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Poltergeist (1982)
35 Plays24 days ago
Trav and Rick dive into 1982's smashing success of a horror film, The Poltergeist, the finer points of building subdivisions over cemeteries, Tobe Hooper vs Spielberg, and a movie that may be more cursed than the house in the film.
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Transcript
Introduction to Suburban Life and Rick's Guadalajara Report
00:00:00
Speaker
The house looks just like the one next to it. And the one next to that. And the one next to that.
00:00:10
Speaker
young couple live in it. Give Ken a kiss. You are so amazing! With their three children. And something more...
00:00:45
Speaker
Hello! Coming to us live, live to me, from Mexico. How's it going, Rick? Muy bien. Muy bien. I'm in Guadalajara.
00:00:58
Speaker
in the state of Jalisco. This the hometown of my girlfriend, Ilse. But it's been a great time hanging with her family, drinking lots of tequila. Not not to be too cliche, but we are drinking lots of tequila. um Ilse's sister's boyfriend, um Memo, he is a he owns a tequila brand. And so we've we've been we've been doing some. I thought this was interesting.
00:01:20
Speaker
And I've been in Mexico, like I said, several times, but this is something I haven't seen before. ah elevators, you get a second chance. If you press the wrong button, if you press it again, it um the the button unlights.
00:01:32
Speaker
Whoa. Isn't that crazy's crazy? That's crazy. You know, that's a good design though. um Give people a second chance. We're too ruthless in the US. Why don't we have that on more elevators? Like once you've made, it's like, you know, who wants to be a millionaire? Like you've locked in your choice. There's no going back. It's final answer when you,
00:01:48
Speaker
click an elevator key. And so I like that. Big elevator. We should see what's going
Film Coverage Approach: Horror Movies and Remakes
00:01:52
Speaker
on there. Otis. yeah We should go there investigate Otis. That's what I thinking about. um Awesome. And then other movie news real quick before we jump into today's app.
00:02:00
Speaker
we do try to cover new releases. I know we haven't done too many yet this year. Um, I think next week we're really shooting for it together, but we are here just on the heels of, I know what you did last summer, the remake releasing it. We were kind on the fence for if we want to cover it or not.
00:02:14
Speaker
I have not seen it because you saw it right after it came out and you liked it, but didn't didn't love it. Maybe, maybe this is something we could capture at the end of the year. If we recap lot the horror films that came out.
00:02:25
Speaker
Admittedly, um, I'm not on the nostalgia train for that franchise.
Chapala Visit and Local Legends
00:02:30
Speaker
I didn't even see the original until a couple days before. um it It felt fairly needless. I had a fine time. you know It's not like I regretted going.
00:02:39
Speaker
ah if you If you're a slasher, purist, and you like the franchise, you will enjoy the movie. um Or if you're just a horror fan, like ah look I gave it two and a half. um doesn't mean it was bad it just was it was average it was just like hey there's a movie i watched it like i will definitely check it out when it is streaming but that was not when i was rushing to the theaters to see yeah especially based on your review yeah um anyways uh last thing so we we did do a day a daycation somewhere in a vacation spot called chop chapala which is um just like 45 you minutes out of ah guadalajara
00:03:16
Speaker
And it's lakeside. It's beautiful. the big property with a bunch of like livestock and, um, you know, we're close to the water and we played with squirt guns and had barbecues and it was, it was just awesome.
00:03:28
Speaker
And then, it's, it was really weird because as I was researching poltergeist, um, Memo, who is Marisa's boyfriend, starts to tell me a story of the property because he knew I was, you know, he knew I did a podcast on horror films. All right. Good ghost story. Incoming. Yeah.
00:03:44
Speaker
So in the late 20s, there was a conflict called the Cristero War. um And so what the Cristero War was is a ah basically the the the Mexican government at the time was feeling fairly threatened by the strength of the Catholic Church.
00:04:04
Speaker
And so ah they created some policies that would like... limit their scope, whether it be budgetary or whatever. i don't get in the weeds on it, but a rebellion started and there was a conflict for about four or five years.
00:04:17
Speaker
And fast forward to, you know, a decade later when Memo's and property was being developed, construction workers found skeletons and bodies, not just underground, but hanging from the trees. Sons of a bitch.
00:04:32
Speaker
You only moved the headstones. You only moved the headstones. So, ah yeah, and I you know so i was like, which who was it? Was it the the government or the Cristeros? When it's government versus big religion, kind of a lose-lose situation for me. like i don't Those are both not people I'm really rooting for.
00:04:51
Speaker
But for those who want to know, it was the Cristero guys, the Catholics. So, forget yeah, I slept at a property and in Chapala that was the gravesite of several Cristero rebels.
00:05:05
Speaker
And you lived to tell
Podcast Hosts Introduction and 'Poltergeist' Overview
00:05:06
Speaker
the tale. Yeah. So there's that. Well, welcome. This is the Sunday Scaries. I'm Travis Telerik. I'm Ricky Townsend. Today we are covering the 1982, maybe most famous ghost story of all time, Poltergeist.
00:05:23
Speaker
Rick, I hadn't seen this movie. Again, I'm pretty deep on my horror viewings of all the films I've seen. Had not seen this movie before. This was one of my blind spots until about a week ago was my first viewing of it.
00:05:35
Speaker
Yeah. So, well, first of all, what did you think? Because for me, this is a totemic work. I think I'm in line with... what a lot of horror, you know, academics and ah archivists think of it. And it's like in a really important work. And I think when I was watching it, I realized it was a five star movie for me. Like it's the third time I've seen it and just so much nostalgia, but also just appreciation for how it came together and just enjoyment.
00:05:59
Speaker
I love the family. I loved it. But as a first timer, I can understand it's probably different given there's all this lore and and and a hype around it that I'm sure the first time it's maybe not as, ah maybe not the same as it is. i I love 80s horror. It could very well be my favorite decade of horror films.
00:06:17
Speaker
And... A lot of what I like about eighty s horror, I'm not sure if it's represented in this film as well. um Whether that's, you know, a lot of campiness where this is actually a very professionally made, like, well-done movie.
00:06:30
Speaker
Or whether it's, you know, a bit more gory and over-the-top practical effects of saying, you know, people get dismembered. a lot of John Carpenter-esque special effects like have in The Thing. Here you have a little bit of it, but it was a PG movie.
00:06:44
Speaker
um This is prior to this PG-13 rating coming out from the MPAA. And so this, I think we said the same thing for Jaws, probably would have been PG-13 had it been released today. There's some shock in it, but it is more family friendly for the horror side. So I i did really like it. i know it's placed, but at the same time, I would not pick this as one of my favorite horror films to come out of the nineteen eighty s Totally understandable.
00:07:09
Speaker
um I think that ah I think it also matters when you watched it age wise too, because I think this place, this movie ah takes place in a lot of people's childhood memories and the fear that it struck in them then kind of stays with them.
Film Production Insights: 'Poltergeist' and 'E.T.'
00:07:24
Speaker
I know that I saw it ah with some friends and I felt like I wasn't even allowed to see it when I watched it first. And it freaked me out. I mean, this is a movie that really, uh, goes the full mile like when it comes to making a house fit feel very scary and things behind cupboard doors and and closets and stuff like that.
00:07:44
Speaker
um But the the other thing about this movie is that its background, development, production, the poltergeist curse yeah we'll talk about, it almost and all the the directing controversy, the the big thing i want to get in front of this pod is to basically say like,
00:08:01
Speaker
All of that almost overshadows this. i agree. i got more i film i it's just part of it's It's part of its legacy. It plays a much more significant ah part in its legacy than most films.
00:08:13
Speaker
I find the narrative around ah all the noise around the film actually be more interesting than the film itself. And the film was good. The film was good. I don't want to dismiss it. But there's a lot going on behind the scenes here that i think will be fun to dive into today. But before we do, um do you want to read us the synopsis real quick for those maybe unfamiliar? or It's been a while since they've seen the movie.
00:08:32
Speaker
A family's home becomes the center of paranormal activity that opens a doorway to, quote, the other side. With help, they must cross over to get their daughter back. This came out within one week of E.T.
00:08:46
Speaker
And it's always important to look at the box office as well, because i I'm sure you gave more color. But E.T., one of the highest grossing films of all time, a gigantic box office, but Poltergeist is no slouch either.
00:08:57
Speaker
actually was the highest grossing horror film in 1982. And with a budget of just a little over $10 million, it actually had $75 million domestic gross and worldwide it was up to almost $122 million. and So this was a really big ticket horror film for the time.
00:09:13
Speaker
um I don't know. what do you think about that? Yeah, I mean, i so I think it's often overshadowed, like the the summer of Steven, the summer of Spielberg is often overshadowed by E.T. just being a behemoth.
00:09:26
Speaker
So what what is most impressive to me about that 75 million domestic number isn't just the number itself. It's that it went toe to toe with one of the biggest box office titans of all time for its entire theatrical run, except for its first week.
00:09:42
Speaker
June 6th was Poltergeist opening date, 6.8 million. Respectable. It didn't even open number one at the box office that it's opening week. That was Star Trek II, Wrath of Khan. It did a 14.3 million.
00:09:55
Speaker
And then um then you have E.T. the very following week opening to 11. But what E.T. did that will likely never see again, Travis, is it stayed in theaters for a year.
