The Reel Rejects - POLTERGEIST (1982) MOVIE REVIEW!! FIRST TIME WATCHING!!

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Starting point is 00:01:20 Anyways, we're going to get into it. Really quick. I just got to see what year. Was 82 if I was wrong? I'm just curious before we get into our review. Survey says, screen is loading. Survey says 80 freaking two. I was right.

Starting point is 00:01:41 Why did it say 88? Yeah, that one poster said Super Bowl, 88, 1988. Maybe it took place in the future. Interesting. So, anyways, if you are listening to us on Apple or Spotify, if you don't mind dropping down a rating for us, we would really greatly appreciate it. I enjoy, I mean, I love 80.

Starting point is 00:02:00 films in general. But yeah, this lived up to the hype of, I mean, obviously they had not come out as was 1982, so they had not come out with, oh, Ms. Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy. They had not come out with PG-13, because this was definitely a little excessive for a PG film. But, I mean, lived up to all the hype that I had heard over the years and obviously what Greg was telling us right before we'd reacted to it. But I'm glad, too, there was actually a story year. It wasn't just like random you know ghost and poltergeist or whatever like there was logic here and i i actually like thought it made sense you know in terms of like you know greed uh was the the theme here on like you know greed bad um and it it makes sense um and uh i thought that was an interesting twist

Starting point is 00:02:49 in turn i didn't see coming uh because like i said i just thought that was going to just be a random point in it with just these ghosts coming out of nowhere and just going to focus more on the horror aspects of it, which I was terrified the entire time, like just waiting for the next jump scare. But I think the most important thing in a horror film that I think is the characters. Obviously, storyline is a very big deal, of course, but you got to care about the characters in a horror film. And I genuinely did care about these characters and what happened to them and their well-being, especially with the little girl. I mean, with what happened. Like, I really, I was, like, teetering on the edge, like, please get her back. So I think the film,

Starting point is 00:03:28 definitely achieved that, you know, the sense of like having me invested in characters that I didn't want anything to happen to. And I think that's always the good, you know, you can tell a good horror film just from that aspect of it. So from that perspective, I thought the film definitely did a good job. And again, like I said, I appreciated that Spielberg with the writing, I just took the time and effort to put some logic into it with why these ghosts are just randomly attacking this town and this house because of what, you know, the, the disrespect that they had, the graveyard, the cemetery was there, and that they built on it. They just got rid of the tombstones, left the cemetery there and built over it. Made total sense. I definitely got

Starting point is 00:04:10 more of what I want to say, but what did you think of the film? I thought it was really good. I thought that it was enjoyable from start to finish. I enjoyed the fact that it's different from a lot of horror movies that I guess we're accustomed to today because it did have that. the element of heart to it as we're going along and and getting invested with this family and spending time with them and we have that that moment of of peace and seeing what their dynamic is like prior to all the stuff going down like the two of them in the bed like having fun like being goofy smoking on a doobie and whatnot and that's how I related to the yeah right sorry go ahead no I thought it was uh it was it was a lot of fun and I like that you know even though it was a

Starting point is 00:04:53 horror movie it wasn't trying to scare you 247 you know it was good point really trying to get you invested in this family and and kind of explore uh what it's like to have a family experiencing something that's supernatural and you know seeing them kind of struggle through that uh i really enjoyed all the actors and the performances in this movie absolutely you know and the entry i feel like it had this sense of of wonder in addition to like the horror aspects of it because it was it was this thing that was that was that was happening that was unexplainable but it didn't treat it in like a super dark way it was it was scary for sure but it wasn't trying to use like shadows to to portray that it was using this sense of weirdness and in this otherness and I enjoy the imagination

Starting point is 00:05:46 in which they displayed this haunting occur because Because we don't see it done in this particular way very often. And watching it, I know you haven't seen Stranger Things. I like seeing the inspiration for what we know to happen in Stranger Things, if you've seen Stranger Things. Yeah, she did pass away just really quick. Oh, 12 years old? Oh, no. Sorry about that.

Starting point is 00:06:11 But yeah, you do make a good point. I do like that in the beginning of the film. We spent a considerate amount of time before, like, all the horrors and crazy stuff happened. And again, that's where we did, you know, get invested in this family. And, yeah, that was a very wise choice on Spielberg's part. I am very curious because we are, by the end of this, we will get into the IMDB facts. Maybe they will reveal on there whether he did silently direct this film. Obviously, as a producer and writer on this, I'm sure he had, especially in 1982,

Starting point is 00:06:43 he was already rising to, you know, as the Crem de la Crem, one of the best directors at that point anyways. You know, he'd already done such iconic films. was already, and he was making E-T in the same year, I believe, was 82 as well. Yeah. So I would imagine he had quite the influence on the film, whether he was the official director or not, even though I know it said Tobe Hooper. And I thought Tobe Hooper or Spielberg, whoever the hell directed this film, did a really good job of directing just from the suspense and also the actress performances.

