You always remember your first good scare: in my case I was maybe six and watching Poltergeist on a scratchy VHS someone brought to us from England (this is how, btw, we watched everything then-no subtitles, so as to practice English, pirated tapes (never from the US, since they had a different VHS system than Europe, the works).
It was a Spielberg movie (though Tobe Hopper was the credited director) and having loved “E.T” and wanting more, I am sure my parents (who were never really ones for any parental guidance when it came to what is appropriate for children to watch) figured: why not…let them see it.
And what started out as “yet another” suburban alien tale (how many people rented “Poltergeist” thinking it was another “E.T.”, I wonder? Probably as many as those who rented other John Waters movies after loving “Hairspray”) quickly turned into something more sinister.
The terror was right there, in your living room, and there was NOTHING YOU COULD DO ABOUT IT.
NOTHING.AT.ALL
I was a kid, and there was no way you could leave me with a “snow filled” channel for months after that.
And considering that I grew up in a country with only 3 channels at the time , there was A LOT of “snow filled” ones to go around. I still end up hiding from the TV when watching a scary movie, because I don’t want to be sucked in.
Literally.
I am pretty sure my parents hid the tape shortly thereafter.
Now, fast forward some time
and while some may argue that the main element of scary in Poltergeist was WATCHING IT ON A TV. (because well, God only knows what is IN THE TV, I still wonder sometimes) it is nevertheless exciting to know that today, October 4th 2007 for its 25th anniversary, the ultimate suburban horror returns to the big screen for one night only.
In DC it will take place at the Gallery Place Regal tonight at 7:30PM.
And to sweeten the deal this special one-night event will also include a 15-minute never-before-seen glimpse into the real world of poltergeists.
Fanboys (and girls) unite.
in the meantime, do your homework:
http://www.poltergeist.poltergeistiii.com/index.html
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the short life of its child star Heather O’Rourke
also-any horror movie featuring small children is INHERENTLY scarier than any horror movie featuring adults.
This is an inherent fact of life.
It was a spielberg film actually. It was a Tobe Hooper film. Spielberg only wrote, storyboarded, Produced, Set up shots, worked as a casting director, co-edited, told Jerry Goldsmith what kind of music to write for the soundtrack, worked on the, instructed people what to do and most probably made the tea and coffee. He’s very hands on.
October 24, 2007 at 4:40 pm
holy crap. when i was in third grade i watched poltergeist 1 and 2 at a slumber party. they scared the shit out of me. i wanted to run screaming out of the room, but wanted the older girls to think i was “cool” so i forced myself to sit through them. for months after i had to sleep in my parents’ bed. i finally watched the movies a few years ago to get over my lifelong fear of these films, but there are some things i’ll never recover from, such as my pervasive fear of clowns, braces-in-electric-sockets, and thin old religious dudes.
October 4, 2007 at 11:54 am