00:10:06
Speaker
So even for 80s standards. did not know that. That helps for how it's one of the highest grossing films. As ah Dr. Lesh says in Poltergeist, sometimes they just hang around.
00:10:16
Speaker
yeah And that movie hung around. so ah But not only was it there for a year, okay which is very unconventional, but it also was number one for six weeks in a row,
Spielberg's Influence on 'Poltergeist'
00:10:26
Speaker
which was a record at the time.
00:10:27
Speaker
And then, unconsecutively, it was number one for 16 weeks, which that's a record that is still holding and will likely never there be beat. There's a lot of weeks after the first six where just the other films that were releasing weren't weren't as interesting. And so, everyone would be like, oh, let's go see E.T. or go E.T. again.
00:10:45
Speaker
Why go see that? Why go see Sylvester Stallone with a gun doing something when we can go... see ET with his magical little finger. So, and the reason I say that, and just to give a perspective for people who don't follow the box office, like everybody knows Titanic is what it is in terms of box office. It's a legend.
00:11:03
Speaker
Titanic's number two in that list with 15 weeks. So what ET did ah is super impressive and it's going never, it's never going unless the streaming model, Travis is like upended on its head and we go back to theatrical windows that are closer to those hefty 90 days.
00:11:20
Speaker
mean, we're looking at movies, even good movies are in theaters for like 30 days now. Yeah. I think sinners had probably one the longer theatrical runs I could think of for this year, but I don't even think they were in theaters for 16 weeks. Were they? Topka Maverick.
00:11:34
Speaker
Topka Maverick. ah I can't, I'm off top my head. I don't know how many weeks, but it it definitely surpassed the 90 or, or got close to it or something. It was definitely a throwback back to the nineties.
00:11:45
Speaker
early do that for ah For a long theatrical release. one Correct. or theaters for long It was leggy, as they say. Very leggy. So, ah yeah. eat So the fact that it made Poltergeist $75 million domestic, going against E.T., which is adjusted for inflation, fourth highest grossing movie of all time domestically. yeah pretty Pretty cool.
00:12:05
Speaker
That's awesome. but The director's name here, Tobe or Toby? Because already forgot. And you told me pretty, pretty emphatically that you knew which one it was. And I don't, I still don't know. I was like, Trav, if you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of our, you know, 15 listeners, uh, say the right name. Yeah, it is Toby. Toby Hooper. why his parents decided on the E, uh, I don't know, but it is Toby.
00:12:29
Speaker
Toby Hooper. Um, But yeah, so... Yeah, I guess just a way to start this. Poltergeist, totemic piece of work, a Spielberg production, directed by Tobey Hooper, um a lot of baggage, and but i'll also a very... I want to make this clear. This is an insanely good movie.
00:12:49
Speaker
ah For me, at least. And a lot of people think that too. Yeah. and It's well-made. Like, when you look at... Did it achieve what it was trying to do? This is one that checks all the boxes. So I don't think you can hold that against the film. my My only grievance is, you know, maybe what they're trying to do wasn't necessarily what I'm looking for in a horror movie these days watching.
00:13:08
Speaker
Sure. Totally makes sense. um But yeah, let's just start at the beginning. um So Spielberg is young. He's already on top of the world. He's done Jaws.
00:13:20
Speaker
He just came off Raiders of the Lost Ark. He did Close Encounters with the third of the Third Kind, ah you know, in between. And um he's the he has the hot hand. And so he and Columbia start working together on a sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
00:13:36
Speaker
And... um So Spielberg is juggling lots of projects at this time, had a lot of things in development, and he basically hires John Sayles to write the screenplay. Now, to to date, Spielberg has only wrote and directed three films, meaning like he's written screenplays for other people, very rarely, and he's directed many other people's screenplays. Wait, has he written screenplays for other people that actually got made into feature films? as far as I could see, this is the only writing credit he had where he's not also director on it.
00:14:08
Speaker
for feature films. then Then the line here is that he doesn't write many screenplays. Yes. You know? Yeah. But back to how Poltergeist even got here. So the this project that came out of this sequel to Close Encounters of the third Kind, he hires somebody else, which he normally does, John Stales, to write it. And the screenplay is dark.
00:14:26
Speaker
in If Close Encounters is is about the mystery and wonder of aliens, this is about aliens coming to your home and fucking
Development Dynamics: 'E.T.' and 'Poltergeist'
00:14:34
Speaker
shit up. Like, they're menacing, they like mutilate a cow,
00:14:38
Speaker
It's very dark. It's not all. but Not every alien is bad in it From what I know about the screenplay, um there is some benevolence, which plays a huge part in in what happens next production wise. But ah basically coming off of Raiders doing this big production, he wants to do something a little bit more intimate, a little softer, and he's really not vibing with the horror elements of this script.
00:14:58
Speaker
And so he starts to pass it off. um But he, the the project basically splits into two things, Travis. Night Skies is the name of that project. The horror elements of Night Skies, again, the sequel to Close Encounters, which never got made, the horror elements become poltergeist. He goes to Toby Hubert and like, I got this script.
00:15:17
Speaker
It's about mean aliens. Toby's like, um don't want to fuck with aliens, but what if it's ghosts? and I've been wanting make a ghost story for like 20 years. And Spielberg's like, bet, we're doing it. Um... And so then concurrently, the benevolent alien sub-story in Night Skies becomes, what do you... E.T. E.T. Comes E.T., yes.
00:15:37
Speaker
Now, where things get a little weird is, okay, as he started to develop E.T., Universal basically said, hey, we're going to back you on this. This is going big. And they were right. But you can only be directing this one film.
00:15:51
Speaker
You can't. We know that you like to do the whole double dip thing. You can't do that here. yeah You got to pick one. And so ah some people think that Spielberg basically tried to direct it as much as he could without being the official director.
00:16:05
Speaker
Spielberg wrote the script or co-wrote it. He did the story. he's but Frank Marshall, longtime producer of him, is is producing a Kathleen Kennedy was also involved.
00:16:16
Speaker
ah These are Spurs people. but Yes. But the question arises, if he's on set almost every day and it's his brainchild, he's brought in this young producer, sorry, he's brought in this young director in Toby Hooper,
00:16:32
Speaker
who is by all accounts really, you know, he's also a rising star, but he's nowhere near the level on the stratosphere of Spielberg. um Famed for Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 1974.
00:16:46
Speaker
And then also Trav, an adaptation of Salem's Lot, the miniseries in 79. Yeah. um but none of those were big studio productions now they were cash cows like takes a chance on massacre we don't have the same thing about that i mean that's similar piece of work maybe one of the best slashers if not the best slasher of all time yeah and it's it's endured it's it's place in mount rushmore is there but it also made a lot of money yeah it was a low budget it was really low budget and it was a huge hit so seems like a good choice um but doesn't have a lot of leverage.
00:17:18
Speaker
doesn have a lot of you know he's he's He's not going to say no, or he's not going to tell Steven to back off if things start to get a little ah competitive on the production.
Directorial Controversies and Clarifications
00:17:28
Speaker
So anyways, and that's trying to jump in ahead a bit.
00:17:31
Speaker
Basically, ah people ask, and you know they see Steven's name everywhere, but he's not the director. ah And then everything's kind of fine in the world of media. And the rumor doesn't start about this shadow directing rumor until ah a piece in the LA Times. LA Times visited the set, interviewed some people, and they come out and they write this piece that basically says that this is Spielberg's project.
00:17:59
Speaker
He's almost like the de facto director. i think Steven just says things and he's in the moment. And this quote that was in that l LA Times article, that was the kind of opening the can of worms of this conversation in LA, which which was this, Toby isn't a take charge sort of guy.
00:18:15
Speaker
If a question was asked and an answer wasn't immediately forthcoming, I'd jump in and say what we could do. Toby would nod in agreement and that became the process of collaboration. And this is prior to the release. of the Oh, yeah. that is piece oh yeah um and it That one article has
Balancing Horror and Family Themes in 'Poltergeist'
00:18:32
Speaker
spurred on 40 years of speculation and digging up old interviews and people having really hot takes on who really directed this movie. Some people even put Poltergeist in like Spielberg's rankings for his movies. you know um and so there's We have a bevy of like literature and and like resources we can like dive into. and There's been entire podcasts, entire books, entire...
00:18:55
Speaker
you know, long form articles dedicated to this. I think you and I's job is to like cover the highlights. I do agree. there's There's so much going on with the, you controversy about who really directed this film and not a lot of new light, I think I can shed on it or or yourself.
00:19:12
Speaker
We can look at other points that have been posted over the years, but I'm just curious, honestly, to get your take on watching it. Cause I know you've seen almost Spielberg's entire filmography and I've seen the vast majority of it as well.
00:19:26
Speaker
I'm a little less familiar with Toby Hooper, although I love Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but at least for me, like, This has a lot of those big production values, are I think, like key pillars that I'm used to seeing in Spielberg films. I'm just curious, did you feel the same way or where do you stand just from your opinion?
00:19:46
Speaker
Knowing what I know and watching it, and I'm like you though, Trav, i the the only two Hooper films I have seen, feature length films at least, were Texas Chainsaw and Texas Chainsaw 2, which I loved 2, probably you more than one.
