Rules to live by: 1. Don't build a house on burial ground 2. Don't buy creepy clowns 3. When creepy stuff starts happening.. GET OUT. Leave and don't turn back

This, i believe is the first time i've seen James so enthralled and immersed in a film. Makes my 80's generation proud of the movies of my era. Both your reactions are gold and on point! Thank you!!!

It's funny watching young people being puzzled by a TV station signing off late at night with the national anthem. But yeah, they used to do scary movies that weren't all about blood and guts.

Fun Fact: The reason the tv goes out and gets grainy like that is because in the early 80s and prior, 24 hour news didn’t exist. Tv transmitters were shut down (usually around midnight) and some sort of sign off would be rendered before the tv would go dark (such as the National Anthem). My oh my, how things have changed.

A good, simple joke is the best way to end a horror movie. Helps the audience relax after the intense ending.

Re: opening credits. It’s adorable that you two seem to have no idea that TV used to end at night.

BEST HORROR MOVIE FAMILY EVER. THEY EMOTIONS THEY SHARE ARE SO CONVINCING. THE WAY THEY INTERACT IN THE NORMAL SCENES IS SPOT ON. THATS WHY THIS WORKS SO WELL.

Well it was made by Steven Spielburg, but yeah no PG13 at the time. It was when PG actually meant that parents should really consider if their kid should watch it. But I do like the fact that the entire family was likeable and had personalities. I feel modern horror movies tend to skip the character depth and go straight to scares. I actually knew the when the clown would show before watching it and I still was taken off guard.

Heather O’Rourke did such an amazing job as Carol Anne. R.I.P That scene with the guy pulling his face apart scared me so much as a kid!

Here are some fun facts about this movie 1. In the novel, the spirit in the staircase is known as "The Lady in Waiting." 2. The Beast's roar is the exact same sound file as the MGM lion. 3. During the scene where Robbie is being strangled, the clown's arms became extremely tight and Robins started to choke. When he screamed out, "I can't breathe!" Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper thought that the boy was ad-libbing and just instructed him to look at the camera. When Spielberg saw Robins's face turning purple, he ran over and removed the clown's arms from Robins' neck. 4. To make the stair spirits movements seem more ethereal when they appeared on the monitor, the director had the actors walk very slowly backwards then reversed the film. The same effect was used for the entire family in the opening scene. 5. The crawling steak was done by using a real steak which was laid over a slot cut between the tiles in the counter top. Two wires were fastened to the bottom of the steak and a special effects operator, hidden under the counter, simply moved the wires to make the steak crawl like a caterpillar. 6. The cemetery Steve and Teague are talking in front of has a tree identical to the one that tried to eat Robbie, a subtle clue that the Freeling house was built over a cemetery. 7. The dog's name "E. Buzz" comes from a sketch on Saturday Night Live with Dan Akyroyd as "E. Buzz Miller," a pimp who critiques naked Victorian art.

Back in the day, at the end of the set broadcasting time, most channels would play the national anthem and then go off the air until morning. There would be nothing there except that static until like 6am.

I believe "It's only PG...how bad could it be?" was my exact reasoning for seeing this when I was twelve. Suffice to say I spent many nights afterwards sleeping very poorly. One detail to note is that in the end, we see a coffin come up through the kitchen floor right where Diane had drawn the circle, the spot that made things move.

That little girl (Heather O’Rourke) died very young (13) after Poltergeist 3. She was misdiagnosed. The actress who plays big sister (Dominique Dunne) in Poltergeist was murdered not long after Poltergeist 2. Many actors died suddenly after making the Poltergeist movies. For years there were rumors that Poltergeist movies were cursed. In Poltergeist 3 you can see that with Heather is something wrong she was so puffted on the face.

The film was a box office hit, making $122 million dollars against a $19 million dollar budget. It was nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Visual Effects Best Sound Mixing Best Original Score. It lost all 3 to ET The Extra Terrestrial.

its sad that both daughters in the film passed away!

Is it just me or is ninetailedbrush coming out of his shell more and more lately? Love the personalities of you guys and your actual conversation about what you watch!

Weakest? :O In 1982 14 year old me thought it was super scary. Not so anymore, but I absolutely love this movie, one of my most watched ever. I love the family dynamic, and JoBeth Williams (the mom) gives an incredible powerhouse performance.

That theme of Jerry Goldsmith's may just be one of the finest pieces of movie music ever created.

