Since you didn't watch enough tv to notice, channels used to go off air every night, say round 1-2 am. They'd usually do a sign off message, followed by the national anthem, and then cut transmission entirely (hence the snow), or put up some sort of test display like the old test indian or, later on, the color test bars. Eventually they pushed the time back a bit to 3 or 4, and then they realized they could make money off the dead air by selling it as really cheap ad time, and the era of late night infomercials was born and channels just stopped going off air. Also, they're definitely augmenting the light the snow puts off with a strobe light. Usually just a pretty steady dull glow.
Hence the term "White Noise" . It was the most terrifying time of night for kids. Because the pictures and broadcast of TV comforted us. Whether in our room, or hearing it from the parents or living room. The snow was even comforting, because it was better than turning the tv OFF and being in the Dark. Which is why this movie gave us something else to fear.
When I was a teen and a night owl, I used to enjoy the old rerun (cheap for a TV station to buy) programs that filled the last couple hours before the TV stations went off the air for the night. I sentimentally remember the announcer, voiced-over the national anthem and patriotic scenes, saying, "This concludes our broadcast day."
Do you have confirmation to use the strobe light? I thought the extra flicker was a result of filming a television and the frame rate and refresh rates not matching
PG-13 didn't get created till 1984. (2 years after this movie came out). That left a wide gulf between PG and R. There were some wacky wild things than got rated PG that would be PG-13 or even R by today's standards.
it was films like Poltergeist, Gremlins, and Raiders of the Lost Ark that led to the creation of the PG-13 rating. Back in the early 80s PG films had violence, gore, swearing, adult themes, even some non-hardcore sex scenes and titties... Nowadays if you put in any blood, nudity, or more than a single F-bomb and the film gets rated R even though PG-13 exists.
Since you mentioned that you dislike the game Clue, I have to HIGHLY RECOMMEND the movie Clue, which is absolutely amazing and funny! It is also great for Halloween as it is a “whodunnit”. I’m so glad you enjoyed Poltergeist! It’s a classic.
Clue is such an awesome movie. When it was in the theaters it had three different endings depending on where you saw it. But the video release had all three alternates.
It was the 80's. Totally different standards for what is PG. I'm shocked when i go to show my kid something i watched as a kid, only to find something in it that i had completely forgot about that nowadays would be considered inappropriate.
@@IggyStardust1967 yup, absolutely. The movies that meant enough for me to show her are the movies that made me. I just go in prepared for a bit more explaining.
“That’s Incredible” was a good 80s show hosted by several people, each introducing segments of interesting people and places. Something like Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
The movie is said to be cursed as the skeletons used in the swimming pool were real! Steven Spielberg was going to direct the film, but it would violate his contract with the Directors Guild, so he only got a writer and producer credit instead. It was a box office and critical success, making $130 million dollars against a $10 million dollar budget.
Spielberg probably used real skeletons intentionally. He's a sick person. The little girl from this movie died young due to "rectal injury". I'm starting to think all of Hellywood is cursed.
Zelda Rubinstein (Tangina) started her professional film career rather late, in her mid-forties. She actually worked as a medical lab technician before this, studying the spread of bacteria in her undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh. As an actress, this was her breakout role, and certainly her most famous one.
The 3-6 channels available in the 70's- 80's before MTV would shut off no later than 2AM and usually at midnight. Spielberg had his hand in a lot of stuff back in the day even if he wasn't directing. A few movies like this, Jaws and Alien had a lot of parents upset about G ratings and the violence, horror and gross stuff. The final straw was Indiana Jones & Temple of Doom and Gremlins. They instantly instituted PG13 after the parental backlash that warnings that the movies weren't suitable fir certain ages on the posters wasn't enough. Red Dawn in 1984 was the first PG13 movie.
Thank you for explaining to him about the stations shutting off for the night. I was surprised he didn't know already, seeing as I think he and I probably aren't too far apart in age...but like he said, not a tv guy as a kid 🤷🏼♀️🙂
This practice actually continued on some stations into the early 90’s. I was born in the early 80’s and “snow screen” was still relevant when I saw this movie around 10.
The movie Clue with Tim Curry is absolutely hilarious I think you would really enjoy it it's kind of like the board game where they're trying to figure out who murdered who but it's just a great movie
Excellent choice James!!! As far as the song on tv. It played "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the end of the broadcast day for the only 3 channels at that time. NBC CBS ABC
I enjoyed your reaction. On a comedic note, I watched one reactor who said that Robbie, the son, when he got older, would end up in a sanitarium because when he told a therapist of a tree trying to eat him, that therapist would think he was crazy.