00:19:58
Speaker
What I see when I watch this is, of course, it's it's less like I see Spielberg in it, it's more so I see it so tethered to e t even it is almost a It's a spiritual sequel or a spiritual sibling to me because you have this suburban setting a It's focused on the family.
00:20:17
Speaker
Kids play a big role. a foreign entity enters the home. Something happens. ah People don't believe them. They don't believe themselves. And, you know, the only difference is one is benevolent entity. The other is evil. Mm and you know The look and the feel, they're both in Southern California.
00:20:39
Speaker
um Of course, there's there's you know Spielberg touches in this, but I see i see Hooper too. i mean, i kind of look at it this way. I see this whole directing controversy as very valid to talk about, and there's things that happened that would we should question. i mean, the DGA even got involved.
00:20:57
Speaker
They had to investigate to see if Spielberg was infringing on Hooper's ah ability to direct, and if Spielberg should even get a credit. My opinion is this. I think that it was a collaborative effort.
00:21:10
Speaker
I think that the horror elements that you see, Hooper did. ah like The horror elements that you see in this movie are so Hooper. A tree eating a kid. yeah a face being ripped off to the bone.
00:21:23
Speaker
um That monster. Of course, Spielberg delves into that, but he's not a horror director. He might have draws and under his belt and Jurassic Park is and like you know adjacent, but Spielberg's touch comes in with the family dynamic. Yeah. you know I think the whole framing in the setting here, right? We're introduced to the film with these wide shots of this suburban neighborhood.
00:21:44
Speaker
the score playing with the family like this very much feels like the setup for many Spielberg films. um I'll touch on this again later. But there's, there's a sense of awe and wonder, as they first confront the paranormal here, which is so textbook Spielberg, I feel like, you know, you get that with Jurassic Park, the first time they see the dinosaurs or with ET when they're you know, the bike takes off and they're now soaring through the sky and on wonder are Spielberg through and through that actual sense of, you know, not just my characters are going to experience something and love it, but I know how this could transcend through to the audience and having more limited exposure to Hooper.
00:22:24
Speaker
That's not really what he's going for in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, right? There's no point where I'm taking a step back and being like, wow, rural West Texas, like it's beautiful out here this time of year, right? Yeah. And so um I think a lot of the setting I see Spielberg, but I agree with that point. And I also think it's a bit of like, if someone tells you not to think about pink elephants, you're going to think about pink elephants.
Film's Third Act and Practical Effects
00:22:44
Speaker
And so being familiar with the controversy before I watched the film, of course, that's all I'm looking for when I watch it then is like, oh yeah, I think that's Spielberg. oh yeah, I think that's Hooper. And so I think, like you said, had I gotten in blind, maybe my take would be a little different.
00:22:57
Speaker
Yeah. So the, it got the the controversy got so, uh, big and it got so it had interfered on the release of the film and the the the discussions around it that people even had to write an open letter ah to to tobe hooper that was published in um toby did i say tobe that's fine man i've called him tobe until today God damn it.
00:23:23
Speaker
So yeah, this the the controversy got so out of hand that in terms of like people talking about it, and this is free internet, obviously, that Spielberg had to take out a full page ad in the June 9, 1982 issue of Variety. And I'm not going to read it in full, but partially this is what he said.
00:23:42
Speaker
um Regrettably, some of the press has misunderstood the rather unique creative relationship with you and i shared throughout the making of Poltergeist. I enjoy your openness and allowing me as a producer and a writer a wide berth for creative involvement, just as I know you are happy with the freedom you had to direct Poltergeist so wonderfully.
00:24:02
Speaker
And so I think as as like press speaky as that is and sanitized as it is, I'd like to believe that's the truth. I think I appreciate Spielberg not saying, hey, I was just the producer. Like he admits like, yes, I had a wider berth on this than normal.
00:24:17
Speaker
And that's undeniable. I mean, you you have several actors even saying that Spielberg and directed the film. You have the first assistant camera saying he he directed the film. So if you know, so you have Zelda Rubinstein said that she she had seven days. So she was she played Tangina, the short ah medium. I love it.
00:24:36
Speaker
hy it Yeah, she's great. ah She says Steven directed her the entire six days or seven days that she was there. um That, you know, to Toby might have set up the scenes and stuff, but that sheet that but then you have James Cameron, Martin Casella, and Oliver Robbins saying that Toby Hooper directed it. I think, just like with anything, the the truth is in the middle somewhere.
00:25:00
Speaker
And I don't think Toby had the... the ah cachet to really say no to stand down to spielberg and i don't think spielberg could help himself and and i don't think he meant to like and interfere i just think it's a great collaboration i think the the results speak for themselves you have elements of horror elements of wonder the family dynamic and it all works out and into an amazing film Yeah, I i agree. i mean, it made the film better with them collaborating. Maybe that's the point we can kind of leave this one on. Again, we have no new information, but it is so interesting reading about this and watching the film through that lens and seeing how both Tobey Hooper and Spielberg work together.
00:25:37
Speaker
um Let's move on to other production notes to kind of keep this going. I was very curious, you know, do we do we want to talk about the cast here? um Some of them went on to have long and great careers after this, like, ah well, namely Craig T. Nelson.
00:25:53
Speaker
a lot of them didn't it live for much longer after this film. Do you want to talk about the poltergeist curse? We have to talk about the Coltergeist curse. Yeah. Let's just talk about the deaths or near-death experiences. This is not talking about weird hauntings on set, you know,
00:26:07
Speaker
ah like for ah picture frames being misaligned people's trailers. Well, let's just hit the big ones. um So Dominique Dunn, who played ah Dana, the teenage daughter in this movie, only a few months after the film was released, this is October, 1982.
00:26:26
Speaker
She was in a pretty tumultuous relationship with this guy. um John Thomas Sweeney. So yeah, she was in this bad relationship with this dude. um He was abusive. They broke up and then he shows up on her doorstep ah while she's rehearsing lines with ah with a friend.
00:26:42
Speaker
So John Sweeney ah shows up on her doorstep and has it has a he's knocking on the door, she's not answering, she finally answers it and they have a confrontation. he ends up choking her to death. um That was 1982. That was four months after the release of the film.
00:26:57
Speaker
um Not only was it a horrific murder, the aftermath of the court case was awful too because the he got off with like three, he served like three years. And the jury even said, had they known that he was abusive beforehand, because that was not information that were given to him,
00:27:14
Speaker
that that was given to them that they would have likely given him the first degree murder charges and a manslaughter. yeah um But Trav, I do wanna give a note about this. this John Mara, is he changed his name to John Mara and he's still alive.
00:27:28
Speaker
And he is in the restaurant world, okay? um I went on to the last place of employment that he worked at, ah their their Facebook page.
00:27:39
Speaker
um It's a old retirement community called ranch home, Smith smith Ranch Homes. And anytime they post anything about their amenities or anything, people just comment about this. So I'm going to give you a few examples. Okay.
00:27:52
Speaker
So ah one of their posts was, Hey guys, sorry, water maintenance shut down. um Just want to let you know. Thank you. And then somebody said, only join this community. If you want to have a murderer crookcut cook your meals, chef, John Mara strangled his girlfriend, Dominique Dunn to death and served only three years.
00:28:09
Speaker
He also has a lengthy history of abusing other women. Oh my God. And then somebody, ah so they they said, hey, we have a new website design whatever. And then somebody commented, please like this new website, Smith Ranch Homes, a place you could be murdered. I will also have all social media platforms available. You can thank John Mara. and I'll be posting everyone's addresses to allow people to ask questions since you took down the email address.
00:28:31
Speaker
Thank you. My favorite one is this though. They have a movie night, October 5th, 2021, and they're showing ah Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief. And they have a big poster of To Catch a Thief. and they're like, we're going to show this as movie night.
00:28:45
Speaker
Brian R. Solomon says, how about To Catch a Murderer, like the one you currently have as general manager? So justice for Dominique Dunn. The people are speaking out.
00:28:56
Speaker
um So that horrible though, really sad. And to make it matters worse, um the little shining star of this movie, six-year-old Heather Rourke, who would go on to, so to, uh,
00:29:10
Speaker
we going to start and Yeah, two and three. um Tragically, she was misdiagnosed with Crohn's disease, ended up having a another gastrointestinal problem altogether, and died during surgery. She was 12 years old in 1988.
00:29:25
Speaker
um So that one sticks with me, honestly, because you can we can talk about the curse. And like likely, i don't i don't know if I believe in curses, really. like I just just think there's a lot of people in this production and weird things happened.
00:29:36
Speaker
But take that away, the the trivia of it all. just When I watch her performance, I'm like, this is somebody that could have yeah really gone on to do something really special. And she gives a great, naturalistic, angelic performance. And it sucks to know that she passed. But she's got a legacy. And that's, I mean, what else can you say?
00:29:53
Speaker
Yeah. So those are the two most notable. I know for the sake of time, we could just say that there were other um lesser known actors. I think like extras, one in this film, one from the sequel who also met an early demise, I believe. And so was not just specific to the two daughters of the family in the film, but also other cast and crew, which is crazy. I mean, a lot of people regard this as the most cursed film of all time for for what happened off the set to the the cast and crew.
