scene where she felt Carol Ann move through her 💔 … 👨🏻🍳💋
It was NEVER gonna happen, but she deserved an Oscar Nomination for that role.
I saw this as a kid at 10 or 11, and to this day it is still one of the most suspenseful and scary movies I've ever seen. Not done with gore, and blood flying in each scene, just great story telling and an amazing cast of actors making it all seem that much more real.
The elongated hallway shot was a combination of a dolly zoom and physically extending the hallway. You can see the staggered walls.
The director, Tobe Hooper, previously directed Texas Chainsaw Massacre which is a must watch in the horror genre.
I was 7 when I first watched this movie. (1984) Scared the living sh1t out of me but I loved it. Back then there were no TV show ratings in my country. Poltergeist was the first horror I ever watched and I still love it to this day. One of the best Horror films ever made IMO.
Twelve years old, sitting in a theater for a movie I figured would be pretty tame since it was rated PG. More than once I nearly shat myself in wide-eyed shock, same with my parents! Sooo many scenes of meat, meat, and more meat. The kid getting EATEN by the tree outside. Evil clown doll. Guy literally claws his face off (he goes through even worse in the novelization with rats and spiders). More of kids almost eaten, this time by a gaping throat in the closet. *Real* bodies used in the rainy pool scene. Only Spielberg could get away with all of that, surpassing even JAWS. Great family fun!
Countdown to the first "The skeletons in the pool were real and cursed the movie" comment. 😂
Yep, that reeky happened.
I just dropped mine 😂. People have to know. I would have sued the studio.
Oops, I just made the comment myself about the skeletons
Yours is it!
I was 10 years old in 1984 when I saw this at my aunt’s house. The thing that sticks with me the most is the dude tearing his face out over the sink and the creepy children’s laughter at the end of the film.
I was 12 and saw it in theaters. The show was sold out and the audience LOST THEIR MIND at that scene! and I'm not gonna lie, it scared me so much I thought my heart was gonna beat outta my chest!!
40 years later and I remember the scene so graphically that I decided not to watch it again, looked away the whole time!
I was 12 when this came out. It was the first horror film I saw in theaters. It was a sold out show and the audience was PERFECT!
I was 12 as well, same theater experience! Could not believe it was rated PG, my parents were also shocked 😆
@@kirk1968
My oldest sister took me. We both have one thing in common, WE! HATE!! CLOWNS!!!
the very second his damn clown doll appeared, we both looked at each other...like...oh.....shit!😑😑😒😒🫣🫣
@@joshuah9109 Right? The clown thing seems be international, pretty much everyone in the world hates those things 😆They really knew how to play off childhood fears! The tree and also looking under the bed. Yikes.
@@kirk1968
Random trivia. Spielberg came up with Robbie's fears from his own childhood fears: fear of clowns and a scary tree outside his window.
@@joshuah9109 That's pretty cool, did not know that!
Very good point about the use of silence...and marvelously ironic to have you talking over it. Almost meta.
5:55 Yes it was a thing for neighbors remotes to interfere with each other. Bizarrely enough, the tech on remotes in the 80s was less advanced, so they had fewer frequencies, but for some reason that signal was much stronger and could go through multiple walls and a much greater distance.
The reason it did it was because of the frequency and amplitude of the signals on them was at a lower frequency. Look at the way modern wireless technology works. As recently as 2010/2015, if your wireless router was getting interference causing it to be slow or disconnect, you would change the channel the signal was operating. When you see specs like 2.4 GHz or 5.0 GHz, these are both fairly "new. the higher that frequency number is, the less "wall penetration" it has, but the more data it can transfer.
Not sure if I'm the only one who remembers this but we used to be able to change the channel by jingling keys
@@beckbabej That's a new one on me. You should market that sucker. Instead of the Clapper, it could be The Jingler. Lol
@@beckbabejI was able to change channels with a flashlight.
Also, listen to the clicking sound it makes. That’s why people who are Gen X and older still call remote controls “clickers.”
"They survived AND the dog's alive!" ... but what about Tweety 2 & 3??!
