Retro Blood 252: Poltergeist 1 & 2

Join James Kline and J.H. Alison as Retro Blood kicks off our September–October Halloween Spooky Season Month with two of the biggest supernatural horror franchises of the era—Poltergeist and The Exorcist. We start with a massive double review of Poltergeist (1982) and Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)!

We begin with the history of both films, talking about the creation of the original Poltergeist, Steven Spielberg's involvement as writer and producer, and Tobe Hooper taking the director's chair. We get into the famous debate over Spielberg's creative influence on the production and how that shaped the movie's unique combination of Spielberg-style family adventure and Hooper's darker horror sensibilities.

Then we dive into the making of Poltergeist II, including the new story, the return of the Freeling family, the introduction of Reverend Kane, the film's ambitious creature effects, and the work of legendary artist H.R. Giger on the supernatural designs. We also talk about the production locations, the larger budget, and how the sequel expanded the mythology of the original.

Of course, we can't talk about Poltergeist without getting into the infamous "Poltergeist curse." We discuss the real tragedies involving members of the cast, including Dominique Dunne, Julian Beck, Will Sampson, and Heather O'Rourke, while separating the documented events from the supernatural legend that grew around the franchise.

We also get into the famous behind-the-scenes stories—including the use of real human skeletons during the original film's swimming-pool sequence—and plenty of other strange production details that helped give this franchise its eerie reputation.