"It Knows What Scares You" is the key to the plot. Robbie was afraid of the tree outside his window and the clown doll. Carol Anne wanted the closet light on early in the movie. Diane was afraid of sleep walking and falling into the pool. The demons manifested themselves in all the family's fears. Poltergeist 2: The Other Side was a great sequel to this which you should also review at some point.
Saw this in the theater when I was 18 yrs old !!!! Such a great film!!!! Your reaction was 🙌🏻 Tv stations used to turn off at midnight and it would play the National Anthem then go to that creepy snow! It was spooky !
I was 10 when this came out, and my parents took me to it not realizing how scary it was. Yes, talk about nightmares. I used to sleep with the closet light on, and the night of the movie it was raining like in the movie. You can imagine that I didn't get much sleep that night (or any after it).
The acting and pacing of this movie are incredible. They really feel like a real family, having more calm times and more intense times like you'd expect if something like this were to happen. That's what makes this movie so scary to me: because it's NOT a constant barrage of paranormal activity. It makes it seem way more realistic.
Poltergeist is German for noisy ghost. It typically refers to unexplainable movement or noises suspected of being caused by ghosts or possible telekinetic activity according to parapsychology.
For Beatrice Straight (Dr. Lesh), she won an Oscar for the 1976 film "Network" for Supporting Actress. In doing this, she holds the record for the shortest amount of screen time for an Oscar-winning performance - five minutes and two seconds. The film "Network" is a dark comedy, making fun of how we rely too much on TV to live our lives for us, and perhaps a prelude to how dependent we are on technology nowadays.
I loved when all that chaos was going on you stopped to shout slug bug. I drove a bug in the 90s and it was so funny to drive down the street and watch people start punching each other as you drove by
Back in the day, TV actually use to GO OFF. The local broadcast channels Shut down for the evening. And they ended with the National Anthem. This doesn't happen anymore. There is always a broadcast on now.
22:30 It never ceases to amaze how much EVERYONE saw that one coming, it's SO obvious thru the whole movie...yet it still ALWAYS scares the fluids out of anyone who sees it.
Clue: The Movie is more amusing than Clue: The Board Game. edit: CRAIG T. NELSON!!! He had a sitcom way back when, called 'Coach'. It was fun. He's also the voice of Mr. Incredible.
I love it when reactors say “it’s PG how scary can it be?” I just smile & giggle knowing this was before PG13 existed. Those of us who grew up in the 70s-80s got to watch some great movies! 😂
I am sure someone already told you.. but if not.. Back in the 80's.. when programing was going off.. they would play the national anthem.. and it would literally cut to static (End of programing)
I was about 4 when I first saw it...I snuck watching it from my bedroom door while my parents were watching it, and gave myself away when asking if the tree was going to eat him. 🤣 From that point on I wouldn't stop asking and sneaking, so my parents just said whatever and let me have at. Been one of my favorites ever since! So glad I got to watch you react to it!!!!
Before TV was 24 hrs programming used to sign off at night after the national anthem played. Also, I totally get not liking the game Clue, but you might like the movie. It's based on the board game but has a kind of Agatha Christie And Then There Were None vibe. Also, it's hilarious.
After him watching "Hocus Pocus", then "A Quiet Place" and saying how he can't understand how a PG/PG-13 can be horror. I was thinking somebody should tell him to watch Poltergeist. Seems his sons did.
The beuty of this film is that it still holds up to this day and is spectacular. When you look at more modern attempts at spiritual hauntings like paranormal activity....they pale in comparrison
This movie was first rated R. Speilberg and Hooper disagreed and were successful in getting it changed to PG. Due to Speiberg's "Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom" and"Gremlins" PG ratings, (some parents were angry at the rating) Speilberg advocated to having a rating between R and PG. Thus, PG-13 was born. The first PG-13 movie released in theaters was Red Dawn in 1984. Which, Ironically, I saw in the theaters when I was 9-yrs old.
His PG movies are one of the reasons they redid the ratings 😂😂. This was my first scary movie I snuck to watch with my older cousins and it scared me for sure.
I just saw this last year and thought it to be very scary. The effects may not be top tier but they did what they were supposed to which is be scary so 🤷🏼♀️
Real Human skeletons were used in those pool scenes & the actors didn’t know until after the fact! Also I know a few cast members died during movie or right after filming I know 1 Kid & the short lady that’s what was on Inside Edition behind the scenes! And I agree I can’t believe it was PG, I saw as a younger person but looked away & it still gave me nightmares! PS Your children enjoyed playing the ITS ONLY A PG MOVIE CON😂! ✌🏻☀️
Even to this day, I'm still confuzzled with the guy who had the audacity to try and whip up a steak as a "snack". The chicken leg dangling from your mouth wasn't enough?
