Pictures of Poltergeist

A couple of days ago, Tim and I watched Poltergeist on our big screen TV.

Poltergeist was one of my life's biggest special interests.  It is also has huge connections to what was probably my life's biggest psychological trauma.  

Although I watched it countless times as a child and had most of it memorized; I don't think I ever watched the whole thing after the trauma.

I also had never seen it on a big screen.  I didn't see it until it came out on video or HBO (or whatever Cable premium channel).

Also, the version that I most often saw was edited for television. I guess we video-taped it?  So, in that version, Marty (Martin Casella) hardly picks his own face apart, and there were some words missing.  "Bastard" was one I remembered.  I guess I had seen the unedited version enough times to have noticed, back then, that the word bastard was now missing.  

Anyway....I had mixed feelings about re-watching. I went from yes to no to yes again.  

The thought of watching it gave me a bad feeling.  So that's where the no came from.

The yes came from wanting to see the set design close up.

The cool thing about our media room is that the screen is big but also we sit close enough that we can easily see details.  (but not so close that it hurts our necks or makes us feel yuck)

Before watching it, I had to let Tim know two things.

A) I reminded him that the movie is connected to trauma for me and asked him not to make jokes or ask questions about how so and so died in real life.  He had done so on earlier occasions which made me anxious.  I just didn't feel like sitting in the movie pretending to be casual as he asked, So how did that girl die again?    

Note: Reminded might = told.  I had thought I had told him all this at some point.  But I may have just thought I did.   

B) I planned to take photos throughout the movie.

The good news is I enjoyed watching the movie.

At the end of the experience, I felt happy and not traumatized or sad.

Tim and I both seemed to share an enjoyment of pointing out the set design.

We were both excited about all the Star Wars toys in the children's bedroom.

My attempt at humor: We were talking about all the toys they have, and it ended up we were on the same wavelength about the family being upper middle class—all the Star Wars toys, the phone jack in Dana's (Dominque Dunn's bedroom ), TV in the kitchen.  The family has at least three TV's.

And I said something like, And they have a Poltergeist clown!  

There's a guy on Instagram (Stablight Creations) who makes replicas of the Poltergeist clown.  It's fantastic but quite expensive.  I mean...rightfully so!

Oh!  Tim had this brilliant idea of getting the Poltergeist clown and taking a photo of it watching Poltergeist.

Anyway....it felt really good to reunite with an old special interest.  And I can even feel a little spark of the special interest resurfacing.

I spent a lot of time reading the trivia on the IMDb page.  There's a lot of stuff I didn't know.  I think back in the 1980's, when we didn't have Internet, having a movie special interest was more about watching something repeatedly rather than doing extensive research.

(I did have the novelization of Poltergeist and read it many times.  I bought any magazine that featured Heather O'Rourke and watched any show she guest-starred on.  I also had a hobby of imitating O'Rourke and acting out scenes from the movies)

Shit.  I'm writing much more than I planned.  I really just wanted to write something short and share the photos I took.

But...anyway, the thing with the trivia that interested me most was that the original script for Poltergeist was much darker.  Carol Ann died and the family abandoned her.  The neighbors turned against them. It also involved an ancient Indian burial ground and Diane (Jobeth Williams) not wanting Carol Ann. Both of these things ended up being part of Poltergeist II.  

After I read that, I became slightly obsessed with this alternate version.  I started thinking about how it would be nice if real life horror stories could be exchanged for much lighter, cheerful stories.  

Then....I had a similar experience the next day.  This might sort of count as synchronocity.

I had known that Kelly (Millie Gibson) was leaving Coronation Street.  From things I had seen on the show and elsewhere, I thought she was going to be murdered.  

I really like Kelly and was sad and anxious about her upcoming demise.  Yesterday I sat watching with dread as Kelly is taken to the top of a building by hitmen.  I thought she was going to be pushed off.  But then instead, her boyfriend (Adam Hussain) saves her and gets shot.  The episode ended with this.  

I couldn't stand waiting, so I Googled for spoilers.  I learned Kelly doesn't get killed. She just leaves   I was so relieved.  I  actually started crying.  But it wasn't just tears of relief.  They were also tears of sadness and anxiety.  I guess it was about knowing that usually, in real life, when people get bad news,  they don't later learn they misunderstood.  

Both the Poltergeist and Coronation Street thing makes me imagine the Powers-that-Be having fights over what happens to us; one planning something absolutely horrible and another stepping in and pushing for something not-so-bad.

Another thing I've been obsessing about is the ghosts.  I don't think I thought about them much in the past.  But I'm really curious about their side of things.  

What's up with the ghost in the kitchen?  She or he seems to want to impress the Freelings.  Bending the silverware.  That trick with the chairs!  And then they becomes so cooperative with Diane.  It's like they had a game going on there.  Put something in the circle, and I'll move it for you!

The kitchen ghost wasn't so nice to Marty.  BUT as Tim pointed out, who goes into someone else's kitchen and starts cooking a steak?  In the middle of the night?  Maybe Marty deserved a little ghostly discipline.  

I'm guessing the Beast/Henry Kane is the main guy in the children's bedroom.  He's probably responsible for the hungry tree and later the possessed clown.  But I'm wondering if a more light-hearted ghost was in charge of animating all the toys.

Well...enough of me babbling.  Here are some of the photos:  

Carol Ann's nightstand

Carol Ann

Robbie is so lucky to own such an expensive
movie prop replica.

One of the Star Wars toys

 

What's with the Toys R Us sleeping bag?
Or blanket?
Cool moon thing.

Another bedroom shot

 

We got only a quick glance of Dana's bedroom. She seems to like old films?

Provoking the kitchen ghost 

They can afford a Poltergeist clown and Poltergeist themed
silverware. 

Freeling Kitchen decorations

Freeling Bathroom.
I love the pink and yellow towels.

 

Reminder that one should wear safety goggles and other protection when investigating a haunting. (or a not-haunting).

I so love that clown.

Early morning ghost parade on the stairs! Fireworks will follow!

I think this is a sad, powerful scene. I wonder how many parents of missing or dead children have done the same kind of thing.

I really appreciated the dialogue between these two—their relationship. It's something I didn't really care about when I was a child.

The Freelings can also afford cool optical effects in their house, so there's no need for them to visit the local science museum.

 

I have so many more photos.  They look good on my phone.  But when I tried to add them hear, I realized I didn't do a good job of framing them.  

For example: 

Well...maybe I'll add a few more of the badly framed photos...(small versions)

In other news: I know there are millions of people waiting for the next installment of my Eleanor Roosevelt series. I'm done writing part 4 and just need to proofread it. Hopefully, it's a little less awful than I imagine. I've been working on it for over a week. I can barely remember what I wrote in the beginning of it all. 

Note: Millions = zero

Read my novel: The Dead are Online