Poltergeist: After All These Years! (scene, family, watching, screen)

[Tracysherm]

I just watched Poltergeist today for the first time in years, and I have to say, it still holds up. Well, for the most part.

The story is still decent and scary (but you must erase from your mind any memory of the two horrible sequels). The effects are still pretty good, and the humorous moments are still funny and break up the tension nicely.

However, a few things make it not very relevant for 2011:

10. The upper-middle-class family had their dream home, but it was only a 3-bedroom, and it had no family room.

9. The two youngest kids had to share a room, and they were a boy and a girl--you'd never see that today!

8. The kitchen was small, not open to the living space, and NO GRANITE!

7. The construction guys whistling and hooting at the 16-year-old daughter would be immediately arrested and become registered child sex offenders.

6. Parents smoking pot after the kids are in bed would be sufficient grounds for child protective services to raid the house. Even making a movie with parents smoking pot would get Spielberg and Hooper on some kind of watch list.

5. It must have been different in the early 80s, but these days, I don't think there are thunder storms every night in Southern California.

4. The paranormal investigators would have to be accompanied by their own reality TV crew when they came out to the house.

3. A kid wouldn't fit in a flat-screen TV.

2. The little lady who "cleans houses" for a living doesn't speak Spanish.

1. TV channels no longer sign-off with the National Anthem and then go to snow. These days, the ghosts wouldn't be able to get to Carol Ann through all of the infomercials. Or she'd be swept into the next dimension by spirits looking like Kevin Trudeau, Russ Dalbey, and the makers of the Kymaro Body Shaper.

[Chango]

Funny! I got nightmares after watching that show as a little kid when it came out. I don't think I've watched it since then.

[_redbird_]

That poor boy would probably have his teeth fixed. That silhouette scene of him where it shows his buck teeth still gives me nightmares.

[Tracysherm]

You're right! I was just thinking that this afternoon. The teeth were more frightening than the tree trying to eat him.

[D217]

Originally Posted by _redbird_

That poor boy would probably have his teeth fixed. That silhouette scene of him where it shows his buck teeth still gives me nightmares.

Well, he did get braces in the sequel..lol

[renault]

This is still a good scary movie even if it's a bit dated now.

[Debsi]

Funny post, TS.

The scene with the face being ripped off in the haunted mirror scared the bejeezus out of me.

[fleetiebelle]

The clown still makes me shudder.

[claud605]

Originally Posted by Debsi

Funny post, TS.

The scene with the face being ripped off in the haunted mirror scared the bejeezus out of me.

Me too, at the time. But watch it now and it's almost laughable, those special effects from back then.

Remember the mother crawling all over the walls and ceiling?

"They never moved the bodies!"

[axemanjoe]

Cool movie, the first sequel Poltergeist 2 was good too, I hate it that Heather O'Rourke the girl who played Carol Ann died in '87.