PG-13 wasn’t created until after 1984. It was inspired by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, as that film wasn’t quite R, but it was a bit more intense than a traditional PG film.
I saw this when I was around 10 or 11. I loved it. Lol the ratings system was very different in the 80s. I guess kids then were made of sterner stuff and expected to handle it. Lol
poltergeists aren't technically ghosts, they're more malevolent spiritual forms, the original version of them stems to places of violence and serious anger causing all that anger to be created into a violent spirit. though these days they're sort of interchangeable
Steven Spielberg didn't tell JoBeth Williams that the skeletons were real, so the fear on her face was real. Also the older girl was murdered by her abusive boyfriend, and Carol Ann died suddenly few years due to heath problems.
I do remember watching this a lot as a kid. I don't remember it being so crazy and gory. But I loved it. The little psychic lady was so similar to my gran that it made everything kinda silly to me. I was like look there's Gran again.
Yes the big flaw in the movie for me is how the family acts like everything is ok after they get the little girl back and they stay in the same room all that craziness happened in. Nope! Lol
I found your channel by accident tonight, and I've been binging for hours! Your laugh is super contagious and I enjoy your reactions so much! If I could make two suggestions, The Harry Potter series & Lord of the Rings. Two HEAVYWEIGHTS in the fantasy genre that I think you would adore. Harry Potter series is truly magical and grows darker and more adult each film. The Lord of the Rings is just perfection. And if your interested in a really incredible war movie, watch Fury. It's a really hard watch but another must watch. Have a wonderful day!
Hi Hazel, thank you so much for checking out the channel. As for HP and LOTR I've seen them all. As I'm sure you seen at this point I'm a huge book worm. I've read both those series many times over and couldn't be more excited when the movies came out. I'll make sure Fury is on my list to watch thanks.
@@AwesomeUSMovies so glad to hear! I wasn’t sure if you were a fantasy nerd like myself! 😂yes I agree , the books for both are just incredible! Best of luck on your movie journey and can’t wait to see more!
Ha. This was originally slapped with an R rating but Spielberg and team fought it and since PG-13 did not exist in 1982, it was lowered to PG. Hands down one of the best PG rated horror films ever made. I saw it when I was 10 and it scared the bejesus out of me. LOL!
No joke I once knew a goth family that this was there daughters favorite instrumental song to sleep to back in 2008 they were part of a local vintage hearse car club in hell Michigan the just hearseing around car club near pickney and Howell Michigan as the only song that would help there youngest daughter sleep was the soundtrack theme of Carol Anne from the movie poltergeist 1982 honest truth 🕊️
I watched a documentary on this film here on RUclips about this film and it’s true. They actually used REAL skeletons for the swimming pool scene. Also, the set was supposedly cursed…
There is a very sad back story to this classic film. Both of the daughters suffered premature deaths. The elder daughter was strangled by her boyfriend only a couple of years after Poltergeist, while the younger girl died in the hospital of an impacted colon soon after.
That's incredible was fun to watch back in the 80s. It was a show starring Cathy Lee Crosby, John Davidson, and former Vikings quarterback Fran tarkenton. They each introduced a story of the bizarre. John Davidson may be fully retired now, but he was still performing on Broadway in 2013, and I think he still does small concerts.
When I was a kid the tv stations would always play the National Anthem right before shutting down for the night. Round about midnight or 1:00 am. We only had 3 stations, too, but this was in the big city, Dallas. Before your time.
8:05 They didn't sell the house. They live in subdivision. Area were all the houses have pretty much same blueprint. So all the houses look the same, both inside and outside.
Crazy fact.....those were real corpses they used. It would've cost waaaaaay to much to make different looking individual skeletons so, they got real cadavers. One of the actors actually got I'll because they accidentally ingested some of the water.
The rating of PG-13 came about after Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom was released in 1984. Many parents were angry over scenes in that movie that they felt were inappropriate for children and there was a push for change in the rating system. It's possible that reactions to Poltergeist in 1982 contributed to that. But parents with young children in the 80s were more likely to take the family to see an adventure movie than a scary movie. The PG rating stands for parental guidance, meaning a parent needs to find out details about the movie and provide guidance. Either by not taking children or by discussing the movie after seeing it.. Even before the internet there were articles to help parents do that. PG-13 was to warn parents subject matter is sensitive for under 13. But, the word guidance is still there. It's up to parents to choose and guide.
You must have not watched much tv back in the day. I'm 43 and remember this still happening on some of the rural stations when I was very young. Before 24 hour tv programming became the norm tv stations would sign off late at night by playing the national anthem. I believe the idea was if you fell asleep during programming, the national anthem would wake you up so you could shut off the tv. And yes, parents during the 80s let their elementary school-aged kids watch this. It terrified a very large portion of mid-to-late born gen x'ers and xennials! It's not really scary or gory enough for rated R and PG-13 wasn't a thing yet, so it's got the PG rating when it's a better fit for PG-13.