Fun fact! My mom used to babysit for this couple that worked on the set for poltergeist and the skeletons you see are actually real! They got them shipped from India 😬

I was born in 84 and remember when many basic cable channels would shut down late at night. This was also before PG-13 existed so PG encapsulated everything in between Rated-G and Rated-R. It was a real grey area that could could go either way until PG-13 helped better define content for teens.

31:34 its a built in heat lamp, a lot of houses and apartments had them at the time.

When my wife and I saw this when it was first released, we came home, got ready for bed, crawled in, and turned out the light. Then I looked over at the door to our walk-in closet. Me: uh, did you turn on the light in the closet? Her: no, did you? Me: no. Could you turn out the light? Her: hell no! YOU turn out the light! …. The light stayed on that night. 😳

The house imploding was a practical effect. A model of the house was built with connecting wires that went through a small hole behind it. The house was pulled back through the hole with a high speed camera and then slowed down for the movie.

Nine Tail Brush does not react to any jump scares. However, James jumps at every single one. LOL

The "creepy red light" is a heat lamp. In other words, it generates heat so you don't freeze your nuts off getting out a bath while wet.

Back in the day, you didn’t have 24/7 TV, so you’d get the star spangled banner once it was all done until morning 😂 that’s what the opening scene is all about

Although it’s not a the scariest movie by today’s standards, it certainly shows why Spielberg’s characters have always been so likable and unique to watch in any type of movie.

Fun Fact: The father played by Gray T Nelson who also voiced Mr. Incredible in The Incredibles.

The dad is Mr. Incredible from the Incredibles =)

Fun fact: Steven Spielberg used his own childhood fears for the son Robbie. He was terrified of a tree outside his window and clowns.

For those who don’t already know, the skeletons in the pool we’re real skeletons (likely obtained from a medical school) and that still gives me the chills even now

Fun fact: This movie heavily influenced the "haunted house" sub-genre going forward. That influence is especially obvious in the Insidious series where you can see several of the same elements.

People seem to forget or don't know that the special effects in this movie were create by Industrial Light and Magic

Poltergeist is an amazing film and has been a favorite of mine since I was little. I feel like it's more of a supernatural adventure film than a true horror. It's definitely unique in many ways. Any movie that really makes me care about the characters and then puts them in danger is such a joy to watch. The adrenaline rushes and then the quiet suspense, you just gotta love it. Speilberg definitely added his trademarks in this movie even though Tobe Hooper was the official director. Speilberg was heavily involved in the casting and did a lot of second unit camera work. I actually did a lengthy paper on a lot of the subtext and themes of this film for a genre film class in college. Every time I watch this movie, I find all these cool little touches that I never noticed before. Even though some things seem a tad dated, it's pretty timeless in most ways that matter. It has incredible re-watch value.

My curfew was midnight. I can't count the number of times I came scurrying in the door as the national anthem was finishing and the TV went to static. lol The WORST would be if I fell asleep watching something at a friend's house and the static and flashing lights woke me. Anyway, yeah... that really dates the film. It was a big deal movie, unique & unforgettable. As you said, there was humor/camp in it. Spielberg liked to go for a blend of tone/emotions. Movies in general used to be slower paced, with lots of character moments up front to encourage audience to care what happened to the characters.

31:45 this must be the thousandth time I watched this movie and I never understood why they would ever go back in to that room ever again!

Ah, to be a young person and not knowing that back before cable TV there were no all night TV stations and they signed off every night after the late evening news (most were off the air by 11:30pm to 12:00am) the last thing to be broadcast each evening was the national anthem and then you just saw snow on the TV screen. There were only the basic broadcast stations (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and maybe 1 or 2 local stations) and you received the signal by having a huge antenna on top of your house. And during storms or weather events you often lost reception all together. Man that was the good old days 😊

JoBeth Williams is an icon for this role.

The reason she was told to run to the light was so all the others would follow her. They are distracted by the light of her life force. But with her being close to the light they will be more drawn to the light while she herself stopped and turned away from the light so it didn't affect her. While the old lady called all the others into the light. And it would have worked if dad didn't get impatient

Thanks for reacting to this movie. I've loved it since I was a child. Took a trip past the real house in Simi Valley because I like the architecture of it. For 1982 it still holds up pretty good.

In the 80’s when the last scheduled program for the night would be over, it would end with the national anthem and then it would cut off air leaving snowy static.

The "built on an Indian burial ground" thing became clichéd and funny, but this was a pretty neat original flick in its day. Poltergeist was a family horror film, if that makes sense.