Starting point is 00:07:09 I thought the kids actually did a really good job as well, especially the little girl. I mean, just from the fact she had to look at static TV, that was impressive. But also the way that she was. relaying to us the audience of like letting us in on the fact that yes i mean we knew that there were ghosts just from the title but just letting us in on the fact that and to relay to her parents that we're not alone kind of thing and uh the way she was able to display that through facial expressions in a moment that's not an easy thing to do for any actor but especially uh children who are actors uh so i thought she did a fantastic job and even the little boy robbie the way he was

Starting point is 00:07:45 able to display the fear and uh anxiety and i mean i was feeling that through his through his expressions. So the kids all did a great job. The older child at the end there when she had the hickey, she was frustrating me like, get the hell in the car. I was definitely getting a little, just nitpicking before we get into some of the other great things in this film. I was getting a tiny bit.

Starting point is 00:08:08 Maybe y'all felt the same way. Maybe not. But I was definitely getting a little bit frustrated. Like, why are we still in this house? Why are you looking at the thing, get in the damn car? I get it. Like you said the. No, it has to happen, but still, it's frustrating.

Starting point is 00:08:22 You have no reason to still be here. Right, right, obviously, like, it has to happen. But for 1982, and again, I don't know the budget of this film, but the special effects and what we were able to, what they're able to do at the time, very impressive. I mean, you got that one shot with the long corridor and the practical effects that they were able to do, absolutely fantastic. Incredible. Yeah, I mean, you have even like simple things with the clown and then the, all the stuff

Starting point is 00:08:50 that was coming out of the ground and then those skeletons that were coming out. Steak and then the guy was struggling. Oh, yeah, the steak. Yeah, that, I mean, there were some crazy crazy things. I wonder if they had Robbo. I don't know who, I mean, I'll have to look it up later. But whoever, the special effects team and doing all the practical stuff, absolutely fantastic job on this film.

Starting point is 00:09:08 I mean, like I said, I was completely scared. I did find that one character to be very, I mean, I like the when we got the 80s killing Murphy and that other woman. I thought I found them to be extremely. extremely intriguing, but I also found that other woman, I don't know what, like an exorcist woman or whatever she was. I found her to be extremely intriguing as well. And obviously she was MVP in terms of helping to get Carolyn back. Yeah. I kind of almost like she was double crossing them when she was saying to cross children or something. I couldn't tell what was happening. Just for the spirits, man. Yeah, yeah. So much was going on. I thought she was double crossing them. I couldn't tell what was happening. But either way, like, clearly a very integral part of the uh in terms of characters but yeah i wasn't expecting that character and uh yeah she was great i loved her performance as well i mean it was good dialogue that spilberg wrote for her but her delivery was fantastic yeah i truly believed her when she was

Starting point is 00:10:05 saying these lines too yeah same i when watching stories right something like this i it's funny that you talk about characters because as i was watching it and especially in the finale I was wondering, I was like, okay, every character seems to have like some sort of function within the story, whether it be the female or the woman, the lead lady of the investigative team, right? She was there to support the wife, you know, and then Killian Murphy was there to, I guess, bear witness as an outside party to the things that were happening and, like, have it happened to him firsthand. And then the black dude had his role in it as well. I think the only character in the movie that didn't really serve a function was the oldest daughter. I was like, why is she here at all? They had her there and they wrote her out of the story and they brought her back and they brought her back and like, oh yeah, we forgot to have her.

Starting point is 00:10:59 She's there to sleep at the other friend's house. And then she has a hickie that's never explained. And she's there to have a hickie. Oh, so I will say that's, that's, I think that. Typical teenage 80s girl. Right. So that's one criticism or I guess, questions last criticism maybe she had a bigger role in an extended cut or a different version of the

Starting point is 00:11:16 movie i don't know if yeah the other thing i wanted to say is that it's funny that we're watching this and like as of time of recording this uh there is like this whole debacle or or whatnot about like chris duckman and his whole thing about like not wanted to criticize madame webb and have no no no but the fact that studios interfere with them like within like within artist's visions and whatnot right and it's funny watching this on the cusp of that and like all the controversy with Madam Webb because I feel like the whole section after they save the daughter and then stuff really starts to go crazy and felt like a studio no it was just like hmm we need more crazy stuff to happen because like