@@AwesomeUSMovies RIP to Carol-Ann - Heather O`Rourke, Dana - Dominque Dunn... the poster above Robbie's bed is dated 31st Jan 1988 Heather O`Rourke died died 1st Feb. 1988... the Skelton's are real bodies....the scientist in the stripped shirt he survived a plane crash... that's just the 1st movie...
I think Poltergeist 2 was much more scary than the first. The first one gave me more anxiety than being afraid but the second one scared the crap out of me! "Let me in!"
This is one of the first horror movies I ever watched, one of the only horror movies that actually scared me, and one of the only horror movies that still scare me today. Triple threat. There are two others that still scare me today. Dark Water (The Japanese version, NOT THE AMERICAN REMAKE!), and An American Werewolf in London. P.S. American Werewolf in London is the first horror movie I ever watched. I was 8. I slept next to my parents for over a week.
I could be wrong but I thought you were old enough to remember when TV stations actually ended at like 2 o'clock In the morning with the national anthem and the Test pattern.
Oh and most of the dead bodies in the pool were real dead bodies from a local college forensics institute and none of the actors were aware until after the fact.
This movie, along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and others, led to the creation of PG13. I think Spielberg used his influence and got the PG after some cuts. It has been a common practice to put in stuff you know won't get you the rating you want so you can bargain with the Board. "I'll take out the scene and this shot and you'll give me a PG."
Remember, in 1982, movies in the general release theaters were only G, PG, or R. There was no PG-13 yet. So, PG was a huge catch-all with a pretty wide range of films assigned into that 'slot.' That was the reason PG-13 was added to the ratings system (I think in 1984?).
Since you didn't watch enough tv to notice, channels used to go off air every night, say round 1-2 am. They'd usually do a sign off message, followed by the national anthem, and then cut transmission entirely (hence the snow), or put up some sort of test display like the old test indian or, later on, the color test bars. Eventually they pushed the time back a bit to 3 or 4, and then they realized they could make money off the dead air by selling it as really cheap ad time, and the era of late night infomercials was born and channels just stopped going off air.
Also, they're definitely augmenting the light the snow puts off with a strobe light. Usually just a pretty steady dull glow.
exactly.
Hence the term "White Noise" . It was the most terrifying time of night for kids. Because the pictures and broadcast of TV comforted us. Whether in our room, or hearing it from the parents or living room.
The snow was even comforting, because it was better than turning the tv OFF and being in the Dark. Which is why this movie gave us something else to fear.
When I was a teen and a night owl, I used to enjoy the old rerun (cheap for a TV station to buy) programs that filled the last couple hours before the TV stations went off the air for the night. I sentimentally remember the announcer, voiced-over the national anthem and patriotic scenes, saying, "This concludes our broadcast day."
@@mugwump242 I can here his voice in my head even now.
Do you have confirmation to use the strobe light? I thought the extra flicker was a result of filming a television and the frame rate and refresh rates not matching
PG was everything between G and R ratings. It covered alot of ground. I watched it when I was about 12. It was fun and scary.
Also, it was the '80's
Gotta love '80s PG (before PG-13 was a thing).
PG-13 didn't get created till 1984. (2 years after this movie came out). That left a wide gulf between PG and R. There were some wacky wild things than got rated PG that would be PG-13 or even R by today's standards.
it was films like Poltergeist, Gremlins, and Raiders of the Lost Ark that led to the creation of the PG-13 rating. Back in the early 80s PG films had violence, gore, swearing, adult themes, even some non-hardcore sex scenes and titties... Nowadays if you put in any blood, nudity, or more than a single F-bomb and the film gets rated R even though PG-13 exists.
Since you mentioned that you dislike the game Clue, I have to HIGHLY RECOMMEND the movie Clue, which is absolutely amazing and funny! It is also great for Halloween as it is a “whodunnit”. I’m so glad you enjoyed Poltergeist! It’s a classic.
I have to second this. I never was a huge fan of the game either but Clue is one of my all time favorite movies.
I 💓 that movie!
Clue is such an awesome movie. When it was in the theaters it had three different endings depending on where you saw it. But the video release had all three alternates.
It was the 80's. Totally different standards for what is PG. I'm shocked when i go to show my kid something i watched as a kid, only to find something in it that i had completely forgot about that nowadays would be considered inappropriate.
You show them anyway, though... don't you. ;)
@@IggyStardust1967 yup, absolutely. The movies that meant enough for me to show her are the movies that made me. I just go in prepared for a bit more explaining.