RIP Heather O'Rourke and Dominique Dunn (the oldest sister).

Dominique Dunn, the teenage daughter, was the daughter of the famous writer and producer Dominick Dunn. She was strangled to death by her boyfriend. The little girl, who starred in the sequel(s) died shortly after the last filming of an infection. I am glad they are memorialized in this Spielberg film.

Heather O'Rourke, aka Carol Ann, sadly passed away during the filming of part 3. Its all part of The Curse Of Poltergeist (look it up). They had to CGI in her likeness to complete the film. Heather O'Rourke is buried in a wall crypt at the Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles. Many other celebrities are buried there. Its a very well hidden place right off Wilshire Blvd. Back in the day, we used to go burn one with Jim Backus, aka Mr Howell from Gilligan's Island. He is also buried there. We would leave candy or a flower with Heather O'Rourke. RIP to all the greats at the Westwood Cemetery.

A long time ago, TV channels would shut off each night with the national anthem. The snowy static was what was left. TV’s didn’t automatically shut off.

This film and its TV snow get me nostalgic for the era when TV wasn't 24 hours--and movie theaters (in New York, at least) ran all night, or very late into the night. Now real places close early and we are all glutted with media from every device at all times.

When I saw this in the movie theater ppl laughed at the end when they put the TV outside.

Please react to The Crow (1994), Brandon Lee is the lead actor he is the son of Bruce Lee, it’s an amazing movie. This is Brandon Lee tragic performance, Lee got shot with pieces of residue from a blank bullet still stuck in the chamber of the prop gun, the prop crew didn’t clean the gun and didn’t check if the gun still had any residue which it did. The director and crew and actors all though that the scene went as planned but they saw Brandon on ground for a couple of minutes they thought he was playing a joke or something but he wasn’t, they walk towards him and turn him and see that Brandon was really shot for real so they rushed him to the hospital where doctors performed surgery but after they told the crew that Brandon Lee had passed away on March 31, 1993 Brandon Lee was only 28 years old. They still went ahead and finished the movie but some scenes are not Brandon they used his body double to finish the movie but they CGI his face.

To this day the movie is awesome. Some of the practical effects may be outdated but its still creepy af

1982 was a good year for movies. I saw this one, "The thing" and "Bladerunner" in the cinema all within a few weeks of each other.

I just love seeing one of my favorite reactors (you guys) react to to this

One of my absolute favorites! A halloween classic for sure!

This house is clean.

The strobe light effect was added. TV's didn't flash like that when "snow" was on the station.

Scary Movie did a prodigy and the scene with the clown and the mom all over the walls were featured. Funny as all hell

Both girls, actresses died just after this movie was released. The older sister was killed by her boyfriend (who got JUST three years!). And Carol Anne died from some rare disorder when she was 12, and just before the third movie hit the theaters.

The budget was huge because Steven Spielberg was involved through the entire production.

Those 2 young ladies playing the daughters have lost their lives in horrible ways. Heather o'rourke and Dominique dunne. May they rest in peace

That used real skeletons in the pool scene when they come out of the muddy water. The actress was not made aware of this until after the scene was filmed. They did this because ironically fake skeletons are more expensive to have made then to have real ones.

Lol sweet summer children, in the 70s and 80s, TV would go off air overnight, usually around 12 to 2am. The last thing they would play before shut off was the national anthem.

Omg...I was soooo glad when you said you hadn't seen this one before! I knew it would just grab you in so many ways lol. It was great that even for simple stuff that wasn't per say meant to be scary....you jumped at James!😂 I went with my Mom and one or both of my sister's when it opened. I remember when the movie started- with the sign off Nat'l anthem...a Military guy actually stood up during it, which surprised most who were in there. I understood but it's a movie lol. But, the theater was fairly packed and everyone loved this film by the end. Lots of thrills and chills. To this day I can't watch the steak or bathroom scene with that guy. The girl that played the older sister, is actor- Griffin Dunne's sister and their father - Dominic Dunne is a famous writer. (Griffin was in- American Werewolf in London btw.) It's a tragic shame both girls from the movie lost their lives in a very sad way. 😢 Onward, Spielberg did a great job with this film. Was really fun watching y'all!👻🎃👻🎃

I love how human they are, smoking pot and everything.😆😍

Before I watched this movie, I thought “Since I know pretty much what it is, there’s no way it’ll scare me.” I was DEAD WRONG! That’s how you know this movie is still effective after all this time.

