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Poltergeist (8)

Published:: 2008.Oct.31 / 2pm

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1982
- Runtime: 114 minutes (1 h 54 m)
- Director: Tobe Hooper 38 yrs old
- Cast:
  
  Steve Freeling
  
  Craig T. Nelson 37
  
  Diane Freeling
  
  JoBeth Williams
  
  Dr. Lesh
  
  Beatrice Straight
  
  Dana Freeling
  
  Dominique Dunne
  
  Robbie Freeling
  
  Oliver Robins
  
  Carol Anne Freeling
  
  Heather O'Rourke
  
  Ben Tuthill
  
  Michael McManus
  
  Mrs. Tuthill
  
  Virginia Kiser
  
  Marty
  
  Martin Casella
  
  Ryan
  
  Richard Lawson
  
  Tangina
  
  Zelda Rubinstein
  
  Pugsley
  
  Lou Perryman
  
  Bulldozer Driver
  
  Clair E. Leucart

Poltergeist

From Jon Madsen’s Movie Commentary Podcast:

Just in time for Halloween (barely)!

J.R. and I discuss a true rarity: a legitimately scary PG movie. BTW, there’s a 10-minute sequence where we lost J.R.’s audio. I went back and commented during some of those parts. Kinda weird. It’s a commentary on a commentary.

Now, this is great, because how many horror movies start with the national anthem? That’s a good point. … American horror; it’s like a national treasure. — Jon Madsen and friends,
Poltergeist @0:01:43

Here’s the first weird thing that happens in the house: dead parakeet. … In a year period, we went thru about 10 birds at our house. … I’ll be honest with you: I actually killed them, ’cause they were annoying. — Jon Madsen and friends,
Poltergeist @0:09:19

In this very instant, [Craig T Nelson] gave up dope, and he picked up a book about Reagan. So he went from hippie to full-on Republican in two seconds. — Jon Madsen and friends,
Poltergeist @0:16:33

If you look under the bed, and there’s a monster there, what do you do? Do you just say ‘Ha! I caught you!’? And the monster’s like, ‘Oh, I feel dumb now. I guess I’ll just let myself out.’ — Jon Madsen and friends,
Poltergeist @1:41:15

Recent commentators

Zarban 2009.Nov.14 8pm

Good commentary from Jon and JR. They call Craig T Nelson “Coach” a lot. They call Tobe (toe-bee) Hooper “Toab” a lot. They do some embarrassing calculations to determine that the mom got pregnant at 15. They wander off topic a fair amount, but always inspired by what’s on screen (Christmas movies, TV remote controls, Craig T Nelson’s conservatism).

At about 1h 30m, JR gets disconnected (Jon explains) and we hear only Jon’s track for 10 minutes.

Heather O’Rourke died from a misdiagnosed congenital bowel obstruction in 1988 at 12, when Poltergeist III was in post-production. She “looked really weird” in the film because of the medication she was taking.

The stories that Spielberg really directed the film have been around since the film came out. Hooper was stoned most of the time, but Spielberg was contractually bound not to direct while he was prepping ET, so he’s always said, ‘No, I was just on set every day, answering questions, giving directions, making suggestions, and dispensing advice; and Tobe would just nod, when he was even there.’

Poltergeists are said to be invisible (as opposed to visible ghosts) and center on a person (rather than a location) because it’s actually the child who throws and moves things when no one is watching. Once video cameras were used in poltergeist investigations, it became obvious.

Cemeteries legitimately get moved from time to time. It involves a lot of paperwork and typically involves reburying in new coffins, but there’s relatively little that family members can do, if they’ve even heard about it. And they sometimes really do leave the bodies and just rebury a bucket a dirt in place of each body.

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Poltergeist

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