Starting point is 00:11:57 this movie wasn't crazy enough we just need like a big finale to go down before we can really give this family piece because it wasn't exactly necessary to the story everything had kind of resolved except for the confrontation between the dad and um mr tique mr tic about them not um having the families actually or having the bodies actually moved but just the headstones moved right that's the only purpose that that scene serves so there's like a vocal recognition of what had happened and why this is happening yeah outside of that it didn't really serve much else because the everything that they were working towards had been resolved the only reason they were still in the house in the first place was because the daughter had been taken and the parents were

Starting point is 00:12:39 there but once they got her back or why the hell are you still? exactly and just like go to a hotel while you collect your go to a hotel while you're or have some movers grab your shit even if you still need it but yeah no like you said it served a purpose for in terms of for mr t i guess he had to see it but it felt like a studio it felt like a studio note to me rather than an organic ending yeah i'm curious if spilver wrote that in

Starting point is 00:13:04 that's a great question because that again while visually the practical effects that happened in that scene i'm glad that they included it in, but from a... It was cool. Storyline and characters-wise, it wasn't not... It wasn't necessary, but I'm, like you said, I'm glad it happened. I'm glad we saw it. From Mr. Teague's perspective,

Starting point is 00:13:24 I'm glad he got to witness what greed and, you know, what he caused. From that perspective, I'm glad, but why there's a way... Why they're still there, why Craig T. Nelson and his family are still there, that it made no... For me, it made no... I would assume

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Starting point is 00:15:20 Or as they say in Spanish, communiquezion. We're done with this ad. If there's a way for them to have fused that post-ending with like the actual ending of them saving the daughter together, I think that would have been more satisfying. But I think that it was still cool seeing all that stuff and like seeing everything come to an end. Right.

Starting point is 00:15:45 You're saying the house was clean. So I figured we just ended there. Right. You're saying in the scene where they got the daughter back, if that all happened simultaneously within that one scene. Within that scene of that believing. And then we get the whole thing with Mr. Teague like in that whole section there.

Starting point is 00:15:59 Because that's the resolution and the crescendo. I could see that. If that all happened and you could just have that slap that on with an extra 10 minutes. and it all happens there like that yeah and then they go and then you just put two and two together that they get their kids after that and what are the odds that the daughter

Starting point is 00:16:13 just shows back up as everything's going crazy and then they all just drive off together I was just like I don't know I liked everything up until that point I like the action itself of all the stuff going crazy but from a story perspective didn't make a lot of sense

Starting point is 00:16:27 or and characters wise in terms of the family still being there yes I agree even though they said like the house is clean it's like would you still want to stay at me Hell no. I'm not trying to stay there. I wouldn't. I'm trying to get gone.

Starting point is 00:16:39 This is terrifying. Yeah. Would you, and even if you stay there in the house is clean, would you still let your kids be in that room by themselves? No.

Starting point is 00:16:48 We're staying together at all times. Yeah, we're not letting my kids be alone at all. No, thank you. All right. Let's see if I can find some fun little fact.

Starting point is 00:16:59 Do you have anything else you want to say before I go to the fun facts? I liked all the people all the family's relationships I would have liked to have known more about their dynamic but obviously we're here for the scare is not here for the inner workings of the family I wish the daughter had a more of integral role yeah she was the oldest daughter I mean yeah if you notice when I said like I thought all the kids did a really good job I didn't really include I was talking more about the little kids the little kids but um because she wasn't really the older daughter wasn't barely in the movie i feel like i was like why you even have her there oh okay so here's some uh i'm sorry did you want to say anything else for at the the trivia facts here no i'm not okay all right so heather o'rorook heather o'rork who plays the little girl the blonde little girl uh kept the pet goldfish that caroland has in the film oh well until i'm obviously until she found um unfortunately god

Starting point is 00:18:01 God rest her soul. Dominic Dunn, Dana Freeling, and Heather O'Rourke, Carol, Anne Freeling, are buried in the same... Wait, who's Dana Free? Wait, is that the older daughter? Hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.

Starting point is 00:18:18 Oh, my God. Don't tell me that. Don't tell me that. The older daughter also passed... 22? Yeah. In the 82, the same year? The older daughter also passed away.

