I understand now why now every S&E video is overrun by functionally illiterate trolls. They were "Jackass" fans who can't deal with the reality that their hero died by acting like a fool and killing another human being. So now in denial, they somehow think that by peppering every Ebert vid with swear words typed in ALL CAPS, they're doing anything to dissuade society from thinking of Jackass fans as the lowest common denominator. Mission not accomplished.
People shouldn't be making personal attacks on Siskel and Ebert, but seriously, Poltergeist is widely regarded as a truly great film. I mean, I love Halloween and I'm glad they did too, but Poltergeist is just as frightening in its own way and it definitely has more emotional depth.
@Dottiecurran, I've read a number of your comments now. They're impossible to miss with the way you visit every Ebert vid, like a jilted ex-lover stalking an old boyfriend. I have no idea what you look like on the outside, but on the inside, you clearly aren't so attractive yourself.
Ebert is a deformed monster, like his tired and outdated few fans. Anyone needing this ugly freak's movie recs is a loser. Ebert is his or its own horror movie, rotting out now while living. Karma, baby!
All are welcome, all are welcome! That's one of my favorite lines in Poltergeist. And I love how the ghosts get fresh with JoBeth Williams too. But the clown and the tree were creepy as hell. ESPECIALLY the guy in front of the mirror.
I just never understood some of their reviews sometimes. Funny how Siskel claims anybody can do these special effects take a look at Poltergeist 2 and say anybody can do these special effects. Yes, a PG rating was too light for the intensity of this film but it is a solid little thriller and alot of fun to watch. These guys sometimes just acted like total snobs who don't know how to have a good time at the movies.
Ugh I get so sick of people saying shit like "he dropped the ball" or, in the case of the lowest form of human life, making fun of Ebert's recent health problems and Siskel's death in retaliation to a review they did twenty years ago. So someone doesn't agree with you. Get the fuck over it and grow up you arrogant dickwads. Your opinion isn't the holy gospel. Would you rather they were dishonest drones who always agreed with the popular consensus?
@MrHeslopian After seeing your video, Jack Heslop, I can understand why you feel for an ugly freak like Ebert. You are twins! But Ebert was a failed sleaze screenplay writer (Beneath the Valley of the Vixens etc) and alcoholic (its in his bio) who pompously kicks a dead actor for publicity before his family can bury him. So he is fair game. He would be history except no one will remember him soon. I don't give a shit about his health problems
@ZarahLean The very fact you'd rather make fun of my appearance and compare me to Ebert on that level proves you have the arguing skills of a child. Ebert isn't a screenwriter. He wrote one exploitation screenplay with Russ Meyer that was never supposed to be considered high art. He may well be an alcoholic. So what? Why does that make him a bad person? And which dead actor has he "kicked" for publicity?
@MrHeslopian No, your info is wrong. Ebert wrote or co wrote several failed smut screenplays and you are right they are not art! Also involved in "Who Killed Bambi" , also failed trash. And, yes, he was a long time drunk in AA which makes his pompous tweets knocking an actor (Ryan Dunn) who died DUI all the more horrible and hypocritical. I must say that cancer has helped Ebert's looks even if he is missing part of his face now. But I guess I'm a "arrogant dickwad" not you or your idol.
@Dottiecurran I wasn't aware of Ebert's other screenplays. Thank you for enlightening me. I'm more aware of his film reviews. Either way, he's a wonderful critic and an intelligent, sensitive man. He may have been a drunk but he never drunk and drove. He expressed sympathy for Dunn's family, but he was right to criticise a man who endangered the lives of others. How would you feel if an idiot like Dunn ran over your mother, or your best friend, because he was too drunk to see where he was going?
@MrHeslopian I don't kick the dead before the funeral. How would you feel if you were the family and this Ebert santimoniusly uses you for publicity? And I am not Dunn's fan. The issue is Ebert. I disagree that he is a a wonderful critic or sensitive man, etc. He is vile in everyway. Don't live in the past. I'm glad he is now so awful he could be in Jaws, but only the made for TV version. Cheap. And I'll bet he drove drunk, too.