Hey guys since you guys are animators i would like to recommend a video called "Lullaby for a Princess" by Warpout the video has 50 million views. Its a 7 minute music animation that took him 2.5 years to hand draw. Its about two sisters the oldest called Celestia ( who controls the sun/day ) and the younger Luna ( who controls the Moon/night ) who fight because Luna is jealous that everyone is up and doing stuff during the day time while sleeping and ignoring the night that she creates. Celestia loves Luna deeply but the only way to win is to seal her away on the moon for 1000 years. Even after this time she misses her younger sister and while she lowers the moon to make way for the daytime she is singing her sister a lullaby while she tucks her in to sleep for the day. And everything in this video is cannon for the show. The fandom this belongs to loves watching people react to this video and others from the show/fandom. The fandom will flock to new channels that react to this video and others like it. But you have to have an open mind when going into this because its something that you probably would never consider watching on your own. If you decide to watch it I cant wait to see your reaction if not that ok I understand why its not for everyone.

Oh my God I miss the 80's... The air was cleaner back then. And the water still fresh. People were kind to each other. There were snow on the TV screen. I could talk to myself all alone through the cosy winter nights. This movie is such a vintage classic, almost nostalgic if one might say so. And we do. 😎🖤👍

The first time I saw Poltergeist was between projects in woodshop class when I was in Jr. High School.

Lol in the olden days not too long ago, (when there was only tv stations or radio) programming would end at like midnight or 3am. They'd usually end with a national anthem like in the movie then go off air until early morning. Sometimes it was just static or you'd get the classic circular "test card" with a humming tone.

You also see the tv play the national anthem and go to static on a nightmare on elm street before Glenn dies.

Yeah, TV's use to sign off at around midnight and you would get that static white nose until the morning. That was before cable and hundreds of channels. I'm 50 and I can remember when there was just the big three channels. We had ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS was the public educational channel. UHF channels came along later, and that was only about 4 or five more. That was even before TV remote controls, you had to get up walk over to the television and turn a dial. With a very loud audible CLICK CLICK CLICK!

The movie is said to be cursed as the skeletons in the second swimming pool were real. Dominique Dunne was strangled by her ex boyfriend in her home, where she was pronounced braindead at the age of 22. Heather O'Rourke, Carol Anne, died of Crohn's Disease at the age of 13 in 1988, a month before filming on Poltergeist 3 was finished. Will Sampson, whom played Tyler in Poltergeist 2 died 1987 following open heart surgery. Julian Beck, Reverand Kane, died of cancer in 1985 during production of Poltergeist 2.

The movie and its effects are 40 years old! The only reason Spielberg didn't direct was that he was busy with E.T.

This was my FAVORITE horror movie when I was little (I was born in '93 so I grew up with all the '80's movies), this one and The Omen, glad you liked it

Literally grew up with this, amityville, exorcist, nightmare on elm street, the oman. And i mean grew up..i watched all these from ages 7 - 10 pretty regularly

I had a clown picture in my bedroom as a kid. For about 2 days before I put that f*ng thing away. Jesus, what were my parents thinking.

RIP Heather O’Rourke, she died at a young age. She died too soon.

ah people that don'i know that tv stations used to go off air and show static late at night. now its infomercials.

James jumpscaring so many times watching this Masterpiece is hilarious😂😂😂😂

Ok before cable TV most homes only had 3 to 5 channels tops. Most if not all of them went off the air around midnight, it always ended with that song then went to snow just like that. Usually coming on air around 5am with the early morning news reports

I absolutely love this film it may not be scary but it's definitely a classic! They also say the whole film franchise is cursed because of the death of 4 cast members and apparently strange stuff happened on the set 😖

James Wan was heavily influenced by this movie, it inspired him to make Insidious, another great supernatural horror