I'm cracking up at your disgust when you say, "Why are you in this house still?". 🤣
It was nominated for 3 Oscars:
Best Visual Effects
Best Sound Editing
Best Original Score.
“That’s Incredible” was a good 80s show hosted by several people, each introducing segments of interesting people and places. Something like Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
It was ABC’s answer to Ripley’s. I remember sarah purcell and that’s it. Lol.
The movie is said to be cursed as the skeletons used in the swimming pool were real!
Steven Spielberg was going to direct the film, but it would violate his contract with the Directors Guild, so he only got a writer and producer credit instead.
It was a box office and critical success, making $130 million dollars against a $10 million dollar budget.
Spielberg probably used real skeletons intentionally. He's a sick person.
The little girl from this movie died young due to "rectal injury".
I'm starting to think all of Hellywood is cursed.
I do love the sound design in this movie it sounds like her voice is swirling all over the whole house.
Zelda Rubinstein (Tangina) started her professional film career rather late, in her mid-forties. She actually worked as a medical lab technician before this, studying the spread of bacteria in her undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh.
As an actress, this was her breakout role, and certainly her most famous one.
I loved her on Picket Fences! "Lock your doors."
GO STEELERS, even though they suck right now😆😆
#412
#SteelCityGirl
Yes, shortly before her long running and posthumous title role in a videogame series.
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I'll see my cringey self out.
The 3-6 channels available in the 70's- 80's before MTV would shut off no later than 2AM and usually at midnight.
Spielberg had his hand in a lot of stuff back in the day even if he wasn't directing.
A few movies like this, Jaws and Alien had a lot of parents upset about G ratings and the violence, horror and gross stuff. The final straw was Indiana Jones & Temple of Doom and Gremlins. They instantly instituted PG13 after the parental backlash that warnings that the movies weren't suitable fir certain ages on the posters wasn't enough. Red Dawn in 1984 was the first PG13 movie.
Thank you for explaining to him about the stations shutting off for the night. I was surprised he didn't know already, seeing as I think he and I probably aren't too far apart in age...but like he said, not a tv guy as a kid 🤷🏼♀️🙂
Yes. This was before 24/7 cable TV and the few stations available would sign off at night and play the national anthem before going static.
Spielberg had his hands in a lot alright
Especially down heather o rokes pants
This practice actually continued on some stations into the early 90’s. I was born in the early 80’s and “snow screen” was still relevant when I saw this movie around 10.
@@PM-qp5he 😂
The movie Clue with Tim Curry is absolutely hilarious I think you would really enjoy it it's kind of like the board game where they're trying to figure out who murdered who but it's just a great movie
Yes, Clue is one of my top 5 favorite comedies! Please react to it!
Yes, please watch Clue!
Excellent choice James!!! As far as the song on tv. It played "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the end of the broadcast day for the only 3 channels at that time. NBC CBS ABC
Never knew that
I enjoyed your reaction. On a comedic note, I watched one reactor who said that Robbie, the son, when he got older, would end up in a sanitarium because when he told a therapist of a tree trying to eat him, that therapist would think he was crazy.
I saw one that said he’d become a logger & cut down every tree he could & start forest fires in his off time.
"It Knows What Scares You" is the key to the plot. Robbie was afraid of the tree outside his window and the clown doll. Carol Anne wanted the closet light on early in the movie. Diane was afraid of sleep walking and falling into the pool. The demons manifested themselves in all the family's fears. Poltergeist 2: The Other Side was a great sequel to this which you should also review at some point.
That was the station sign-off; every night at midnight stations would sign off until the a.m. (before cable TV).
I still consider this more suspenseful than horror. It’s still a good movie.
Saw this in the theater when I was 18 yrs old !!!! Such a great film!!!! Your reaction was 🙌🏻
Tv stations used to turn off at midnight and it would play the National Anthem then go to that creepy snow! It was spooky !
I was 10 when this came out, and my parents took me to it not realizing how scary it was. Yes, talk about nightmares. I used to sleep with the closet light on, and the night of the movie it was raining like in the movie. You can imagine that I didn't get much sleep that night (or any after it).
Just rewatched in the movie theatre last week. Really good on the big screen.
That’s awesome! (I’m guessing it was re-released for the 40th anniversary.)
I was born in 77 and grew up with this movie; saw it for the first time as a preteen and was very disturbed by it...
The acting and pacing of this movie are incredible. They really feel like a real family, having more calm times and more intense times like you'd expect if something like this were to happen. That's what makes this movie so scary to me: because it's NOT a constant barrage of paranormal activity. It makes it seem way more realistic.