00:30:21
Speaker
Yeah, you had about, I think, four people die untimely deaths, and then you have our boy ah who played Ryan in this. What was his name again, Trav? Yeah, that's Richard Lawson.
00:30:32
Speaker
Yeah, you have Richard Lawson who survives a plane crash. um So maybe the curse also helps you survive plane crashes. I don't know. But yeah, that is the that's the the the the the broad strokes of of the curse of Poltergeist.
00:30:48
Speaker
One last, last, last production note. Last thing, okay. It ties into the curse. So why is the house cursed in Poltergeist, Travis? Because those sons of bitches built it over a cemetery and they didn't move the bodies. They only moved the headstones.
00:31:05
Speaker
Okay. Are you familiar with the story behind the final scene in the pool at the end of the movie? Of course, of course. That's where the bodies are buried. They start floating on up.
00:31:17
Speaker
But I'm talking about in real life. So a movie whose premise is about misappropriating dead bodies actually ended up cutting some corners ah and used actual real life skeletons for that scene um that they rented from a medical facility. They did not tell most of the crew or cast.
00:31:39
Speaker
So not until ah afterwards, and Jo Beth Williams has confirmed this. She did an article... Interviewed for fourth the anniversary in Variety. And she said that ah she wasn't made aware until maybe a year or two later. ah Yeah, those are actual skeletons that they purchased or slash rented. So you got to wonder, is that where the curse started? That ah whole movie about desecrating dead bodies, are we doing the same thing here?
00:32:07
Speaker
those sun i don't know. did the Did the parents of these bodies, they think they're just going off to be medically studied by like... ah very well accomplished doctors instead they're thrown into it i mean if i passed away i'd be kind of flattered because he's my body in a film like i finally get my first film credit should have just given credit where credit is due i think and then it then it could all so drive if you had the choice If someone says, hey, you can be – your body can be donated to – it's got to be one of two things. You can't just be in the ground because of some policy.
00:32:41
Speaker
You can even donate it to science or you can be in a Steven Spielberg movie. I want highest and best use. So if they think there's something really unique about my body, which there very well may be, that could help god science.
00:32:53
Speaker
what are be Dissect me. Don't study it. But if they're like – If they look at my bone structure and they're like, my God, this guy could have been a star. Then then hell yeah. Bring me to Hollywood. Give me give me my debut as a corpse. and Are you suggesting that you have real good bones?
00:33:09
Speaker
I have pretty good bone structure. I have good posture. People have always told me. yeah I'm saying this while leaning forward over my mic, but I've been told I have good posture. I also have that. I don't know what to say to that.
00:33:20
Speaker
You know, um what is it called? But that protruding brow. you mentioned this before we back to maybe being a bit more closely related to our neanderthal relatives but um i would envision i have a big skull because of that i got a little more square footage than the normal skull would have well i hope i hope your bone i hope your skeleton and your bones aren't typecast after you pass travel i hope that you have a wide range of uh of rules that they could use my body for yeah yeah um anyways yeah i Yeah, she didn't know. Didn't know they're real dead bodies. so
00:33:52
Speaker
Before we jump into the categories, I wanted to to issue a few notes. ah Alien. There's an Alien, the 1979 horror film, Ridley Scott, iconic. An Alien poster and Carol Ann in Robbie's room.
00:34:08
Speaker
okay Who watched Alien? who have like Did Robbie watch Alien? At Richard Young? Dude, the kid's like eight years old, and that's one of the most gruesome, horror-inducing films I've ever seen.
00:34:21
Speaker
What's happening? Yeah. i've kind of I mean, it goes back, to again, to this film itself being only rated PG, but Alien was Yeah. so like Oh, Aliens are hard ah The only connection I could think of was ah Jerry Goldsmith did the score for both movies um and phenomenal ones at that. The only other thing I want to circle back on is kind of feelings with the film and overall thoughts. I know i was maybe not as hyped on it as you are.
00:34:50
Speaker
I think this ties back into maybe Spielberg's involvement as well. and And maybe it actually leans into the campy side of the 80s, which I like in horror films. But I thought this horror film was very unique because this is one of the earlier haunted house films um that I've seen. I know there's plenty that predate it, but now this is a trope that we see a lot more movies in today's age.
00:35:11
Speaker
But the family's initial reaction to Ghost in the Home, I think, is ah almost comical as in they're very like non-plus or even enthused. I like, can you, the reason I love it on here.
00:35:24
Speaker
The reason I love it is because you just don't see that. You don't see that in other movies. And I look the way they paint these care. I love the parents. These are like some of my favorite onscreen parents. You can tell that they're young parents.
00:35:36
Speaker
I mean, they have a 16 year old and the mom's like 31, 32. thirty one thirty two So but do the math. They're smoking pot recreationally, which again, that is definitely a Toby Hooper thing. You don't that does not happen in Spielberg movie. it has in the eighty s And to by the way, Toby was known to like be pretty blitzed on set occasionally um by the devil's lettuce, which is, you know, hey, whatever gets him in the mode in the mood.
00:35:58
Speaker
ah But this is what I think. I feel like they are free spirits and they became parents. but without really trying and then it just happened and now they're just you know trying to read books about reagan and buy a cookie cutter home but there's still that like exciting weird hippie element of who they are and so i i buy it i buy it when joe joe beth is like look at this chair ah she's a free spirit and she's like this is fucking but maybe we don't know her beliefs you know i guess they say later but Craig T. Nelson comes home.
00:36:27
Speaker
yeah This is, he's playing Steve, the dad of the family. And they've literally gone like full John Madden in the kitchen, like with X's and O's drawing up exactly the route the chair is going to take, where it's going to start, where it's going to stop.
00:36:40
Speaker
Even the daughter there, little Carol Ann, she's wearing like a helmet as they're like, hey, let's just send our kid through this weird portal to take her to the kitchen. And it's... um It was novel.
00:36:52
Speaker
It was novel in the approach, but also like, I don't know if I would react that way if this was like the first legitimate confirmed paranormal event, maybe ever in history to be like, oh, how fun is this? It's like a Disney ride. Like, let's send our daughter through this here.
00:37:06
Speaker
Different strokes, man. Different strokes. The hippie movement was serious time, dude. I'd be out of the house right then. you know like Who sees that and says, this is great. Let's let's stick around here.
00:37:17
Speaker
You might be stepping on dull knives a little bit there. yeah That it might be one of them. um All right. You mentioned football. I have i have a football observation, Travis. Yeah. um Clearly some Rams fans in the house back when the Rams were in LA.
00:37:30
Speaker
This was a Rams at Saints Monday night football game 1980. Yeah. um Now, the the weird thing is, ah ah sorry, the the Amazon Prime where I watched this movie, it's x-ray trivia thing said it was what I just said, Monday Night Football 1980. Yeah.
00:37:48
Speaker
yeah and But I did some research because first of all, it says Youngblood made an interception. And I knew about Jack Youngblood, like the big linebacker. um But I was like, is he was he known for making interceptions?
00:38:02
Speaker
So I started started like went down a rabbit hole, Travis, basically. And I found that this actually wasn't 1980. it was ah It was October 7th, 1979. And it wasn't Jack Youngblood who made the interception. It was Jim Youngblood.
00:38:16
Speaker
No relation. really And yeah, number 53. And he picked off Archie. Archie Manning. Archie Manning. Yes. ah the the The lone bright spot of the Saints before Drew Brees came along um was picked off five times that game. One of them by Jim Youngblood.
00:38:33
Speaker
Yeah. And so not not great. and So that's that's a little bit of background in the football game. um Interesting they picked that game in particular. Another observation, just there's a lot in the home. Dude, the production designers were busy as hell.
00:38:46
Speaker
um I was going to make this a bit, but it became too much. I was going to do a Star Wars counter just to count how many items of Star Wars paraphernalia and merch. It stopped because it was like, this is going to be annoying. ah i count I stopped after one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight things.
00:39:02
Speaker
The comforter at the beginning, C-3PO. Darth Vader a head in the back of the room. There's a Tauntaun action figure. There's a poster. There's a TIE fighter. Chewie's on the rug. ah Sorry, Chewie's on the like blanket.
00:39:13
Speaker
um Just a lot of Star Wars. Yes. Likely, you know, not just because of the zeitgeist of Star Wars, but Spielberg, Lucas, longtime friends. Same thing's happening in E.T.
00:39:24
Speaker
ah You have somebody dressed up as Yoda. Let's talk about Spielberg and Lucas briefly. Again, both of them really made their careers at the same time and famously friends. Spielberg casts Zelda Rubinstein in this, who is notable for she is a little person, a smaller person.
00:39:42
Speaker
And I'm still so confounded by both Spielberg and Lucas early in their careers, late seventy s early 80s, loved casting little people in roles in their films. You know, you got the Ewoks, you got Willow,
00:39:54
Speaker
um which Lucas wrote the story for. And then with Spielberg, you have E.T. and then you have Zelda Rubinstein in this film. And so I've never understood exactly. Hey, let's not let's not forget Kenny Baker, R2-D2.
00:40:05
Speaker
Oh, yes. And Kenny Baker and R2-D2. So a lot of their early films, they were like, hey, these are roles that, you know, have been underrepresented in film maybe before. And so we want to give them their spotlight. But i think Zelda Rubinstein was another good example of this.
00:40:19
Speaker
I thought Zelda was the highlight movie, honestly. Yeah. This house is cool. love Craig T. Nelson. And I think from the cast here, he had the biggest career after this film.
00:40:31
Speaker
um Most notably, he's the voice of Mr. Incredible, but also Telerik family Christmas staple. We love The Family Stone. My family watches The Family Stone and every Christmas, and he's the father figure in that movie as well.
00:40:43
Speaker
um So he's had plenty other credits, but I think he went on to have a big career. And so I like seeing him. This is very early Craig T. Nelson in this film. and I want to say also, i love the pot in the bedroom scene.
00:40:55
Speaker
ah To me, it grounds them as like real characters. And, you know, you could just like i could hang with these parents. Yeah. Jo Beth Williams, who plays the wife, Diane, going back to who you thought out most in the cast, I thought she was absolutely great in this. In fact, her more I like Craig T. Nelson keeping on to have a bigger career after this, but I think she was my favorite favorite character within the film.
00:41:19
Speaker
Like you said, that portion just really humanizes her, makes them seem like a real family, right? Not just a caricature of what used for a film. Horror rating or scarometer.
00:41:31
Speaker
Where are you out of 10 on this film? I'm going to be higher than you. um I found this movie pretty scary, dude. ah What did we see? The ring was that was that eight ring is eight. That's our highest film to date. And bring her back. It's seven. Yeah.
00:41:47
Speaker
I'm going to say 6.5. six point five wow um So you find this film scarier than yeah Barbarian, for instance? Yes, I do. Barbarian is is fun. Barbarian is like see the mama doesn't really look like an actual thing to me.
00:42:01
Speaker
There's a moment in Poltergeist that my brother and I mimic all the time. And it's when she's like, Mommy? Mommy, where are you? Mommy? Mommy? where are you? Where are you? And like that voice and the TV and the silhouette of her buck tooth brother freaking out. be like
00:42:24
Speaker
Like that freaks me out, man. I've been in that kid's shoes. One thing I hear something in my TV. Okay. We're selling it. I don't think i'm way off. I think I'm about a five. This is like a middle of the road scary. There there are a few set pieces and in parts that are frightening.
00:42:38
Speaker
But I think overall, if I look at Poltergeist, I think this is more of a wholesome family movie. There are some guy tears his face off this in the closet. This is not a feel bad man movie. This is okay. Two positives have not a single death um other than all the the bodies that float to the surface that were that died long ago yeah and and long long ago not a single death in this movie and not that you always need death to be scary but i'm middle road i'm a five on this one Okay.
00:43:08
Speaker
Well, like like do we meet in the middle and give it a... If I said 6.5 and you said 5... I think we could have our own rankings, but I'm not going to give you the roundup to 6. Yeah, we can have our own individual rankings here because I can't be convinced it's more scary than not.
00:43:23
Speaker
Highlights. Okay, so my favorite scene in the movie... I'm going to have to go the first night. The spirits really run amok with the, with the tree grabbing and pulling Robbie into its mouth.
00:43:34
Speaker
Like you said, it was very, very Spielberg to me, how the whole film felt until this scene where you start doing this tree, start to eat Robbie. I'm like, Oh my God. And the effects, the practical effects actually look great on this.
00:43:46
Speaker
That's Hooper being a sicko. Yeah, there's the misdirection while the parents are outside trying to save him. And then you see like poor old Heather hanging on to her bedpost while she's getting sucked into the closet and everything's getting pulled in there. like I love this scene. It's very rewatchable, action-packed, scary.
00:44:02
Speaker
and And that's my high point of the film. But I'm curious, where where were you for highlighting this? Love that scene. Great practical effects. ah Dude, I will say the tree...
00:44:14
Speaker
Very menacing. yeah It'll be, I mean, I know we're only going to pick one best line, but that's going to really hard for this movie because i thought there was a lot. What does the kid say about the tree? He's like, this tree knows me or like this tree knows everything about me. that.
00:44:27
Speaker
ah And then he tries to eat them. Great stuff. Um, For me, I thought about this a lot. I know we're trying to not bring multiple scenes to these categories for sake of time. And so I got to go with the one where ah the family has brought in Dr. Lesh and her team, these, ah what do we call them?
00:44:48
Speaker
These paranormal investigators brought in these paranormal investigators and they're wanting to see what's going on. They've already seen the closet with all those items moving everywhere and flying through the air.
00:45:01
Speaker
But at one point, Jo Beth, Jo Beth's character, Diane, starts calling for Carol Ann. And when she is doing that and she's, you see the, oh, she went through my soul and she can feel her and there's this like maternal thing.
00:45:21
Speaker
But then as her voice gets further and further away, there's just true terror when she's like, so't touch my baby and like and like it's been it's baby b-a-y b-a-y it's always baby yes uh i just love that there's a that's such a great uh that's a great intersection of spielberg and hooper's talents where you have the family dynamic and the sweet maternal warmth and And then you have the terror start to emerge. And it all happens around the same time. There's like this weird hybrid thing going on.
00:45:55
Speaker
And it's a such a smooth transition. And that mo that scene encapsulates everything I love about Poltergeist. It's like real, believable characters, strong family unit, dealing with something that they can't understand or explain, yet they are addressing it regardless. Yeah.
00:46:11
Speaker
And I also feel like there' there's this they're this isolated family. Despite being in a neighborhood, they make this neighborhood of track homes feel like like this is Reagan's new era of like build, build, build, and be communities.
00:46:25
Speaker
But like there's a it's lacking this sense of organic... uh neighborly sense you know like they have conflicts with their neighbors the uh todd hills not not the best neighbors not the best no i mean he helps her out of the pool that's about it doesn't go in the house they they fuck with the tv he doesn't even really help her out the pool i remember he just he takes her hand and he pulls her out but yeah i just that scene reminds me like this family is special but they are alone and i think it's a great whether it's a social commentary or like take on like what was happening with the, you know, the bursts of, of, uh, middle America at that point, or like, sorry, the, you know, but what am I trying to say? Middle income?
00:47:05
Speaker
Like, yeah, the, that's slice of life America right there. Yes. But it's being commodified in a way that like you can't replicate it without doing it the right way. And like, you can't just put a bunch of identical homes together and shove up a bunch of people in these homes and expect it just to work. Like, yeah.
00:47:19
Speaker
and What's your thoughts on Dr. Lesh and her team, specifically like their credentials? Do they know what they were doing? Like, again, I think a paranormal investigators is a bit of snake oil salesman. They likely hadn't encountered too much verified paranormal experiences before this, I would assume.
00:47:38
Speaker
I'm not even going to attempt to understand. like They try to even explain the differences between poltergeists and hauntings. and ones A poltergeist is supposed to be with a person yeah versus a haunting a place.
00:47:48
Speaker
But in this case, this felt pretty ah localized to a place to me. This house was built on a cemetery. confusing like Confusing lore. ah Tactics. Here's what I'll say.
00:48:02
Speaker
I look at Dr. Lesh as like a general manager. She's not the one on the field, but she knows the right players to put in. She, she yanked Marty. after he had his No, listen, listen. I have a tag here, dude.
00:48:13
Speaker
I have, i have an opinion on this. She knew when to pull Marty. This guy's freaking out. He's thinks he's ripping his face off, whatever. She knew when to bring in Tangina, Zelda's character, and who will basically saved the day. That's my point. Okay, so maybe... maybe But isn't a good general man or somebody who... A good leader is somebody... estein Yes, a good leader somebody who knows their strengths and their their ah limitations. Her and her team's reaction when they first get to the home and confirm there is something paranormal going on is kind of the dog who caught his tail and, shocked, doesn't know what to do next. Like, oh no, we're really in it.
00:48:48
Speaker
trap you they help this fail I agree. They're in over their heads, but at at any point, did you think they were trying to be bullshit artists? Because I think she's very honest about this being bigger than she's ever seen.
00:48:59
Speaker
She's not trying to like explain her way out of this. I actually thought she came in with humility and wasn't trying to like tell everybody what to do. She's like, Hey, I'm just likely your only chance. I would have, I would have had a larger vote of confidence if her and her team showed up with maybe some vacuum cleaners strapped to their back and they were going to ghost but have a contraption to suck these ghosts out. Yeah. I mean, Ghostbusters is the 1980s. Like that is where I think of, of, Hey, these guys know what they're doing. They've been there before.
00:49:26
Speaker
This was entirely. have Sometimes you need use a scalpel instead of a hammer. Okay. Ghostbusters with a hammer. These people had tactics, the rope stuff with the portals. Like that's, that's pretty high level thing, yeah you know, high level. i like Okay. I like our, I like our highlights. Cause you're, you're bringing up something maybe more heartwarming.
00:49:43
Speaker
and and true to the nature of the film I'm bringing up something where I just like seeing a kid get eaten by a tree. Like that was, that was captivating. um Let's move on. Let's go to ah the Ben Gardner jump scare award.
00:49:54
Speaker
I had a legitimate jump scare and that's why I will give this film a five. Like I i jumped, I was shocked when it happened. And it is when Diane goes into the pool and that first corpse pops up oh i got right next to her.
