Poltergeist is a 1982 American supernatural horror film directed by Tobe Hooper and written by Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor from a story by Spielberg. It stars JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, and Beatrice Straight, and was produced by Spielberg and Frank Marshall. The film follows a suburban family whose home is invaded by malevolent ghosts that abduct their youngest daughter.
As Spielberg was contractually unable to direct another film while he made E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Hooper was selected based on his work on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Funhouse (1981). The origin of Poltergeist can be traced to Night Skies, which Spielberg conceived as a horror sequel to his 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Hooper was less interested in the sci-fi elements and suggested they collaborate on a ghost story. Accounts differ as to the level of Spielberg's involvement, but it is clear that he was frequently on set during filming and exerted significant creative control. For that reason, some have said that Spielberg should be considered the film's co-director or even main director, though both Spielberg and Hooper have disputed this.
Released by MGM/UA Entertainment Co. on June 4, 1982, Poltergeist was a major critical and commercial success, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film of 1982. In the years since its release, the film has been recognized as a horror classic. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, named by the Chicago Film Critics Association as the 20th-scariest film ever made, and a scene made Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Poltergeist also appeared at No. 84 on American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Thrills. The film was followed by Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986), Poltergeist III (1988), and a 2015 remake, but none had the critical success of the original.
Plot Steve and Diane Freeling live in the planned community of Cuesta Verde, California. Steve is a successful real-estate agent, and Diane looks after their three children: sixteen-year-old Dana, eight-year-old Robbie, and five-year-old Carol Anne. One night, Carol Anne inexplicably starts to converse with the television set while it displays post-broadcast static. As she talks to the TV the next night, a ghostly white hand emerges from the screen, followed by a violent earthquake. As the family is shaken awake by the quake, Carol Anne eerily intones, "They're here."
The following day is filled with bizarre events: a glass of milk spontaneously breaks, silverware bends, and furniture moves on its own. These phenomena initially seem benign, but soon grow sinister. During a severe thunderstorm, the gnarled backyard tree seemingly comes alive. A branch crashes through the children's bedroom window, grabs Robbie and pulls him outside into the pouring rain as the tree attempts to devour him. While the family rushes outside to help Robbie, Carol Anne is pulled into a portal inside the closet. After saving Robbie from the tree, which is sucked into a tornado, the family frantically search for Carol Anne and hear her voice calling out from the television.
Parapsychologist Martha Lesh arrives with team members Ryan and Marty to investigate. They determine there is a poltergeist intrusion involving multiple ghosts. Meanwhile, Steve learns from his boss Lewis Teague that the Cuesta Verde development was built on top of a former cemetery and the graves were moved to a nearby location.
Dana and Robbie are sent away for safety, while Dr. Lesh calls in Tangina Barrons, a spiritual medium. After touring the house, Tangina explains that their daughter is now in a different plane of existence occupied by spirits who have not found rest. In their dreamlike state, they are drawn away from the path to the afterlife by Carol Anne's radiant life force. Tangina also reveals that a powerful demonic presence she calls "the Beast" is holding Carol Anne captive and using her to restrain the other spirits from crossing over.
The entrance to the other dimension is in the children's bedroom closet and exits through the living room ceiling. Diane, secured by a rope, passes through the portal, guided by another rope previously threaded through both portals. Diane retrieves Carol Anne, and they drop through the ceiling to the living room floor, covered in ectoplasm. As they recover from the ordeal, Tangina proclaims the house is "clean".
Shortly after, the Freeling family have nearly finished packing to move out of the house. Before the family is to leave, Steve heads to his office while Dana is on a date, leaving Diane at home with Robbie and Carol Anne. Subsequently, "the Beast" violently attacks Diane and the children, apparently with the intent of dragging them into its dimension. While running through the backyard in an attempt to get help, Diane stumbles into a flooded swimming pool excavation. As skeletal corpses float up around her in the muddy hole, Diane crawls out and rushes back into the house. She rescues the children, and they narrowly escape outside as more bodies erupt from the ground.
Accompanied by Teague, Steve arrives back home to the mayhem and realises that only the gravestones were moved, not the bodies; the development was built over the now unmarked graves. The Freelings jump into their car and collect Dana just as she returns home. They flee Cuesta Verde as the house implodes into a portal while Teague and stunned neighbors look on. The family checks into a room at a Holiday Inn, where Steve promptly removes the TV.