First, I'm so glad you finally watched this. Yes it's PG but just wait. So first of all, the thing with the static on the TV was a real thing..Back then TV networks weren't broadcast 24 hours, they usually ended around midnight and after playing the National Anthem or some kind of sign off screen they would just go to static. Also the reason that people think kids toys are creepy is actually because of movies like this. Before this movie, I never was really afraid of clowns...but after? And as far as why weren't they more scared when it first started happening? This was one of the earlier haunting movies, so at the time it was more of a fascination more that the immanent doom we now expect from seeing the outcome of all these movies about ghosts and haunting. This movie was one of the first. We had to look up the word Poltergeist because no one knew what it meant when this movie came out. That's the difference with how it was view when it was made and how you are viewing what's happening watching it now. Yes you are supposed to notice that the mosquitos are only swarming them. As far as the light, it is a way out for the spirits to move on to the next world, but Carol Ann isn't dead so going into it would be death for her. They need her to come back through the portal she got pulled into. As far as the cemetery, this is the movie that started the whole theme of a place being haunted because it was built on top of a sacred burial ground. But as they explained with the explanation of a Poltergeist, the house isn't haunted. The ghosts are unable to move on because of the cemetery thing, but it's Carol Ann that they are attracted to because she's special. You might say she has the Shining. You definitely need to watch the sequel. It's really good too and it explains much more of the first movie. When I think of this movie I don't think horror, but more terror. It's really a creepy unsettling plot. Very much a Spielberg movie and the special effects were incredible for it's time.

If you two want more scary movies to watch, I recommend Dario Argento's 1977 film Suspiria. Also The Mummy (1999) if you haven't yet watched it. Edit: WOLFWALKERS!! It's not a scary or Halloween movie but you guys need to watch Wolfwalkers!!

I freakin love this film 🤧❤️‍🔥 But apparently those skeletons in the pool were real and that’s kinda fucked up :/

08:50 luckily Dana wasn't doing anything "else"😁

I used to watch this all the time as a kid lol. I thought the concept was so cool. It's still one of my all time favorite horror movies. Both the little girl who played Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) and the older sister (Dominique Dunne) unfortunately died tragically at young ages. 😥 I really like the feel good aspect to this movie. It kinda is my Hocus Pocus like you said. That's a good way to describe it.

This is the kinda film you get when it's directed by the director of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper) while also being produced by Steven Spielberg.

The lightning counting scene makes me thing of teaching a kid staying in a cabin on a church retreat. He had the same worries about lightning.

Classic Spielberg. Creepy and scary, but still a family film with likable, familiar characters and a hopeful vibe. This film was state of the art at the time, and huge box office.

While he wasn’t the director but the producer, Steven Spielberg was on set most of the time because he was very protective of actress, Heather O’Rourke (Carol Ann). While only 5-years-old she wasn’t afraid of filming her scary scenes except for one. The scene when she is holding onto the headboard of the bed with a fan blowing on her at full force and toys flying by her terrified her to the point she started panicking. Spielberg stopped the scene immediately and took Heather into his arms promising she would never have to do it again. He adored her so much that after she finished her scenes he gifted her the goldfish that were in the movie.

The house I grew up in and the town in California was built over a burial ground. I didn’t find that out till I was almost 18 and all kinds of creepy things happened in that house. I’m glad we moved out from there cause that house scared the hell out of me.

Announcer voice: “Poltergeist… The feel good movie of the year.“ 🤣🤣🤣

This was before CG ruined the wonder of movies. Back then, it was all practical effects, and it wasn't always clear how they were done, so scary movies really messed with your mind. Now,, CG is used for everything, and we know it, so it's just not the same. Zelda Rubenstein's performance was brilliant. When she was explaining everything to the family and the researchers, it was mesmerising. Then she says "Now hold onto yourselves, and the music changed, and the hairs on my neck stood up as she described the Beast. And earlier, when Carol Anne was talking to Mommy through the TV, when she says "Mommy, there's somebody here," the way Heather O'Rourke delivered the line did the same thing. The performances in this film were all outstanding. Greate reaction guys.

One of my favorites. Just watched it yesterday lol

“How is this PG?!” Because this movie predates Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the film that finally created the PG-13 rating. But to be fair, this movie certainly helped plant the idea that a new rating was needed.

I was 15 when i saw this in the theather,,,was so scary back then...today it just isfun but im amazed how well it still stands

This was the first horror movie I ever watched. My uncle showed it to me when I was 12. I was scared as hell but loved it. Since my uncle died I always think of him when I see this movie. Still one of my favourite movies... lots of nostalgia 🙂

I remember another horror movie in which they used real dead bodies, called "Unrest" (2006).

Yeah, stations went off the air - most were not 24 hours!!!

People loved the supernatural in the 70’s. So the parents are “open minded” hippie types and that’s why they except that it’s a ghost right away. Ghost stories and the supernatural was very hip back then kzfaq.info/get/bejne/kLN1hJpzmZ_DYKc.html there is a treasure trove of supernatural stories from the 60’ and 70’s.