Great reaction! All the actors in this are incredible, but yeah JoBeth Williams is a tour de force. She's in so much of the movie, and perfect in every scene. She was a major known actress in the 80's. Some of the top-rated TV movies at the time too, like The Day After and Adam (both movies with intense themes). Worth checking out, but not for the faint of heart. As for Poltergeist, rare to get such an effective horror film where no of the characters get killed.
The ILM documentary on Disney+ features a behind-the-scenes look at how the home implosion was done.
I wondered if the oldest daughter was from a previous marriage.
Regarding the daughter talking on the phone and being told to get off of it, it wasn't about nights and weekends. That was a cellular phone thing. Only calling long distance would have been costly. He was simply telling the girl it was bedtime and she had to go to sleep.
When looking at the filming locations used for this, it is fun to see the now completed houses on top of those concrete slabs.
The mom you asked about is actress JoBeth Williams. She’s still around here and there. She starred in the medical drama Private Practice in the 2000’s. I also remember seeing her as a girlfriend of Frazier’s in the Frazier TV series.
Whoops I forgot to set the premiere! Welp, enjoy! This is a great reaction from Jonathan to a great movie!
You picked on of the All Time Goose Bumping movies of ALL TIME!
Yes, Jo Beth Williams as the mother. The Big Chill is highly recommended. The troupe for that movie is one of the best ever.
Yup, filmed in California. Agoura Hills and Simi Valley, both north-west of Los Angeles.
Poor Dominique Dunne. She was strangled to death by her boyfriend. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and only served 3 years
He wasn't punished enough!! But, when he dies he will face God's judgment.
Last I heard, he was a chef and working in a senior living facility. He’s a POS.
Fun fact. All the skeletons in the pool at the end were real. They were cheaper props.
Our TV remote was sonic, not radio. Jingling change in your pocket could change the channel.
You mean the “clicker” as we called it.
This film actually got it's idea from an early Twilight Zone episode called "Little Girl Lost" which Spielberg really expanded upon. The Ring is from the Japanese novel Ringu by Koji Suzuki first made into a an excellent Japanese film.
If I had to guess, the "one shot" with the chairs was done with good old fashioned man power, as you can see a reflection in the toaster of things being moved. Quick grab of the chairs, then drop in the Tetris set on the table, more than enough time so long as everyone is quick and in sync.
This is correct, there were crew members hiding all over the place in that scene. Confirmed based on a book I read recently about Tobe Hooper
The novelization of the movie is based on an earlier draft of the script, and has some interesting differences. In it, Tangina knows the researchers because she's come to them to help her get rid of her powers. She doesn't like them and never uses them, but agrees to help the Freelings. The Beast is able to hide inside of another spirit called She Who Waits who refuses to go into the light when Tangina guides the other spirits over. This is how it fools her into thinking the house was clean.
Yes, I still own that novel. It's awesome in its own right. Definitely a must read.
Omg yes! The books awesome and and a great companion to the movie, answers and fills in stuff.
Poltergeist 2 the other sides novels great too.
Is it under the same name as the movie?
@@EleanorMelusine12 Yep! The novelization of the script was written by James Kahn. It's out of print now, but the paperbacks aren't expensive! He did the novelization for Poltergeist II as well. :-) (I don't *think* there was ever one for the third movie.)
This whole movie is a roller coaster ride 👍
That's what Spielberg said he was going for.
1982 is not an "older movie."
Well, you know how THAT goes, it's RELATIVE.
He seemed to think that TELEVISION was something new at the time of this movie. I set him straight about that in another comment I've already posted here though.
To this day, no other ghost movie has come close. they all lack the level of creativity this movie had.
4:16 "all the things people say about social media now..." were said about television, and pinball, and books, and indoor plumbing.
05:41 - As another commenter already stated: yes, this was entirely possible - and still sometimes is, albeit with other types of devices; for example, I own a cheap pair of wireless headphones that occasionally receives random noise or even music / speech from other devices around the house. But for TV remotes, I don't think this happens anymore, ever since they advanced the technology to infrared (which requires line of sight).
If the stacked chairs are already assembled as a sculpture but held above, it would be easy to lower it into place quickly. Best guess.
The chairs were indeed assembled, but they are just outside of frame, when she gets the cleaning supplies two stagehands rush to place it on the table. If you look closely, you can see their reflection in the toaster on the counter.
