Why listen
Three horror fans spend an hour breaking down every layer of the 1982 classic Poltergeist on its 40th anniversary.
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In this episode
- Why Poltergeist earned a PG rating despite being genuinely scary
- The real story behind the Hooper and Spielberg directorial confusion
- How the practical effects and early CGI still hold up four decades later
- A fresh look at the production curse and the legacy of Zelda Rubinstein
About this episode
Run to the light and press play on this episode! Mark welcomes '80s horror enthusiasts David Gonzalez and Jack Renaud, from the new podcast Chop Talk, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Poltergeist. The PG-rated horror (and comedy?) classic was released on June 4, 1982, and static TV has never been the same. They nerd out over the practical effects and fun CGI, the pot-smoking parents, corrupt housing developers, the behind-the-scenes confusion between director Tobe Hooper and writer/producer Steven Spielberg, the sad curse that has followed members of the prodution, and praise movie MVP Zelda Rubinstein as the one and only Tangina Barrons, who actually isn't that great at her job!
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About Release Date Rewind
Movie nerd, filmmaker, and anniversary celebrator Mark J. Parker brings a friend on each episode to discuss movies (and sometimes TV shows) that are hitting milestone anniversaries of release that month. Think 20th anniversary, 25th, 30th, 40th, 50th, you get it!
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