00:50:06
Speaker
Holy cow. I was, um I knew something was going to go wrong. Again, there was some forewarning, like you're at the climax of the film. But I did not expect that in the way it was shot and captured so quickly. Like definitely, again, this is me watching a film after Anna, after my kids have gone to sleep.
00:50:21
Speaker
It's like 10.30, 11 p.m. here in my house. And I almost yelled out loud and woke everyone up. I had a very similar situation. um i was watching the last part of this film, like the'll probably the last 45 minutes ah after Ilse fell asleep in my arm.
00:50:38
Speaker
So I couldn't reach my AirPods. So I could not I couldn't get to my AirPods. And I didn't want to get up to wake her. And so I was watching the film, like on pretty soft volume. And, and and this is the part where uh it actually was the first scene shot like production wise this was when diane is is upstairs and she just ran i don't it's very out of place honestly she just opens the closet and like that loud noise comes out like the ah like it's a big roar
00:51:11
Speaker
um I freaked out, dude. I like it was louder than I was expecting. It'll say did not wake up, but I I didn't like had to turn it even further down and turn on subtitles because I couldn't fucking hear shit.
00:51:26
Speaker
But that that that freaked me out because I was i was she was just hanging out in a nightgown. And oh, speaking of the roar, we can put this in production notes like we want to edit it later. This movie is the first time they use Leo the lion, who's like the seventh MGM lion, the roar.
00:51:41
Speaker
So this is the first time you hear that new roar, which controversially enough, they do use some tiger noises because lion's roar isn't like alpha enough, I guess. um But another weird thing is when that like skeletal monster comes out of the closet, yeah they also use the roar there, like the same roar, like the MGM roar. That's great.
00:52:01
Speaker
i I think, well, a tiger roaring or a lion roaring is one of the more terrifying sounds to capture. Like you can't, a human can't emulate that. The best Foley artist, is it's going to have a hard time making something as terrifying as a full on roar. And so I like that. i had no idea. That's a great production note.
00:52:18
Speaker
Tigers and lions, man. um So yeah, that's my jump scare. yeah um Awesome. All right. The Bring Her Back Cantaloupe Award. The Watch Through the Gaps in Your Fingers Cantaloupe Award. Our longest title for one high stress moment where you might need to cover your eyes, cover your ears because it's it's too creepy or too hard to watch.
00:52:39
Speaker
I had probably my favorite part of the film. I know I said highlight for what I enjoyed the most, but what really caught me off guard again, I was thinking, oh, this is more holistic. This is more Spielberg is when, um, Dr. Lesch's team is at the home.
00:52:55
Speaker
They're doing an all nighter and, uh, Dr. Casey, one of her assistants in the middle of the night, you know, the family's kind of wanted off. Is he a doctor? He's a doctor. What's his p d she his doctor she's Dr. Lesh is a psychologist. what is the I don't know. again there i want to know what Mario is. But he is credited as a doctor. Dr. Casey mentions he needs a late night snack.
00:53:15
Speaker
That in and of itself is relatable. But he goes to the kitchen, he opens up the fridge, and he pulls out what has to be like, what, a 20-ounce, like, play? Dude, respect, though. It's like a pancake steak. It's raw. It's not even cooked. He's going to fry pan it, too. He's going to pan fry it, too. Like, screw it. I'm hungry enough. I'm going to take the next 30 minutes, instead of doing my job, I'm going to take pancake steak.
00:53:39
Speaker
There's no sieve, you know, he pulls it out. So there's a laugh. doesn't a green egg. um But when he throws it on the counter, we start to see, like you mentioned, it starts to get pulled by the ghost. You start to see maggots infesting. I mean, it's way across the counter that in and of itself is scary. Cause now, you know, okay.
00:53:54
Speaker
The spirits are interacting with this guy. Something bad is going to happen. And he starts tripping out and he goes to the mirror and you go like full on. Well, dude, you missed, you missed the part where the maggots are on his chicken bone. I said maggots. No, on his, the bone he was eating. He spits it out of his mouth and it falls on the floor and there's maggots all over. And he rushes to the bathroom and he starts peeling his face off where I was like, oh my God. And I,
00:54:16
Speaker
I didn't know. and The audience doesn't know that he's tripping out at this point. So again, he does not die. This is all in his mind, but I thought he was legitimately peeling his own face off. And so it is horrifying the imagery.
00:54:27
Speaker
And that was where my heart rate, I think, got up the most. I really do like that scene because I think if it weren't for that Spielberg's hands, by the way, ask scary. Those were Spielberg's hands peeling his skin off or you're just that?
00:54:41
Speaker
Those were Spielberg's hands peeling off this because the, because the actor, they spent a lot of money on that model, on that whole setup. And so they made it a big deal. Like, Hey, you only have one take. We spent a bunch money on the actor to peel his skin. No, no. Other way around. The actor didn't trust himself. He was like psyching himself out. He's like, dude, I don't know if I can do this. Like Spielberg's over his shoulder.
00:55:01
Speaker
Spielberg's like, fuck it, dude, I'll do it. He just goes in there starts tearing shit off his face. That's amazing. It's a picture of him like with all the gunk on his hands. Yeah, but cantaloupe award for the peeling face. What what about yourself?
00:55:13
Speaker
ah I would chalk this up more so because I'm on vacation mode, Travis, and I'm in another country, but all I wrote down for the cantaloupe award was this. There's a cantaloupe in the foreground when Robbie is looking for utensils in the kitchen.
00:55:28
Speaker
That's all I have. it's your And that that's where your heart rate got up so high that you're like, oh, i can't handle this? No, I just thought it was neat that there was a cantaloupe in this movie and we have a cantaloupe award. So hard okay it's kind of like ah an honorary award. okay I would agree the heart rate.
00:55:43
Speaker
Yeah, probably. and just gross to look at even though it looks that's the only dated part of the movie for me i know yours is the floating items mine is they they cut to the model too quick i think we need one more shot of the guy's actual face before they go to this weird looking model oh really i i loved it that's when i'm watching 80s horror that's the exact scene i want to see yeah i guess you're in the right mindset that point um ri I have over again um one other honorable mention, which is just Diane taking a bath at the end while her kids are once again getting pulled in. Because you know when it starts lingering on her, they're still in the house. She's in the bathtub.
00:56:18
Speaker
You know things are going to go wrong. And she doesn't immediately realize, you know, classic like she has background noise and the water running where she can't hear her kids going through it once again. And so my heart rate did get up there, just not as much as a face peel, but that's my, can I say a note about that? um So that, that leads directly into the, one of the more iconic scenes of the movie where she's like tumbling around the room.
00:56:38
Speaker
Yes. Crawling on the wall, crawling on the ceiling. So, so this whole sequence at the end of the movie are three great examples of like, yeah, the the actors really going through it. ah So, and when I say that, mean, they're actually physically being harmed.
00:56:54
Speaker
um For that one, she had to tumble. but So that, they're using a gimbal set there. Most famously, I think people now would associate that with Inception when- It's a rotating room. Yes. yeah Rotating room so they can practically shoot it.
00:57:07
Speaker
She's in there for hours and she's banged like she's banging her knees. She's like bleeding. She finally goes to Spielberg and she said this in the Variety article I mentioned earlier. She's like, Hey, I'm like my knees and my feet are bleeding. And Steven is so enthralled with what he's doing and so unaware of like other things that he should probably be aware of. He's like, Oh, that's fine. We can wipe it off the set. We're all good.
00:57:30
Speaker
like not Not like, Oh, let's take you out for a second. Meanwhile, little Robbie is getting choked by the clown. So they use like an animatronic thing to do that. Well, they rigged it. So its pressure was too high and it actually starts choking Robbie. I did hear that one. yeah And the kid is like, I can't breathe.
00:57:48
Speaker
Hooper and Spielberg like, oh, he's really acting. Well, no. They have to wait until his face turns blue and then they yank him off. He was the weak link, I think, for acting in the movie. So maybe he needed that little method acting portion to really try to go. I thought he was great. okay I thought he was great.
00:58:02
Speaker
ah hes he He's like this frenetic, like shaky little terror to me. um We also didn't mention James Caron, by the way. Return of the Living Dead. Yes. And Mulholland Drive as a producer.
00:58:14
Speaker
But... don't want to take too much time there just want to he's so like slimy and i just like his role in return the living dead as well as like a business owner who's just horrible horrible practice and he's kind of the cause for why the zombies turned to life in both movies he is misusing dead bodies desecrating dead bodies in both movies exactly um All right. Let's skip cannon fodder and best death. Yeah. No, doubt this is a, this is a famous, famous tidbit about the movie. It's one of those few horror slash thrillers that doesn't have a death in it and on screen, at least. so
00:58:47
Speaker
um' go in All right. Don't go in there. i kind of led with this earlier. it move out of the house. Yes. Yes. Move out of the house earlier. so like the moment you start seeing weird shit, uh, look, if you're not on the same page, like, look, if the dad was like, Oh cool. My daughter's sliding across the floor.
00:59:04
Speaker
I get it. But if one of the parents is like, i don't like this, start moving out. But there was a second opportunity after the whole like rope, getting Caroline out, she's safe. Why did they even spend another night there?