The mother was played by JoBeth Williams and she was also in the sequel and she was in Fraser and a movie called teacher than Kramer versus Kramer. And Dexter. Yeah, she’s a pretty busy actress.
Among the things they may have had in mind was an old episode of "The Twilight Zone" titled "Little Girl Lost", about a child who disappears into another dimension in her bedroom. The white streaks in the mom's hair are a subtle reference to "The Bride Of Frankenstein" ( 1935). The imploding house was also accomplished with old school effects. A large scale model of the house was filmed separately on a stage with cables rigged to pull sections inward and have it collapse in on itself.
JoeBeth Williams (the mother) also plays in Kramer vs. Kramer. Not a horror movie but a GREAT film!!!
The actress you are asking about was also in the Big Chill.
A fun fact about the Rams is that they actually originated in Cleveland. In 1946 when they moved to LA, they were the first major-league sports franchise west of the Mississippi. My parents grew up near St Louis, so we were Rams fans for a few years.
Poltergeist was primarily filmed in Simi Valley and Agoura Hills, California during the early 1980s.
This is such an amazing movie!!! It used to terrify me as a child, but now I can crawl in bed at night and watch it before I go to sleep
NOT TIGER. Leo the Lion has been the most regular star of MGM Pictures since it was founded on this day in 1924, and his roar is probably the sound most commonly associated with the studio. It’s one of the noises most reminiscent of the Golden Age of Hollywood, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (generally known as MGM) was one of the biggest studios around.
19:34 "yo this movie got intense real quick" Tobe Hooper, of Texas Chain Saw Massacre fame, puts the car in "parental trauma" gear and slams on the gas.
In the old days my neighbors were able to turn off my remote controlled Christmas tree lights.
I was twelve when I saw this movie, actually saw it at the show. I actually wanted to be one of the investigators for a job after seeing this, I thought actually chasing ghosts was such a cool thing!!
I had that Darth Vader poster when I was a kid! I love this movie. It's a true gem of tbe 80's!
Remember good horror movies?
I was 11 when I saw this movie on HBO the first time in 82 and it terrified me.
Bro 1982! I think they had one PA for each chair to drag them away and then two or three guys brought in the pre-assembled chair sculpture. If you look closely you can see them moving in the toaster. Probably pretty noisy on set but salute to the sound editors.
She is in Kramer vs Kramer excellent movie with Dustin Hoffman academy award winner I think, The Big Chill, Poltergeist 2, Dutch, Stir Crazy
The actress who played the older daughter died sometime after this movie was released an the same with the actress who played Carolyn the youngest daughter
For more Jobeth Williams (mom) check out The Big Chill. Great ensemble cast.
on the scene in kitchen where its a 1 shot and the chairs are stacked on the tablet when shes in the cupboard you see the reflection of the film crew in i think its a metal toaster or something on the counter top scrambling to put the chairs on the table quick. someone removed the single chairs and those on the table were actually glued together and just lifted onto the table
One of my top 5 Favs. The quintessential haunted house movie ....evermore!
You really should watch The Big Chill. Jobetb Williams is in that also with a stellar cast including Jeff Goldblum, Glenn Close, William Hurt, Kevin Klein, and Meg Tilly. It's a great movie.
27:17. Those are Steven Spielberg's hand ripping the face apart. Apparently, the sculpted was an expensive prop, it was important to get this shot in one take. The actor was so afraid he would mess it up, so Spielberg did the scene for him.
I was 8 when this came out and I thought this was the scariest movie ever until Nightmare On Elm Street came out 2 years later
If you like this one, Poltergeist II The other side is good too. Poltergeist III isn't bad. Might as well do all three. Thanks, have a good day.
Part two stinks because it retcons the first and makes it less scary. The third one is a joke that completely ruins the story and should never be watched by anyone.
It was made in 1982 not 1987.
The movie was filmed in the subdivision in or near Danville Ca. Now known as Pleasanton. The crazy lightning effects were done with aquariums full of shiny stuff being stirred vigorously and the cloud effects were overlaid in of bleach being poured into water.
Not bleach. It was paint being poured in saltwater tanks. Theyre known as ILM clouds in the industry back then as it was a cool effect. Seen a couple years before in close encounters.
Poltergeist locations were not in the east bay, but just north of LA. The house is in Simi Valley and the rest of the neighborhood was in Agoura Hills.