I don't think that the Twitter entry: "Friends don't let Jackasses drink and drive" is cruel or meant to gain publicity. It is not attacking anyone. It is not even insensitive. Ebert knows what he is talking about, and I think it is a good thing that he wrote it (and the blog entry following it). It is sad that a person died, but it is also important to remember that he brought himself and someone else into the situation. He could have killed more people. Someone has to say that.
@DeineMuddah11 ebert was a drunken slob, now a hypocrite. oh, what did he say about the movie? oh, should I see it? oh tell us what to think oh man of such taste!
@Dottiecurran I sort of feel I owe Mr. Heslop an apology now. Although I reacted to his hostile original statement, I should not have written he was Roger Ebert's twin. Nobody is that bad. So, when you read this Mr Heslop...sorry. We will have to disagree on Ebert.
I have to agree with Siskel on this one. I don't think that the story was strong enough or the characters convincing enough to present such a smorgasbord of special f/x and sell the audience a bill of goods as if this could happen. It's a gluttony of fake sentimental moments mixed with at times very brutal and gorish scenes....a movie that is confused at it's core and obviously pandering for box-office success with 2D story lines, flaccid characters and cheap gimcracks like a Disneyland ride.
Hindsight proves exactly what these idiots wre full of! With that in mind it makes practically all of their reviews worthless. Spoken with a "we're better than all of you attitude" makes their reviews even more funny considering they were so off the mark.
how can you not know what this movie is about? just look up the definition of the word. a poltergeist is the manifistation of mischevious spirits through the presence of a person, usually a YOUNG person. the film later reveals where those evil spirits originate. I got what this movie was about when I was 5!lol
This is an amazing film, especially compared to the tripe that is out there today. I guess they were expecting the paranormal version of Gone With the Wind...
Yeah, they're both out to lunch on this one (though Roger a bit less so). It is a master class in how to use mise-en-scene to create tension and dynamism and change mood, particularly in that great hallway scene before they go into the bedroom to get Carol Anne. That entire scene is so dynamic, in how the people keep rearranging themselves, that it took me many viewings to realize it was done beautifully in a single shot.
This movie was the most effective because it uses descriptions without actually showing it. That psychic lady's monologue made the idea of actually being in that realm terrifying.
I have to emphatically disagree with Siskel & Ebert here. Poltergeist was and still is a great movie. I'm not a huge horror fan, but Poltergeist is one of my all time favorite movies. Watching it is like going on a thrilling roller coaster ride. Everything from the acting to the music (genius score from Jerry Goldsmith) to the touches of humor throughout made for one very entertaining movie. And isn't that the whole point of watching a movie? To be entertained? Poltergeist is a modern classic.
I think it's so funny to hear them bash all the old movies that turned into classics. You never know what's going to stick around and what's going to just fade away.
Didn't some critics trash Psycho as well? John Carpenter's "The Thing" came out in 1982 as well and was slashed mercilessly by critics. Now it's considered by many to be a sci-fi classic. So first impressions of movies don't always hold up over time.
did you know that when stephen speilberg made this movie, he was thinking about his childhood, because when he was just a lil kid, he thinks that on his tv, their might be people in the tv looking at him.
They(S&E) did suffer a lot from Professional "Harrumph-itude" a lot. I actually look back and see that Joe Beth Williams gave a fantastic performance as a modern 80's mother ofcourse facing fantastic paranormal scenarios aside. her character before the phantasmagoria starts is quite dimensional, funny and sustaining in the more sedate scenes that easily could have made the movie drag. She should have gotten an Oscar nomination in my opinion.
I like these guys now, we got them on UK TV for a bit in the early 90s I think, at the time it was so different from Barry Norman (who was a good reviewer too), beause of the back and forth, just like a pair of friends after watching a movie. But I didn't really appreciate good reviews back then. Reviewers will never be universally popular, these guys said what they thought, and could see the daftness in much of mainstream cinema. They didn't pan the movie. And I think the review was balanced.