00:59:16
Speaker
I know it's one of the best dudes. Zelda saying this house is clean is like one of the best line readings I've ever seen. Like close up. It's great, but I don't care if she says it's clean.
00:59:28
Speaker
This is a, such a nebulous, ambiguous art of, of poltergeisting and ghost busting. Like get the fuck out of the house. Yeah. They kick their feet up. They're, they're really enjoying like their move out. it's like you're regularly selling a house. They're like, i don't know. Maybe we go today. Maybe we go tomorrow. like ah Let's spend another night here.
00:59:45
Speaker
Right after saving their daughter from the paranormal entity, I could not believe, like you said, they should have moved out even before Carol Ann was brought in through the portal, but then they get their daughter back and they decide to spend some more time. There is one of the old time when there's, it works to move the plot forward, but Holy cow. Like but what are they thinking? Who's, who's really doing this with their family after almost losing a child to me? Like, yeah, we can stick around here a little longer.
01:00:11
Speaker
um yeah it's really it it's really is that a don't go in there it should be like like don't stay don't get out get out of here um but yeah and anything else there you have no that was that was clearly clearly the don't go in there award winner for this film all right best lines best lines all right drab ah I know we want to bring one. I could not pick one. I have.
01:00:37
Speaker
Oh yeah. I think best line. You have to, you have to just rattle off, but the most iconic, right? The most iconic has to be the daughter watching the TV when the spirits arrive with the, they're here.
01:00:48
Speaker
That's the most iconic, but it's not going to be my vote for best. I know that we, I know the ring was both the ring. When we said seven days, that was both iconic and best to me. There are here's on all the posters. I get it. It's it's Heather O'Rourke killing the game who by the way, can I just mention what a phenomenal little actress she was? Oh, yeah. Like, dude. No. Yes, she was shes just great. He was so, you know, cute as a button. it makes the tragedy around her life.
01:01:17
Speaker
So much harder to grapple with too, but she was amazing in this film. Yeah. um So that's the most iconic. What are your, some of your nominations for best? Yeah. I mean, you have to, you have to go when Craig T Nelson's ripping into Mr. T and he's just, you son of a bitch. You moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies. Didn't you?
01:01:36
Speaker
You moved the headstones, but you didn't move the bodies. You son of a bitch. so So many repetitions. Oh, yeah you son of a bitch at least three, four times. That is, that is an all time rant. Just ripping into Mr. Teague. I love, I mean, that that's my winner. So i'm I'm just right, right off the bat. Gonna, gonna give you my favorite. I have a few other honorable mentions, but I love him ripping into Mr. Teague there.
01:01:57
Speaker
ah That is probably my favorite line and probably the best line, but there's a lot of other good ones. ah One that just sticks with me because, you know, you ever watch a movie, Trav, and you're out in your third or fourth time watching it, and you just start...
01:02:13
Speaker
you start so hearing lines or seeing scenes when it just clicks that this is going to be like a forever movie for you. Like it's such a throwaway line, but it like rings in your head. And so that sort of happened to me watching this movie. And one of those was when they're at the dinner table or the breakfast table. And it's a lot of like very natural,
01:02:31
Speaker
ad-libbing. You could tell they just asked him to riff, which later they confirmed on the behind the scenes. They were just riffing on the breakfast table. And then ah someone, I think the mom's like, well, ask dad. And then they all start repeating, ask dad, ask dad, ask dad. Like Heather O'Rourke, like, ask dad. i just thought that was really cute. um um um i'll you know already mentioned the... i mean what you knew where i aren read you do yeah That's the freakiest line to me. yeah um She went through my soul, which i already mentioned.
01:02:57
Speaker
I liked when Zelda says... Now clear your minds. It knows what scares you. It has from the very beginning. Don't give it any help. It knows too much already.
01:03:10
Speaker
ah just like, you know, teeing up the monster. yes um Another Zelda line. ah She's like, Zelda's about to go into the portal to save Caroline. And then, but JoBeth starts to like wrap herself around the rope and Zelda's like, what are you doing?
01:03:28
Speaker
and she's like, I'm going after her. And Zelda's like, but you've never done this. And then the mom's like, neither have you. And there's a perfect comedic pause. And Zelda just goes, You're right. You go. ah thought that was great. She's got her cool shades on.
01:03:44
Speaker
um One last Zelda one. This house is clean, which i don't know why Ajax or his last words. I don't know. I ate. Yeah, seriously, Mr. Clean or hammer. And that's a good point.
01:03:59
Speaker
Why did they use this house for clean? You know, she was the voice for Skittles. Oh, didn't know that. Taste the rainbow? Taste the rainbow. Oh, she used to be in them those commercials, right? You'd see her eat the cereal? Talking about product placement. Yeah, maybe maybe that's why they couldn't use it for Mr. Clean is she had contractual time.
01:04:15
Speaker
She was exclusive contracts. But I do think Headstones is my winner too. um All right, dual knives. I had a few again. um And so I don't know if you want to start with one, if you want me to just launch it into mine.
01:04:27
Speaker
um I don't have a specific one. It's more of a generality. And it's it's really like, i don't think the rules are very consistent with this movie. Like the, and maybe that is a testament to like how shoddy these paranormal investigators, out these outfits are these companies.
01:04:44
Speaker
Cause like, There's so much conflicting advice. They say go to the light. They say go away from the light. They say it's because of it's haunted to a place but not a person. i just like could not follow that. And maybe that's me, but it just felt very loosey-goosey. Not snake-oily. It just felt conflated.
01:05:02
Speaker
And I didn't understand that. And I just felt like... If I was one of the parents, I would have been like, let's whiteboard this. Tell me exactly what you think we're doing. They are drawing up X's and O's in the kitchen earlier. But that was before the paranormal people got involved. Visual learners, yeah.
01:05:17
Speaker
yeah yeah yo Yeah, you're right. they They clearly are visual learners using the X's and O's. But yeah, I guess Knife overlaps with don't go in there. But like I think most families would have moved out. all yeah That's just – right. so let me ah Let me air a few grievances here.
01:05:32
Speaker
Why is Dana the teenage daughter in this film? What is she doing here? Because we have a lot of dynamic with it's weird with the two younger kids. Every time there's anything paranormal going on, she's not even at the house she's okay over to friends houses sleeping over like i i can't imagine if you removed her role from the film it's any different like i i don't know where or what she's doing another sign that hooper's creepy ass hat was more involved than people maybe want to say he was there's three moments that come to mind when come with teenage daughter get granted she is 15 remember that when i say these things
01:06:06
Speaker
Okay, she walks out. The construction workers are like... Cat calls, yeah. Cat calling her. And she's like... She gives him the finger, but she's also kind of like not hating it. You know, it's a bit of flirtation. It's like... This is very Hades. This would not fly today.
01:06:20
Speaker
i Would not fly today. but no Would not fly today. Another thing... when the mom met when diane mentions to her like yeah we're gonna stay at the holiday inn she has this weird smirk she's like oh oh yeah remember that place and like smiles and looks off in the distance and diane's like what and then she's like oh nothing as if she's had some tryst in the holiday inn as 15 old uh ah Reminder that the Republicans just, again, voted to not release the Epstein files.
01:06:50
Speaker
um Then the third thing is that when she comes back in the taxi as all the house is basically imploding, she has a huge hickey on her neck. yeah Did you see that? Yes. So there's a weird, weird proto-sexual, weird hyper-sexual things going on with her. and Yeah, you're right. That's a plot line.
01:07:08
Speaker
i don't know what we're getting from that. She leaves the film at times. That is a great one because she leaves the film and comes back and – Very strange. ah ah related note to that draft dealing with with like kids leaving the the scene.
01:07:20
Speaker
What? Like they just put their eight year old in a taxi cab. Yeah. See, like they couldn't figure out maybe a carpool situation or somebody. It's a different time.
01:07:33
Speaker
It's a different time. You you don't know what your kids are until the late hours of the night. You send them off to the taxi cab. True latchkey kids here. yeah I got more dual knives. Yeah. the entire third act of this film is kind of a comedy of errors with just everyone bad takes across the board. You know, Zelda Rubin saying, saying the house is clean.
01:07:50
Speaker
Them deciding to stay another night. Diane thinking the Tothills would be helpful with anything, which she's like, oh Oh my God, who's going to help us in this situation? Or even like Diane exclaiming like, Oh, she must be in the pool. Like, I don't know.
01:08:03
Speaker
I, again, I don't even know why the pool was really in this movie. I guess just for the horror of the bodies floating up at the end, but like, It wasn't too integral to the actual ghost or the spirits. That is not where they're entering. That's not where the portal was.
01:08:16
Speaker
it plays It plays in two specific areas. One you just mentioned, you need a way for the bodies to you know arrive and it naturally. Because then they start bursting through the ground, which is like supernatural. But they need a natural way. But also, when they first can't find Carolann, they think she might have fell in the pool.
01:08:34
Speaker
And I think it does... it shows that it's not just the home but it's the lot it's like the lot itself is haunted and so the pool is like outside maybe that's why it's not a haunting back to uh dr lesh's point because it is not just the house it's the it's the land as well which is an important distinction in real estate the land is sponsored by blue pebbles i'm just saying i'm just saying um Okay, one one other take.
