Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[innerSpaceman]

Sorry, I was 22 when that movie came out. Scared To Death.


Go ahead and say it didn't scare YOU. You are absolutely wrong if you say it wasn't scary. All of my companions who saw that Pre-Release Screening (with the extra 4 seconds!) were scared crapless.

If it scared some people, it was scary. By definition.



Anyway, GC's right ... it's a great popcorn flick and the sequels sucked (d'uh).

[lashbear]

OK, I have to ask.

What 4 seconds were they, and did they make a huge difference ?

BTW: Poltergeist scared the stuffin out of me too. Maybe I couldn't handle those extra 4 seconds... but I have to know.

[innerSpaceman]

No the four seconds was not at a scary part. It was when the Freelings went over to the neighbors' house to ask if they were experiencing anything unusual, all the while being attacked by mosquitos.

It was just an inconsequential bit of dialogue, but there's a really noticeably (to me) sloppy jump cut at the end of that scene in the release version where they poorly edited out those 4 seconds.


Anyway, yeah, me and my pals got really high in the restrooms at the long-gone Plitt Theaters in Century City before the show, and that might have had something do with it being really scary ... and subsequently becoming one of our favorite films of all time.



Don't knock Poltergeist around me.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I'm a total horror movie puss and I can handle Poltergeist.

[Deebs]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

Okay, I like Nanny McPhee a bit, too. It was filled with too many fine actor people not to like it.

I'm so relieved I'm not the only one! You're so right -- Imelda Staunton and Celia Imrie, love them both.

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

There are a number of actresses that I find quite sexy--Kate Winslet, Julianne Moore, Angelina Jolie, etc.--all of whom are quite talented and all of whom as often as not appear nude in their films in a manner that is not unpleasasnt. Still, neither their presence nor that of any other star, male or female, is enough to make me spend time and money on a badly reviewed movie.

Everybody's got to draw their line somewhere. I drew mine at Mamma Mia! Nudity has little to do with anything for me. Men hardly ever go starkers in movies anyway, right? Maybe Kevin Bacon and a couple of others.

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

OMG, that movie scared the CRAP out of me when I first saw it, and static-filled TV screens gave me the willies for weeks.

Carol-Ann!

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by iSm

But its brilliance lies in the comedy gold scattered liberally throughout. A movie can scare you only once, but can make you laugh forever.

Yep.
"This house is clear!"

I remember laughing and being scared.

[Gemini Cricket]

Those 4 seconds where they visit the next door neighbor was classic. Chubby kid eating pork and beans. Brilliantly hysterical. I laughed at that part.
"A mosquito ever suck on you, Son?"
"I don't know, Dad."
Freakin' hysterical Spielberg crazy kid moment. (Yeah, I know Tobe Hooper directed it, but the movie reeked of Spielberg.)
There are crazy kids in a ton of Spielberg flicks that make me laugh really hard.
ie. Kid bashing the doll against the crib in Close Encounters, the kid with the HUGE headphones in ET, all of Goonies, the toothless kid in Jaws that is imitating his father, Dana flipping the bird to the construction workers in Poltergeist, Short Round...
Classic stuff here, people.

[Gemini Cricket]

I always thought it was "this house is clean".

One of the weird things about Poltergeist is that it seems like it took place in the same neighborhood at ET.

[Deebs]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I always thought it was "this house is clean".

I stand corrected. With her warbling little voice, it was hard to tell. I always thought it was "clear" said with a weird, almost southern accent, but you seem to be correct, GC.

[Gemini Cricket]

"I don't know, Dad."

Hysterical.



Alex talked about jump scenes before (I think he was talking about the one in Eight Below) but this is one of the best ones ever in cinema history, imho:

[Betty]

I loved Potergeist.

I used to like scary movies - now though I won't watch them. I go more for the psychological thriller then cut em up blood bath types.

Movies like Saw and Hostel I just won't watch - or even be in the same room where I can hear it. My husband though will still watch them.

Even at gross parts on TV shows, I hold my hand up and look away until he's done making a gross out face then I look back. I just don't need to see those things.

Even images that are photoshopped - that I know are photoshopped haunt me years after seeing them. This one for example -saw it years ago and yet - it's the first icky thing that popped into my mind even though I know it's a shop:

nsfw

Spoiler: