Day 24: Poltergeist (1982)
“I don’t know what hovers over this house, but it was strong enough to punch a hole into this world and take your daughter away from you. It keeps Carol Anne very close to it and away from the spectral light. It lies to her, it tells her things only a child could understand. It has been using her to restrain the others. To her, it simply is another child. To us, it is the beast. Now, let’s go get your daughter.”
2007 marked metformin hydrochloride tablets the 25th anniversary of Poltergeist‘s release. Thankfully there were special anniversary screenings around the country, or New York at least, and I jumped at the opportunity right away. I’m all for the theatre experience, possibly to a financial fault, but especially for genre classics like Poltergeist. And to see it with a packed crowd is somewhat an experience itself. My brother Doug and I went, and it felt like I was essentially seeing it for the first time, because it had been so long since I actually did. It was well worth the experience.
There’s the charm of the cheesy special effects, along with the effective use of metformin hcl 500 mg side effects practical ones. There are cute little kids, a gigantic scary tree, a ridiculously talented dog actor, the ultimately awesome, and now impossibly cliché, Indian burial ground factor, and, of course, Craig T. Nelson. And that clown is absolutely terrifying. I don’t care if you’re a grown man, a child, or the Grinch, if there’s lightening outside your window and a rocking chair with a clown sitting neatly upright, you’re gonna be freaked out.
Poltergeist combines so many things that Steven Spielberg is good at, and what has made him probably the most dominant storytelling force in film history. The family is incredibly real and relatable. Everyone is perfectly cast and many of the fears that exist on screen are ones that were true to Spielberg as a child. A story of his conceit, and co-written by Spielberg, Poltergeist is credited as being directed by one Tobe Hooper, writer/director of the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). But as the story goes, Spielberg was responsible for nearly every aspect of production. As IMDb trivia says:
…a wealth of evidence suggests that most of the directorial decisions were made by Steven Spielberg. In fact, Spielberg had wanted to direct the film himself, but a clause in his contract stated that while still working on E.T., Spielberg could not direct another film. Members of the cast and crew, including Executive Producer Frank Marshall and actress Zelda Rubinstein, have stated that Spielberg cast the film, directed the actors, and designed every single storyboard…Based on this evidence, the DGA opened a probe into the matter, but found no reason that co-director credit should go to Spielberg.
So yeah, basically it’s directed by Spielberg, and it’s got his fingerprints everywhere. It’s charming, funny and familial in all the same ways as E.T. It’s also worth noting the two films were shot back-to-back, with Spielberg taking only a few weeks break in between. You may be wondering why I’ve yet to mention Zelda Rubinstein, who’s performance as Tangina, the psychic and paranormal specialist, is one of immortal legend. Really, you just need to see it for yourself. If you haven’t already, there’s no way I can put her awesomeness into words. To put it mildly, Poltergeist is one hour and fifty-four minutes of genre perfection.