Very well made, agreed
Poltergeist is German for noisy ghost. It typically refers to unexplainable movement or noises suspected of being caused by ghosts or possible telekinetic activity according to parapsychology.
For Beatrice Straight (Dr. Lesh), she won an Oscar for the 1976 film "Network" for Supporting Actress. In doing this, she holds the record for the shortest amount of screen time for an Oscar-winning performance - five minutes and two seconds. The film "Network" is a dark comedy, making fun of how we rely too much on TV to live our lives for us, and perhaps a prelude to how dependent we are on technology nowadays.
I loved when all that chaos was going on you stopped to shout slug bug.
I drove a bug in the 90s and it was so funny to drive down the street and watch people start punching each other as you drove by
OMG, I bet that was fun. I'd be driving around trying to find crowds
Back in the day, TV actually use to GO OFF. The local broadcast channels Shut down for the evening. And they ended with the National Anthem.
This doesn't happen anymore. There is always a broadcast on now.
22:30 It never ceases to amaze how much EVERYONE saw that one coming, it's SO obvious thru the whole movie...yet it still ALWAYS scares the fluids out of anyone who sees it.
Clue: The Movie is more amusing than Clue: The Board Game.
edit: CRAIG T. NELSON!!! He had a sitcom way back when, called 'Coach'. It was fun. He's also the voice of Mr. Incredible.
A poltergeist is a "mischievous" spirit and is the type of haunting typified by objects moving or being thrown around.
LOL i just about died when you went, "OHH - SLUG BUG!" hahahaha
Slug bug? I guess that’s a punch buggy? lol
I was 9 years old when I watched this without my parents' knowledge. It traumatized the HELL out of me for years! 😂
I love it when reactors say “it’s PG how scary can it be?” I just smile & giggle knowing this was before PG13 existed. Those of us who grew up in the 70s-80s got to watch some great movies! 😂
I am sure someone already told you.. but if not.. Back in the 80's.. when programing was going off.. they would play the national anthem.. and it would literally cut to static (End of programing)
If I remember correctly there was a lot of parents upset that this was only rated PG!!! I totally agree with you!
I was about 4 when I first saw it...I snuck watching it from my bedroom door while my parents were watching it, and gave myself away when asking if the tree was going to eat him. 🤣 From that point on I wouldn't stop asking and sneaking, so my parents just said whatever and let me have at. Been one of my favorites ever since! So glad I got to watch you react to it!!!!
The little girl Carol Ann tragically died very young. Craig t was Coach
We were tougher as kids back then, back in the 70's the 3 big stations stopped broadcasting at midnight Sunday through Thursday.
This was PG in the 80s, kids were tougher back then, Spielberg was always pushing the envelope.
Before TV was 24 hrs programming used to sign off at night after the national anthem played.
Also, I totally get not liking the game Clue, but you might like the movie. It's based on the board game but has a kind of Agatha Christie And Then There Were None vibe. Also, it's hilarious.
I think this is your 9th Steven Spielberg movie!
Awesome
The national a them would play when the TV channels would run out of programing. After 2 or 3am they wouldn't air any programs until 5am I think.
Didn't know that
After him watching "Hocus Pocus", then "A Quiet Place" and saying how he can't understand how a PG/PG-13 can be horror.
I was thinking somebody should tell him to watch Poltergeist.
Seems his sons did.
The beuty of this film is that it still holds up to this day and is spectacular. When you look at more modern attempts at spiritual hauntings like paranormal activity....they pale in comparrison
This movie was first rated R. Speilberg and Hooper disagreed and were successful in getting it changed to PG. Due to Speiberg's "Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom" and"Gremlins" PG ratings, (some parents were angry at the rating) Speilberg advocated to having a rating between R and PG. Thus, PG-13 was born. The first PG-13 movie released in theaters was Red Dawn in 1984. Which, Ironically, I saw in the theaters when I was 9-yrs old.
"I love that they went around the tree" oh boy did they cut corners elsewhere though lmao
Agreed
His PG movies are one of the reasons they redid the ratings 😂😂. This was my first scary movie I snuck to watch with my older cousins and it scared me for sure.
I just saw this last year and thought it to be very scary. The effects may not be top tier but they did what they were supposed to which is be scary so 🤷🏼♀️
This definitely would have been PG-13 if it came out a couple of years later. The first PG-13 movie was Red Dawn in 1984!
Real Human skeletons were used in those pool scenes & the actors didn’t know until after the fact! Also I know a few cast members died during movie or right after filming I know 1 Kid & the short lady that’s what was on Inside Edition behind the scenes! And I agree I can’t believe it was PG, I saw as a younger person but looked away & it still gave me nightmares! PS Your children enjoyed playing the ITS ONLY A PG MOVIE CON😂! ✌🏻☀️
Even to this day, I'm still confuzzled with the guy who had the audacity to try and whip up a steak as a "snack".
