Warning- mature themes and language use in this article. For the record, I think Poltergeist is every bit as much a Tobe Hooper joint as it is a Spielberg flick. Maybe he didn’t deal with the actors as much and maybe he wasn’t involved in the post-production process, but there’s enough here visually for me to point out similar types of shots and lighting and camera movements in stuff like LIFEFORCE — not to mention a particular kind of coked-up hysteria that occasionally rears its long-haired sweaty-toothed head in pretty much all his films.
Mainly, I want to bring up that scene where visiting paranormal investigator Marty looks at himself in the mirror and…well, you know (or don’t know, which is why I don’t want to spoil it). What really bugged me before that part was Marty raiding the kitchen for some late night eats at the Freeling house; he grabs a leftover chicken drumstick, and that I can understand. But then he pulls out a big raw steak from the fridge and puts a pan on the stove, which made me think What Fucking Balls On This Guy.
Steak has been, is, and always will be expensive. It’s one thing to jack some cheaper stuff from someone else’s fridge, but goddamn steak?! And then to put that steak on the kitchen counter without a paper towel, foil, plate, nothing underneath it! Just plop that raw bloody steak anywhere, chief.
(And not a single hand was washed.)
It’s inconsiderate, is what I’m saying. I bet Marty didn’t even put the steak back in the fridge after his freakout either, the fuck. He deserved what he got.
Poltergeist was released in the Summer of 1982 and was directed by Tobe Hooper, although rumors persist that some/much/all the directing was actually done by Stephen Spielberg. Many actors have been quoted as stating that Spielberg was behind the camera and directing the shots that they were in. For the Silo, E.F. Contentment.
Synopsis- spoiler alert.
They’re here.
Craig T. Nelson stars as Steve Freeling, the main protagonist, who lives with his wife, Diane, and their three children, Dana, Robbie, and Carol Anne, in Southern California where he sells houses for the company that built the neighborhood. It starts with just a few odd occurrences, such as broken dishes and furniture moving around by itself. However, a tree comes alive and takes Robbie through his bedroom window, and Carol Anne is abducted by ghosts. Realizing that something evil haunts his home, Steve calls in a team of parapsychologists led by Dr. Lesh to investigate, hoping to get Carol Anne back, so he can remove his family from the house before it’s too late.
Supplemental- Grauman’s Egyptian Theater Los Angeles, California.