01:08:59
Speaker
I know we've disagreed on this one. There are some practical effects in this movie that I love and I think of age really well. There's some that I think are less than. um Most notably, when they first have Dr. Lesh to the home and they open up the kid's room and there are objects flying around, that it just really took me out of the moment. and Maybe it's good reminder of how far we've come because it looks comically bad to see all these items like whirling around in the air. I totally disagree. I thought that scene looked great.
01:09:26
Speaker
I thought that. it was one of the worst effects from the 80s i've seen but um nominated for special effects and yeah askcar yeah but the oscars of 1982 again true their only reference point is the current time of and so that is an effect i don't think age as well but that's the lesser dull knife the bigger ones being what dana was in the movie and again how the entire third act is really just led to them by making poor choice after poor choice um winners and losers.
Character Analysis and Real Estate Critique
01:09:53
Speaker
I got a few. You want to start? off Okay. um Winner. Movies that start with the star spangled banner. I love this. Like I was like, what what am I watching? what is what's the Do you have a list? picture Patriotic. No, I tried to look up a list. There's a long list of movies that feature the star spangled banner, but I couldn't find any others specifically that start with the opening credits playing while the star spangled banner is rolling. So extremely patriotic there, but that's a winner for me.
01:10:21
Speaker
um Another winner, Creepy Trees. Like you said, this might be the creepiest tree I could think of in a movie. um I can't, again, think of a full list. so We might have to return to this another point, but I at least marking the record here for a Creepy Tree nomination that with uses the benchmark in the future for films we evaluate.
01:10:38
Speaker
Those are my only two winners. Do you have any other winners before we move on? the Cool parents. I had my, I thought those were cool parents and there weren't try hard parents too, you know, smoking J's doing Donald duck impressions. Dude. I mean, she's after she gets the gray streak in her hair. She's even like, what do you think? dan What do you think Dana? I think it's kind of punk rock. I was like, man, Joe Beth, you're so hot.
01:10:58
Speaker
yeah you Keep doing what you're doing. um Loser bad neighbors. Again, just talking about track. Yeah. You know, yeah arguing over channels getting changed, being an absolute liability when, you know, when they're looking for the kids at the end.
01:11:13
Speaker
As a winner, I also had, know we're on losers, but as a winner, dude, so the ring, you have a creepy girl. coming out of the TV. And this one, you have a cute girl going into the TV.
01:11:25
Speaker
So I say, hey, let's give TV a win here. Yeah, i mean we didn't really talk about this film was ahead of of its time for, I think, labeling like, hey, that all the screen time is a negative. I mean, that's the film opens with, you know, TVs on and it's a central tenant of the film is like, you know, the ghosts are communicating. This is kind of opening the portal as they're they're they're interacting with us via the TV.
01:11:48
Speaker
So an anti screen time film. loser epileptics. There is a lot of strobing effects. um Yeah. um It would be tough to watch. It would be very tough to watch. It's creepy, but it is chock full of it.
01:12:00
Speaker
um um I have another loser. Can I say one before you say your next one? Archie Manning. Yeah. Yeah. i a Five interception game. ah Never won a Superbowl.
01:12:12
Speaker
just, you hate to see that happen. And especially on prime time, he is more famous now for his children and now grandchildren. he has fathered than his own career. Um, I don't think he was ever considered one of the old time greats at quarterback, but this is, uh, I mean, he held that team together.
01:12:27
Speaker
through will and strength, but yeah. Showing us that. um Another loser, real estate developers. um Again, this is ah this is up there with ah Jimmy Stewart ah tearing into Mr. Potter and it's a wonderful life.
01:12:43
Speaker
What the hell are you doing? you're You're prioritizing greed above all else. And so it doesn't portray real estate developers in the most positive way nothing Nothing like a takedown of capitalism yes with your your your protagonist just giving a shakedown to the...
01:12:58
Speaker
yeah the greedy corporate stand-in. you know what Was Craig T. Nelson a bit complicit in being kind of the head of sales for them? Or do you think the fact that he... you know There's some things that you should reasonably be aware of.
01:13:13
Speaker
With the cemetery and everything around there, did he really not know at all what the land was being used for? I don't think he knew. i don't think he knew. that his job to have some familiarity, though? so i'm saying It is. That's where I'm going with the words i'm going into where he is he is culpable a bit, and that is...
01:13:28
Speaker
The moment you hear that they even move to cemetery, go digging, no pun intended. like what How did that work? How did you get sign-off from all the families? What are the zoning laws with this?
01:13:39
Speaker
Because
Debating Directorial Influence and Heather O'Rourke's Role
01:13:40
Speaker
that is a huge effort to yeah dig up. It's very expensive. Anna's family has moved. Second hand, Anna's aunt was working with a huge church remodel where they wanted expand the footprint of the church and into the cemetery that was adjacent to it.
01:13:57
Speaker
And it was extremely time consuming because there are a lot of restrictions on like the amount of time you have to give notice to the family members and the effort. So it's not an ask. It's a notice. because Do you sign something when you go to a cemetery? It's very tough to always figure out who all the next to kin are or even who's buried there. Because a lot of these cemeteries, these could go way back, especially if you go to like the East Coast.
01:14:18
Speaker
um And that's just in the US. And so there's a lot of effort that is required to go into trying to figure out How do you even notify next to Canada the parties who may be affected for can I move these remains?
01:14:30
Speaker
And so um I could see why developer might want to cut corners there of not doing that all by the book. But and going back to Craig T. Nelson, you know if you're ahead of sales here, you got to know what the land was prior to all these homes coming in.
01:14:42
Speaker
um And so anyways. He did the right thing in the end. You did. He did. um Scream King, Scream Queen, who won this movie for you? It was not even a question for me.
01:14:54
Speaker
you know Who directed the movie, Spielberg or Hooper? Both. That's my answer. They both directed it. So you're I'm not going to, this was the summer Spielberg. This was the summer Spielberg. That's not my King, Travis. That's not my King. I'm telling you who I'm not giving the King to. oh So, uh, because they shared that credit. So I don't think it's one of, don't think it's either of them.
01:15:16
Speaker
um the heart of this movie, this was not even a question for me. The heart of this movie is the most iconic line. It's, it's, it's Heather O'Rourke. Uh, she, you know, obviously that is nice. tragically passed away after the third film.
01:15:29
Speaker
She's the the heart of those three films of the franchise. And even though she is absent for a large part of the middle portion of the movie, her innocence and her naturalism and her cuteness, I guess, it's just like...
01:15:44
Speaker
you want to go in the TV and just fucking find her. You're you're so on board with the parents and you're so scared for her. And yeah, it ties the movie together for me. And she's on the cover. Like it's Heather O'Rourke is my screen. queen for this You know I I'm going to come
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:15:57
Speaker
around to agree with you, but my initial predisposition was, was Spielberg. Cause again,
01:16:02
Speaker
This was him at his pinnacle, right? Right after Raiders, the summer after Raiders and then releasing this and ET within a week of each other. um This is where I think you went from that like rookie league, rookie contract to he got his big, big deal. You know, like you always like to use the phrase and for the podcast, blank check.
01:16:21
Speaker
Like this is where he cemented himself as I am going to run this industry. I'm going to run Hollywood for the next few decades to come. So I love this really being like his, his apex, but I'm with you and posthumously I'm going to come around and yeah, I agree.
01:16:35
Speaker
Heather O'Rourke. I think that is fitting for the movie. A cute little scream queen. Yeah. All right. Well, I think that's it for us. um Next week, we're trying to return back to new releases as we're going to cover the film together and hopefully be able to discuss that together next Sunday. So you guys will hear that from us then, assuming we can turn an episode within the few days after its release.
01:16:59
Speaker
ah go to our Instagram where we we are now posting memes, Travis. Original originally original content memes. We're not i an aggregator here.
01:17:10
Speaker
Hey, you fellow kids. We are hip as well. Hey, look, if you want to be relevant in this business, you got to do some you gotta work with memes sometimes. So we post not just announcements about our shows, but movie-related content, specifically horror. And where can people find us?
01:17:28
Speaker
At thesundayscaries.pod. Oh, I also want to – this is a shout-out. Whoever you are in Council Bluffs, Iowa or Boardman, Oregon – i don't I don't know if there's just like a ah data scraper out there for like podcast companies or if you are two individuals that are routinely listening to us.
01:17:51
Speaker
We say thank you. You are the only two, I think, that have downloaded each one of our episodes. And so I don't know if you're a fan or if you just have a set on auto download or what, but ah we have the analytics and it says that somebody from Council Bluffs, Iowa and somebody from Bourbon, Oregon has downloaded...
01:18:08
Speaker
every single one of our episodes. So I wanted to give you a shout out. Reach out to us and say, hey, yes, that is me. I am listening to you. Keep it the good work. Or say, you're shitty. I'm not downloading the next one. Whichever case you want to be. And for the rest of you guys, please do, if you have the chance, to give us five stars and wherever you're listening from or subscribe.
01:18:23
Speaker
that That would be greatly appreciated. And we can hopefully start to reach a larger audience, which means we can keep this podcast going. um Thank you guys for listening. We will catch you next week. Bye.
01:18:33
Speaker
Bye.
01:18:47
Speaker
Bye.