The chicken leg dangling from your mouth wasn't enough?
That's a big snack
PG-13 wasn’t created until after 1984. It was inspired by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, as that film wasn’t quite R, but it was a bit more intense than a traditional PG film.
I saw this when I was around 10 or 11. I loved it. Lol the ratings system was very different in the 80s. I guess kids then were made of sterner stuff and expected to handle it. Lol
poltergeists aren't technically ghosts, they're more malevolent spiritual forms, the original version of them stems to places of violence and serious anger causing all that anger to be created into a violent spirit.
though these days they're sort of interchangeable
Steven Spielberg didn't tell JoBeth Williams that the skeletons were real, so the fear on her face was real. Also the older girl was murdered by her abusive boyfriend, and Carol Ann died suddenly few years due to heath problems.
Just watched this for the first time in the theater a few weeks ago.
Way more intense seeing it on the big screen.
I watched this the first time when I was 10 which was in 1989 and I still remember how scared I was 😂😂.
The second movie is actually my favorite that old man still scares the crap out of me and the song that he sings since chills down my spine
I always found the second one much scarier myself.
He freaked me out so much as a kid lol
I do remember watching this a lot as a kid. I don't remember it being so crazy and gory. But I loved it. The little psychic lady was so similar to my gran that it made everything kinda silly to me. I was like look there's Gran again.
Yes the big flaw in the movie for me is how the family acts like everything is ok after they get the little girl back and they stay in the same room all that craziness happened in. Nope! Lol
People forget that PG stands for "Parental Guidance". And in the 80s that meant "Be a parent and judge your own kid's tolerance level."
I found your channel by accident tonight, and I've been binging for hours! Your laugh is super contagious and I enjoy your reactions so much! If I could make two suggestions, The Harry Potter series & Lord of the Rings. Two HEAVYWEIGHTS in the fantasy genre that I think you would adore. Harry Potter series is truly magical and grows darker and more adult each film. The Lord of the Rings is just perfection. And if your interested in a really incredible war movie, watch Fury. It's a really hard watch but another must watch. Have a wonderful day!
Hi Hazel, thank you so much for checking out the channel. As for HP and LOTR I've seen them all. As I'm sure you seen at this point I'm a huge book worm. I've read both those series many times over and couldn't be more excited when the movies came out.
I'll make sure Fury is on my list to watch thanks.
@@AwesomeUSMovies so glad to hear! I wasn’t sure if you were a fantasy nerd like myself! 😂yes I agree , the books for both are just incredible! Best of luck on your movie journey and can’t wait to see more!
Loved the reaction. This is one of the series that I love watching people react to. With that being said, I hope you react to both 2 and 3.
Ha. This was originally slapped with an R rating but Spielberg and team fought it and since PG-13 did not exist in 1982, it was lowered to PG. Hands down one of the best PG rated horror films ever made. I saw it when I was 10 and it scared the bejesus out of me. LOL!
No joke I once knew a goth family that this was there daughters favorite instrumental song to sleep to back in 2008 they were part of a local vintage hearse car club in hell Michigan the just hearseing around car club near pickney and Howell Michigan as the only song that would help there youngest daughter sleep was the soundtrack theme of Carol Anne from the movie poltergeist 1982 honest truth 🕊️
I watched a documentary on this film here on RUclips about this film and it’s true. They actually used REAL skeletons for the swimming pool scene. Also, the set was supposedly cursed…
That is nuts, I thought that was just an urban legend.
Looking forward to this one with you. Love you reactions James
There is a very sad back story to this classic film. Both of the daughters suffered premature deaths. The elder daughter was strangled by her boyfriend only a couple of years after Poltergeist, while the younger girl died in the hospital of an impacted colon soon after.
That's Incredible was a show in the 80s. They showed crazy stuff and stunts. One of the hosts was Fran Tarkington the old Vikings QB.
Yes the National Anthem would end programming every night then it would go to static until morning.
Hey, I'm not a fan of horror movies because I'm a big chicken but I do love your reactions so I'll brave this one.
The national anthem would play every night at midnight when the station went off the air.
When TV was analogue, it would sign off every night and the National Anthem would be played as a sign off
Great film with tragic things behind the trilogy.
That's incredible was fun to watch back in the 80s. It was a show starring Cathy Lee Crosby, John Davidson, and former Vikings quarterback Fran tarkenton.
They each introduced a story of the bizarre.
John Davidson may be fully retired now, but he was still performing on Broadway in 2013, and I think he still does small concerts.
All these are comedies:
"Seinfeld"
"Friends"
"Taxi"
"Cheers" then "Frasier"
"Mad About You"
"King Of Queens"
"M.A.S.H."
