Fright Flicks - Trading Card #80

Poltergeist (1982)

One of the more irritating paranormal-themed urban legends regards the usage of actual human skeletons (aka human remains) in Poltergeist. While that may add an additional layer of ghoulishness to both the film and the gruesome reason for why the haunting is occurring. The truth is that actual human skeletons were used with great frequency throughout countless productions.

That skeleton hanging in the background of the doctor's office? Most likely real. Real skeletons were cheaper to rent than fake ones. So... if you see a skeleton in any and every thing from 1930s up through the 1980s, chances are it is a real skeleton.

Also, ignoring the real world horrors of domestic violence and blaming an innocuous prop is in very poor taste, in my humble opinion.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #77

Poltergeist (1982)

 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #76

Poltergeist (1982)

Those hands belong to Steven Spielberg, who had a grand old time working with DIRECTOR Tobe Hooper.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #58

Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

The H. R. Giger infused 'Tequila Worm' scene is one of the technical highlights of Poltergeist II The Other Side.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #43

Poltergeist (1982)

Co-written and produced by Steven Spielberg, DIRECTED by Tobe Hooper.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #14

Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

As much as I adore Jerry Goldsmith' score for Poltergeist II and admire H.R. Giger's artistic contributions to the film, I have only watched this first sequel once, from start to finish.

Poltergeist III (1988) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - June 5, 1988]

Saw this at the Empire Cinema, which is where I worked, for a time. But I do not think I was working there when Poltergeist III came out. 

Here we have a prime example of what, I believe, Carl Gottlieb referred to as the Immutable Rule of the Sequel. "Only the last one loses money."

Poltergeist II The Other Side might have made some money, but that money was nowhere near as much as the first Poltergeist. I think the first sequel only made a third of what the first film did.

But it made enough money to warrant yet another trip to the box office, just to see how much (or little) they could squeeze out of the franchise.

Poltergeist III had two knocks against it, right out of the gate. The first being star Heather O'Rourke dying shortly after the end of principle photography. That cast a saddening shadow that the movie had no way of getting out from under.

Second was the absence of any and all post-production visual effects. No costly Industrial Light and Magic wizardry was to be displayed here. All the effects were done on set and in camera, through sleight of hand trickery, body doubles, and mirror work.

In theory, and on paper, the idea works. On the big screen, though... Well, it neither looked nor felt the same. I did not dislike the film, though. I even thought, at the time, that it was superior and more fun to watch than Poltergeist II The Other Side.

I cannot say that it was all that good, though. Poltergeist III is just an interesting and entertaining failure at trying to do something different. 

Poltergeist II The Other Side (1986) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - May 23, 1986]

Things I liked about this movie: Will Sampson, Jerry Goldsmith's score, H.R. Geiger's creature design(s), and Julian Beck's creepy to the point of being terrifying visit to the Freeling house. "You're going to die in there!" 

Things I did not like about this movie: everything else, pretty much.

Poltergeist (1982) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - May 21, 1982]

How can it be that I gave Poltergeist a pass during its big screen release? There was even a controversy about the PG rated film being far too graphic and scary for its rating. This was my kind of movie, to be sure. So, why give it a pass?

Because Poltergeist fell victim to my habit of reading the novelization before seeing the film. I did not much care for the novelization, so I figured the movie would be underwhelming. I was wrong, of course. Poltergeist became a cultural touchstone for a countless number of Gen X kids. But for me, it was not to be. So it goes.