Cast JoBeth Williams as Diane Freeling Craig T. Nelson as Steven "Steve" Freeling Beatrice Straight as Dr. Lesh Oliver Robins as Robbie Freeling Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne Freeling Dominique Dunne as Dana Freeling Michael McManus as Ben Tuthill Virginia Kiser as Mrs. Tuthill Martin Casella as Dr. Marty Casey Richard Lawson as Dr. Ryan Mitchell Zelda Rubinstein as Tangina Barrons James Karen as Mr. Lewis Teague Dirk Blocker as Jeff Shaw Lou Perry as Pugsley Sonny Landham as Pool Worker
Production Michael Grais and Mark Victor had written an unproduced comedy called Turn Left And Die and the action film Death Hunt, when Steven Spielberg decided to invite them to possibly work with him. After screening A Guy Named Joe for them and saying he wanted to remake that film—which he would in 1989's Always—Spielberg also mentioned a ghost story idea he intended to turn into a script. Grais called Spielberg the next day saying he and Victor only had interest in the ghost story, and after plans with another writer fell through, Spielberg brought the two to the job.How Did This Get Made: A Conversation With Michael Grais, Writer Of 'Cool World' Spielberg wanted Stephen King to co-write the screenplay, but he was unavailable.
Principal photography rolled mostly on Roxbury Street in Simi Valley, California.Kendrick, James (2014). Darkness in the Bliss-Out: A Reconsideration of the Films of Steven Spielberg. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. Page 41. .Epting, Chris (2003). James Dean Died Here: The Locations of America's Pop Culture Landmarks. Santa Monica Press. Page 204. . Following completion of principal photography in the first week of August 1981, Hooper went on to spend ten weeks in the editing room, compiling the first cut of the film. During much of this time, Spielberg was at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), supervising the visual effects photography.
Creative credit A clause in Spielberg's contract with Universal Studios prevented him from directing another film while preparing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. According to Tobe Hooper, the core concept of the film was an idea he pitched to Spielberg after turning down the offer to direct Night Skies. Writer Michael Grais stated that "we weren't really 'working' with Spielberg because he was on E.T.", and that Spielberg only had sporadic meetings with the writers in MGM's commissary. E.T. and Poltergeist were released a week apart in June, 1982; Time and Newsweek referred to it as "The Spielberg Summer". There were suggestions that Spielberg, in addition to being Poltergeists co-producer and co-writer, had also served as its de facto co-director. This view was bolstered by various statements Spielberg made about his involvement, including a Los Angeles Times quote on May 24, 1982: "Tobe isn't ... a take-charge sort of guy. If a question was asked and an answer wasn't immediately forthcoming, I'd jump in and say what we could do. Tobe would nod agreement, and that became the process of collaboration."Brode, pg 102
That same article noted that the Directors Guild of America had opened an investigation into the "question of whether or not Hooper's official credit was being denigrated by statements Spielberg has made, apparently claiming authorship." The investigation ended in an arbitrator's ruling that MGM/UA Entertainment Co. must pay $15,000 to Hooper because the studio gave producer Spielberg a bigger credit than Hooper got in its trailers, although also noting that "broader issues of dispute exist between producer-writer (Spielberg) and the director" (damages of $200,000 were originally sought by the DGA). Co-producer Frank Marshall told the Los Angeles Times that "the creative force of the movie was Steven. Tobe was the director and was on the set every day. But Steven did the design for every storyboard, and he was on the set every day except for three days when he was in Hawaii with Lucas." However, Hooper stated that he "did fully half of the storyboards."
The week of the film's release, The Hollywood Reporter printed an open letter from Spielberg to Hooper:
Regrettably, some of the press has misunderstood the rather unique, creative relationship which you and I shared throughout the making of Poltergeist. I enjoyed your openness in allowing me, as a writer and a producer, a wide berth for creative involvement, just as I know you were happy with the freedom you had to direct Poltergeist so wonderfully. Through the screenplay you accepted a vision of this very intense movie from the start, and as the director, you delivered the goods. You performed responsibly and professionally throughout, and I wish you great success on your next project.Brode, pg 99–100
In a 2007 Ain't It Cool News interview, Zelda Rubinstein discussed her recollections of the shooting process. She said "Steven directed all six days" she was on set: "Tobe set up the shots and Steven made the adjustments." She also alleged that Hooper "allowed some unacceptable chemical agents into his work," and that during her audition, "Tobe was only partially there." Comments from actor James Karen, concerning a 25th-anniversary Q&A event which both attended, categorized Rubinstein's remarks as unfair to Hooper. "She laid into Tobe and I don't know why ... Tobe was kind to her."