When I was young the tv stations always signed off at night with the national anthem (I am 70)
When I was a kid the tv stations would always play the National Anthem right before shutting down for the night. Round about midnight or 1:00 am. We only had 3 stations, too, but this was in the big city, Dallas. Before your time.
The Clue game not so great the film Clue 1985 is amazing.
That’s what tv was like before cable
Man I love your reactions!
Once upon a time. TV stations went off the air around midnight. They would play the National Anthem when they went off.
8:05 They didn't sell the house. They live in subdivision. Area were all the houses have pretty much same blueprint. So all the houses look the same, both inside and outside.
This movie was the reason I had to have my closet door closed to sleep when I was a kid.
Crazy fact.....those were real corpses they used. It would've cost waaaaaay to much to make different looking individual skeletons so, they got real cadavers. One of the actors actually got I'll because they accidentally ingested some of the water.
I remember when the National Anthem played first thing in the morning on TV.
Part 2 is really good that one always scared me. The movie ratings back then were definitely not accurate lol
The rating of PG-13 came about after Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom was released in 1984. Many parents were angry over scenes in that movie that they felt were inappropriate for children and there was a push for change in the rating system. It's possible that reactions to Poltergeist in 1982 contributed to that. But parents with young children in the 80s were more likely to take the family to see an adventure movie than a scary movie. The PG rating stands for parental guidance, meaning a parent needs to find out details about the movie and provide guidance. Either by not taking children or by discussing the movie after seeing it.. Even before the internet there were articles to help parents do that. PG-13 was to warn parents subject matter is sensitive for under 13. But, the word guidance is still there. It's up to parents to choose and guide.
I agree with you! The darker the better! It is funny how you immediately said "She is going to kill that fish!" I answered "Yup!"
Stations used to sign off at midnight or 1:00 a.m. with the national anthem. There was no 24/7 tv back in the day.
You must have not watched much tv back in the day. I'm 43 and remember this still happening on some of the rural stations when I was very young. Before 24 hour tv programming became the norm tv stations would sign off late at night by playing the national anthem. I believe the idea was if you fell asleep during programming, the national anthem would wake you up so you could shut off the tv. And yes, parents during the 80s let their elementary school-aged kids watch this. It terrified a very large portion of mid-to-late born gen x'ers and xennials! It's not really scary or gory enough for rated R and PG-13 wasn't a thing yet, so it's got the PG rating when it's a better fit for PG-13.
You may not have liked the CLUE game, but I bet you would LOVE the movie!
So fun to see you react to this, and would love to see what you think of the sequels :) Start watching Cobra Kai next :)
There's sequels?
@@AwesomeUSMovies yep! And as an aside note, the little girl passed away when she was only 11 or 12 from a stomach issue
@@AwesomeUSMovies RIP to Carol-Ann - Heather O`Rourke, Dana - Dominque Dunn... the poster above Robbie's bed is dated 31st Jan 1988 Heather O`Rourke died died 1st Feb. 1988... the Skelton's are real bodies....the scientist in the stripped shirt he survived a plane crash... that's just the 1st movie...
I think Poltergeist 2 was much more scary than the first. The first one gave me more anxiety than being afraid but the second one scared the crap out of me! "Let me in!"
This is one of the first horror movies I ever watched, one of the only horror movies that actually scared me, and one of the only horror movies that still scare me today. Triple threat. There are two others that still scare me today. Dark Water (The Japanese version, NOT THE AMERICAN REMAKE!), and An American Werewolf in London. P.S. American Werewolf in London is the first horror movie I ever watched. I was 8. I slept next to my parents for over a week.
I could be wrong but I thought you were old enough to remember when TV stations actually ended at like 2 o'clock In the morning with the national anthem and the Test pattern.
Oh and most of the dead bodies in the pool were real dead bodies from a local college forensics institute and none of the actors were aware until after the fact.
This movie, along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and others, led to the creation of PG13. I think Spielberg used his influence and got the PG after some cuts.
It has been a common practice to put in stuff you know won't get you the rating you want so you can bargain with the Board. "I'll take out the scene and this shot and you'll give me a PG."
Yes.. PG in the 80's were AWESOME!!!!! LMAO
I saw this when it came out in theaters and I was 11 or 12 years old at the time. It scared the crap out of me. 🤣
You said you didn't like the board game Clue you should watch the 1985 movie Clue you would love it.
Remember, in 1982, movies in the general release theaters were only G, PG, or R. There was no PG-13 yet. So, PG was a huge catch-all with a pretty wide range of films assigned into that 'slot.' That was the reason PG-13 was added to the ratings system (I think in 1984?).