Starting point is 00:18:30 Oh, my God. dude wow when a polter guys come out 82 oh you mean what date yeah what the hell is that why she's barely in the movie maybe oh i'm sorry about criticizing her performance i don't mean her as an actress i just met the character i don't mean i wasn't criticizing her performance i wasn't laughing at the fact that he said the little girl died it was just the way he said it yes my our apologies we're not being insensitive here i promise you um the movie came out june 4th 1982 so she passed uh july august september october and five months after the movie came out and then the little girl six years later oh my god uh so the what i want to know but we don't

Starting point is 00:19:07 have to read dominique dun and heather o'erick uh are buried in the same cemetery west westwood memorial park in los angeles on october 30th dean was oh my god i don't even want to read this uh i'll just pass on that okay we'll do that later yeah um yeah i'm not going to read that um you all know what happened was that about the girl was it was about the older one how how how she passed away. It's, you don't, I'm not going to read that on camera, but you all probably already know what happened. Both of the terrors that plague Robbie came from Stephen Spielberg's own fear as a child, a fear of clowns and a tree outside his window. That's interesting that Spielberg would be. Yeah, yeah, no, that's, I mean, sometimes, you know, like, what we experience

Starting point is 00:19:50 ourselves, like, just really works well on, on screen. So I applaud Spielberg for doing something because, I mean, I've always been afraid of clown. So I can totally sympathize with him. there. Let's see. I'll just do a couple more because I'm sure you guys are sick of me rambling here. I think it was he uses his license to just go crazy. Just like, yeah, we're going to use this premise of these dead people stone to this house who are in between full death and life to just do whatever we want within like the realm of being of horror. And I'm like that, that's a clever excuse to do that. I like that. Drew Barrymore was considered for the role of Carol Ann, but producer Steven Spielberg wanted someone more angelic. It was

Starting point is 00:20:31 Barry Moore's audition for this role in this film, however, that landed her the role of Gertie and E.T. the extraterrestrial, the same year, 1982. Wow, that's cool. All right, I'll read two more, and we'll call it a knight here. During all the horrors that proceeded while filming Poltergeist, only one scene really scared Heather O'Rourke, that in which she had to hold onto the headboard

Starting point is 00:20:57 while a wind machine blew toys into the closet behind her. I could see that. yeah the young actress fell apart producer stephen spielberg stopped everything took her in his arms and said she would not have to do that scene again you could definitely sense the terror when we were watching that scene from the actor i mean yeah for sure that was i mean i was like this is really feels genuine um let's see uh i don't want to read that sorry another fact about yeah yeah i don't want to read that um sorry guys i'm just trying to find something interesting here although i'm sure most of you know some of these but either one of these afterward yeah yeah oh don't worry i'll let you

Starting point is 00:21:39 know oh okay um last one that we're going to read here because it says 341 out of 350 3141 out of 350 people found this interesting heather o'erick plays carroll am was chosen for the film when she was eating lunch with her mother and sister at an m gm commis producer stephen spielberg came up to them and wanted o'eric for the part of caroland she initially failed the screen test because she kept laughing her way through the audition even when she was supposed to be afraid spillberg thought she was too young to take the part seriously but he still recognized something special in her so he asked her to come back for another audition and this time bring a scary storybook with her he also asked her to scream so she screamed and screamed until

Starting point is 00:22:28 she started crying. The audition got her cast as Carol Ann. Spielberg's a genius. I mean, I also, too, sorry to get a little off topic here before we end this. I remember, too, I've seen, I don't know if you've seen this, I've seen so many times on Twitter or X,

Starting point is 00:22:41 whatever the hell it's called. Now, the kid who plays Elliot in E.T., his audition on there, he just absolutely nails it where he's crying. And Spielberg at the very end of his audition with the kid who plays Elliot, says, okay, kid, you got the part. They just knew right away.

Starting point is 00:23:00 I mean, but Spielberg, he's one of those directors where he just knows talent and he knows how to invoke how to get that performance out of you. Why he's one of if not, you can argue he's the greatest director of all time, but obviously you can't argue that he's not one of the greatest directors of all time. He's just, he's simply a genius. Him and Scorsese, yeah. Yeah, him, Scorsese. I mean, yeah. Any final thoughts before we end this? This was good.

Starting point is 00:23:26 I'm happy we finally got to see this classic. I love 80s films. So any other 80s films you'd like, Aaron, myself, anyone else on the team to react to? Any 80s horror films or just horror films in general that are in the same vein as this one? I really enjoyed this other than a couple little things in here. And again, obviously rest in peace to little Heather O'Rourke and the older sister and anyone else in this film. I think I saw some other actors and actresses that did pass away, just older age and all that. rest in peace um but a very good film spielberg nailed it with the writing producing silent

Starting point is 00:24:02 directing whatever else he did on this film uh everyone else great great job i really really enjoyed this film uh but anyways love you guys uh we shall see you on the next one peace

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The Reel Rejects - POLTERGEIST (1982) MOVIE REVIEW!! FIRST TIME WATCHING!!

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