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A Word from the Webmaster
Posted on June 23, 2010 | No CommentsPoltergeist is a marvel among horrors. It takes “the haunted house picture” and adds fantasy to it, giving it a freshness that most other ghost movies just don’t have. My experience with Poltergeist began in my childhood. I didn’t exist in 1982, so my first... -
Posters
Posted on June 23, 2010 | No CommentsStyle A Style C Spanish Turkish Japanese Style B -
Jerry Goldsmith Scores Poltergeist
Posted on June 23, 2010 | No CommentsIn an interview with Cinema Score, Jerry Goldsmith spoke about how he got the job. “Steven Spielberg called me about five months before it went into production and wanted to know if I would be interested in doing it. He’d long been an admirer of mine, and we... -
Score Analysis
Posted on June 23, 2010 | No CommentsIt begins with the Star Spangled Banner playing loud and proud as if we were about to watch a baseball game, but no it’s just some channel’s late night programming coming to a close. As it abruptly becomes white noise, the score transfers into an eerie melody... -
Alternate Bedroom Attack: “The Stain” Part Two
Posted on June 23, 2010 | No CommentsThe scene where Diane is invaded by an invisible force and dragged up the walls was, at one time, a much darker and more aggressive sequence. It was a bit more clear that she was actually being raped by the invisible force. The original concept begins with... -
“The Stain” Part One
Posted on June 23, 2010 | No CommentsIn the final film, there is a scene where Carol Anne approaches the television. A ghoulish hand floats out and bursts into the wall. In the screenplay, this began a small subplot, where a stain starts growing on that exact spot on the wall. Later... -
Bending the Laws of Gravity
Posted on June 23, 2010 | No CommentsScenes: Carol Anne Gets Abducted, Diane on the Walls How It Was Done: These scenes were shot on a gimbal set. A gimbal set is, for lack of a better definition, a large, rotating set. Variations of gimbal sets have been used for decades to... -
Spielberg & Hooper: The Two Directors
Posted on June 14, 2010 | No CommentsTobe Hooper was hired to direct, something which later become somewhat of a massive controversy. Spielberg had seen Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and loved it. Spielberg said about TCM: “It’s a real cult film, I know,” says Spielberg, “but one of the most truly visceral movies ever made.... -
Script Development
Posted on June 14, 2010 | No CommentsThe legacy of Poltergeist begins with Raiders of the Lost Ark. During the production of Raiders, Steven Spielberg headlined discussions for what soon became Poltergeist. In a 1982 interview with Fangoria Magazine, Producer Frank Marshall said “Steven had always wanted to do a ghost story....