I’ve lived in the Bay Area and Los Angeles and I’ve been to the Poltergeist house many times. It’s just north of Los Angeles in Simi Valley, but about 350 miles south of Pleasanton.
My apologies for my misinformation.
Keep in mind the corpses they show poping out of the ground were real corpses as they couldn't afford to make fake ones. Also, the actors were not told they were real until filming was done
CRAP! I totally forgot just how spin tingling this movie was. It had just enough humor to keep me from remembering the horror. Unlike the movie, the 74 version of the Exorcist. Lind Blair version. There was positively no humor in that movie. And I slept with the lights on for two weeks after that. Of course I was 14 years old then.
This movie has 2 sequels, Poltergeist II: The Other Side and Poltergeist III and a 2015 remake.
Avoid them ALL!!!!
"In 1987. In one shot. How?" We were not in the media stone age back then 🤣 Good CGI was already a reality since the late 60s (Kubrick's 2001) and 70s (StarWars). But in this case I assume they just exchanged the empty table quickly with a stacked-chairs-table. Alfred Hitchcock did this in his 1948 movie "Rope" which were 10-minutes shots only, without any cut. He used furniture on wheels for smooth set changes.
Yes, the skeletons in the pool were real:
Medical colleges would get bodies from 3rd world countries to use in classrooms. Once done, the skeletons were thrown into a landfill.
The studio took the skeletons, added "gore" and used them in the pool because it was cheaper. It's rumored the skeletons that fell on Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark were likely real as well.
The acress didn't know they were real until AFTER filming the scene.
Nominated for 3 Academy Awards:
Best score, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects.
Lost all 3 to Spielberg's OTHER classic: E.T.
The actors, particularly JoBeth Williams, really gave it their all. If they hadn't this would have been just another cheesy 80s film. I miss actors who really acted in the roles they played with skill. I really believed her motherly responses 100%.
"This house is clean" BS! Lady. 😂
12:44 The worker on the right is Oliver Stone.
I was maybe 8 when it was on HBO and I flipped to it in time to watch the sink scene. Didn't want anything to do with "scary" movies til Elm St 3.
What really bugs me about this series of movies is... it's NOT a freaking poltergeist. It's a classic haunting (as defined by their own rules).
But yes, I love all three of this movies.
Jonathan is such a handsome guy. Total boyfriend material, 😂
"It's not some ancient tribal burial ground. It's just people." As an 80s kid, I saw this movie a couple of times while growing up. I always thought that was a weird statement and I'm still not sure of what he was getting at. Like does he not think the beings buried in ancient tribal burials grounds are people?
@@Seraphim4190 The statement refers to the fact that tribal burial sites were considered sacred and were not to be disturbed or even walked on by non tribal people... So he thought that a regular cemetery was somehow not hallow ground...but us Christians know that the ground has to blessed and made holy for proper burial. Hope that clears that up.
Great reaction ❤! You must watch the sequel ;)
No! It retcons the first and totally ruins the story.
Absolutely Loved This. Would Love for Jonathan to watch Demons (1985) and Creepshow, also from the 80s. 😍🙂😎😲
Especially Creepshow 2!
Stone cold classic. Yes, JoBeth Williams is fantastic as Diane. She is my favourite movie mom. And they did already remake this several years ago and it was terrible.
People often say this movie was cursed, among other things, the actress who played the teenage daughter was murdered by her boyfriend and the actress who played Carol Anne died of cardiac arrest at tender age of 12 after shooting POLTERGEIST 3.
But it's not often mentioned that the guy who played the construction worker who (rudely) helped himself to the food cooking on the stove was murdered with an axe by a man named Christopher Tatum. He was 67yrs. old at the time of his death.
Heather o Rourke died from congenital stenosis of the intestine complicated by septic shock
Also I'm wondering if this movie was cursed why did it skip Craig t nelson?
@@JasonKreider-eq8kp
Yeah. I tend to "ramble" in the comment section.
While I, personally don't believe in "curses" the fact that 2 people from this film were brutally murdered is creepy and I don't hear many people talk about the "axe murder" incident. The final days of that poor girl are heartbreaking (her last words were: "I love you," said to her mother who was by her side) and the "official" cause of death was cardiac arrest, but it was caused by her medical condition that her mother claims was misdiagnosed.
