From The Grave
SPIRITS FROM THE 80’S
From the get go Poltergeist is creepy.
I remember seeing this iconic 1982 horror film and being creeped out by one scene. The scene where the boy Robbie is trying very hard to fall asleep, but he’s distracted by the clown doll sitting on a chair at the end of his bed. He gets up and tosses a jacket over toward and misses. Robbie and the clown stare at each other for a few minutes. He decides to try sleeping again. He lies down, closes his eyes. Seconds later, he raises his head and opens his eyes. The clown is gone from the chair. He reaches down and checks under the left side of the bed. Nothing is there. Dumbfounded, the boy decides to check the right side. Nothing is there again. But when he settles back in bed, the clown is on the bed with him, laughing and his arms to coil around the boy’s neck like a boa constrictor.
That scene has stuck with me all my life. We know that Tobe Hooper is master of scares from his work on Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We also know that Steven Spielberg is a master storyteller in his own right. Who would’ve thought the two could get together to produce one of the best ghost films ever.
It begins with the hilarious and delightful family sound asleep and their Golden retriever roaming from to room to check on everyone or looking for his prize, which turned out to be an almost empty Lays potato chip bag he finds under the slumbering older daughter. Steve (Craig T Nelson) has fallen asleep at the TV, and the local station is signing off with the national anthem. Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke), the youngest child is awoken and comes down stairs to the TV. She stares into the white noise on screen and begins to speak to it, answering unspoken questions, or at least unheard by anyone but Carol Anne.
Next we see its Sunday afternoon and Steve and his buddies are trying to enjoy a game between the Saints and the L.A. Rams (remember, as of yet, the Rams have not packed up and moved to St. Louis - now as of 2014 - the Rams are planning to move back to L.A.) but his neighbor is on the same remote control frequency and the stations switch from Mr. Rogers to the game.
Meanwhile, Carol Anne learns about death. Her bird Tweety has passed on and Carol Anne discovers Diane (Jo-Beth Williams) about to flush Tweety. Carol Anne decides he should have a better burial. He is placed inside a cigar box with a paper towel for night time, a twizzler for when he’s hungry and a picture of herself for when he’s lonely.
That night a storm comes through. We see Robbie and Carol Anne share a bedroom and that blasted clown doll is staring at Robbie, happy to see Robbie uncomfortable with thunder and lightning. In the next bedroom, we see Steve and Diane enjoying a joint or two and discussing the fact that Diane and Carol Anne may share the same infliction of sleepwalking and Steve plans on digging the yard for a swimming pool. Steve teaches Robbie to count how far the storm is from the house. He tucks the kids in, and tells Dana (Dominique Dunne) to get off the phone before returning to his own bed with Diane.
Of course the next scene shows Robbie and Carol Anne in Steve and Diane’s bed. The TV is still on, playing the national anthem as the station signs off. White noise appears on screen and we hear faint whispers. Carol Anne awakens. She moves to the TV, mesmerized by the voices. She reaches out to the TV and a phantom hand reaches out for her. A spirit leaves the TV and enters the wall of the bedroom just above the parents. The house begins to shake And Carol Anne utters those infamous words, “They’re hereeeee.”
They blame it on an earthquake. Construction begins on the family swimming pool. At breakfast, Diane questions Carol Anne about what she meant by “They’re here. Who did you mean?” She replies, “The TV people.” At that moment, Robbie lifts a fork, it has been creased in the middle, and then he sees all the utensils are bent.
The Golden retriever is on the bed barking, seemingly at nothing. Still, that unnerves Diane. Diane goes back to the kitchen and sees the chairs pushed out from the table; all of them. She asks Carol Anne if she pulled them out and pushes them back under the table, walks away to get her cleaning supplies, now the chairs are stacked on top of each other, on top of the table like a puzzle.
"Poltergeist has many of Hooper’s trademarks."
Next, a storm passes through again and that old tree by the house crashes in Robbie’s bedroom window. Steve runs outside amid a funnel in the sky to pull the tree from the window. Carol Anne and all the toys in the bedroom are pulled to the bright light in the closet. It turns out Robbie is being swallowed by the tree, and Steve is rescuing Robbie. Carol Anne can’t hold on any longer and a hefty wind pulls her into the closet swallowed up by the bright light. They save Robbie, but the tornado takes away the tree. They rush into the house and discover Carol Anne is nowhere to be found.
They call for her, but remember the swimming pool had been dug that morning. Steve runs outside and jumps into the pool. She’s not there. Robbie is walking around in a daze, hears Carol Anne’s voice from the TV. They hear Robbie screaming and rush back into the house. Diane hears her as well, but the realization of where Carol Anne is, prompts the family to look for help elsewhere.
They turn to the local University Parapsychology research team. They soon realize there’s nothing they can do for the family and that there is more than one ghost involved, they call in a medium, Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubenstein.) Among the ghosts in the house were the demon known as the beast and they were attracted to Carrol Anne’s life force.
There was a clause in Spielberg’s contract with Universal that prevented him from directing the film. There was a rumor that Hooper didn’t direct the film and Spielberg did. I’m not so sure about that. Poltergeist has many of Hooper’s trademarks. Steady camera shots, the willingness to let scenes develop on their own. I just think the script was so solid and had many of Spielberg’s trademarks, so most people assume he helmed the project. There is much rumor and conjecture connected to this film that it has created its own urban legend. The FX department used real skeletal remains, so that has lent its problems to staff and cast having issues in real life. Heather O’Roarke died at the age of 12 of cardiac arrest and septic shock caused by a misdiagnosed intestinal stenosis in February 1988. Dominique Dunne was strangled by her former boyfriend in the driveway of her West Hollywood home on October 30, 1982, and fell into a coma. She never regained consciousness and died five days later, at the age of 22, after being declared brain dead. So the Urban legend will always continue to get press, and like any Hollywood film, it will trump “real life”.
A novelization was written by James Kahn and of course several sequels and a TV show, Poltergeist: The Legacy came out in 1996 -1999. Summer of 2015 will bring a remake of this great film, produced by Sam Raimi. The trailer looked promising, but I’m not much on remakes, reboots, or any of the current Hollywood trends. I have one question for creators that reside in tinsel town: Why don’t you create original material anymore?
Mark Slade, HMS
Read the previous installment.