But thanks for adding that, it's tragic what happened to all 3 of them.😔
@@JasonKreider-eq8kp
I personally don't believe in curses. The Exorcist is the movie that has the most creepy and disturbing things that happened both on and off the set. But The Omen has weird things happen and it's not always horror movies, the 50's classic "GIANT" had an all-star cast and for a short while it was considered "cursed" because of bizarre things happen behind the scenes with that movie as well.
Weird $hit happens all the time.
3d was making a comeback at this time but it wasn't specifically filmed for 3d
If you *had* a remote yes it interfered with your neighbors tv if they also had a remote because they were pretty much all using the same frequency. 😂
You don't know Reagan fans very well. I was one and my roommates and I *grew* weed. We had the plants between our tomato plants.😂
While the mom was digging in the cabinet the prop people quietly zipped in, removed the single chairs and placed the already glued together chairs on the table.
No this wasn't shown in 3D in theaters as far as I remember.
Dominique Dunne who played the oldest daughter was murdered by her ex-boyfriend about 5/6 months after the movie was released.
Heather O'Rourke who played the youngest daughter died about 6 years later from cardiac arrest following intestinal surgery at age 12. They had recently finished filming the 3rd Poltergeist movie.
Hello! Spielberg always brings out the best of his actors! It shows with, Jo Beth Williams! Movie recommendation, I got really scared watching, Aracnophobia!
Hey, I have a recommendation for you. Watch the 1951 Sci-Fi classed, “ THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL”. Of course effects may not be up to par with now days movies, but it’s still a great film and even has moral attached to it.
So, when they were building the neighborhood.. they never ran into any skeletons?! Or when they were digging for the pool? 🤔😂
So many good movies came out the year I was born. This movie, Poltergeist, ET, The Thing... After seeing you a bit here, I have to ask, how old are you? Cause everything your asking if 'was this real' yes it was real. These things did happen, etc. And that was 'The Times.'
That was a big Hickey
The house imploded into the other side.
13:00. I get your reaction, but this was 1982. Sadly, people were somewhat dismissive about this kinda (very gross) behavior. (No joke) for a while this was even considered flattering.
You notice the mom watching from the kitchen window, she's ready to defend her daughter.
However, the daughter's (f'ck you) response was bold: she didn't blush and run away from them, she stood up for herself. The mom's reaction (turning away and laughing) was meant to reflect that Dana wasn't gonna just put up with that bull$hit and she was proud of her daughter's ability to stand up for herself.
If you want to see another great 80’s campy “End of the World” movie, please react to “Night of the Comet”, it’s a cult classic that I’ve never seen reacted to on here. Also, sadly, so many people from this first movie and subsequent sequel’s died, it was said to be cursed.
I think Stranger things took some inspiration from different horror movies like POLTERGEIST an some others ones
There's one more thing. A terrible presence is in there with her. (the TV)
So much rage, so much betrayal, (the TV)
I've never sensed anything like it.
I don't know what hovers over this house, (the TV aerial)
but it was strong enough to punch a hole into this world (the TV set)
and take your daughter away from you. (the TV People)
It keeps Carol Anne very close to it and away from the spectral light. (the TV)
It LIES to her, it tells her things only a child could understand. (the TV)
It has been using her to restrain the others. (parents listening to their kids and not the other way around)
To her, it simply IS another child.
To us, it is the BEAST. (the TV)
Now, let's go get your daughter !
A LOT of Reagan republicans smoked weed. The “yuppies” were middle-class kids in the 60s, probably had a lot of access to grass because they could afford it easily. Also, many former hippies turned republican in the 80s because of the false atmosphere of unlimited wealth and prosperity promised by the Reagan administration.
Check out Poltergeist 2. It’s a bit cheesy, but it’s pretty good. It’s got one of the creepiest characters in horror movie history.
The actor was creepy in a brilliant way but the writing is terrible. It retcons the original and diminishes The Beast.
This Film is The JAWS Of GHOST STORIES.
Hi Jonathan hope you are having an great and awesome day ❤
You should checkout a movie called the haunted. It's based on actual events, about the Smurl family and there battle with a demon in their house, its on UA-cam ad free too! Its a really good movie.