@uncensored008 man, my mom had to take me out the theater because I got too scared at the closet scene. when the tentacles was coming out the closet. That there scared the crap outta me. LOL And tonight at midnight man, Im going to see a midnight screening of Poltergeist. LOL
Siskel and Ebert They are retarded. They don't know a good movie if it came up and bit em lol. Poltergeist was cool and it ended up on the top ten list .$131.7 million in ticket sales.
It turns out that the movie used real human corpses for the scene with the coffins, and several people who worked on the movie had really bad luck some time after. kinda eery.
I always thought the creepiest part of this movie was that scene where the boy notices that his puppet clown isn't sitting in the chair anymore & he starts looking around his bedroom for him. When that clown grabbed him & pulled him under the bed, I almost crapped my pants! LOL
Yeah this movie is a classic. It may have been rated PG but it still had some pretty scary moments that put alot of today's horror movies to shame & what's really impressive is that they didn't rely on blood & gore to do it.
I thought the original Poltergeist is one of the scariest films of all-time. Plus, it's on my Top 50 films of all-time list. How that film got a PG rating though? I will never understand. I'll take that film over every slasher film!
@ConnDevi88 : Oh yeah, I forgot, it was going to be R until Speilberg convinced the ratings board that it's a family film so they gave in and gave it a PG rating. Then again, how family films have scenes of actual skeletons from graves and people's faces getting literally ripped off!
Did you know that when Stephen Speilberg did this movie, it dated back to his childhood, when he was a lil boy, he believed that there were people in the tv watching him, and we know that's not true. oh btw i still think that gene siskel (r.i.p)doesn't like movies that put children in peril.
I don't really remember this movie that well since I haven't seen it in over 10 years or so. But I saw it when I was like 11, 10 or 9 or so and it scared the freaking daylights out of me. I have never been so scared of a movie in my entire life as when the clown doll started coming after the girl. I've been scared of dolls since. I can hardly sleep with them in the room. Which was a big problem with a former girlfriend of mine that had a collection of old dolls in her room.
well, here's a lil known fact about stephen speilberg when he made this movie, when he was just a kid, he thinks that there's people in the tv watching him. but i think that's silly, kids believe all sorts of stuff, why when i was young, i was afraid of people with black/white faces. but i know that it's not real.
The music by the great oscar winner Jerry Goldsmith is amazing. He also did Alien, The Omen, Mulan, the first 3 Rambos, Small Soldiers and Looney Tunes Back in Action.
Siskel has terrible taste. Ive watched about 15 of these review clips from real classic movies and Siskel hasnt liked any of them. He was probably one of those purists stuck in the past that only like films like Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia. There are good movies from every time period
I don't know about Siskel, but, the special effects helped to tell the story. I remember watching this movie when I was younger and there's one part in the movie that actually scared the crap outta me. &, when I grew up, it still gave me creeps. It's the part where one of the paranormal workers start to peel his skin off. Does any1 remember that part. Gross & grissly.
Poltergeist was awesome. It's funny that back then, Siskel couldn't wrap his head around the paranormal when with a modern audience that is in the post Spielberg days, these kinds of films are second nature.
@ZerlinHits I always love it when someone thinks about 20 years ago as the ancient past when people didn't know anything. Science fiction has been around forever. Polergeist is based on a Twilight Zone episode from 1963. The things on Twilight Zone and Outer Limits were way way wilder than anything on TV or movies today. Spielberg isn't the one that introduced this stuff--he got it from his childhood: the TV shows and movies from the '50s and '60s.
Sorry Siskel RIP but your review of POLTERGEIST sucks. Judging by his harsh criticism, you'd think he was reviewing "Ghoulies 3". He dropped the ball on that one. POLTERGEIST is a fantastic film. Thank goodness, Ebert gave it 3 stars in his review and the majority of the critics liked/loved the film and I do agree with Ebert since I saw this film when I was 10 and I had to sleep in my parents bed for a week.
You have to remember that a review cant' 'suck'. It's all opinion, and while I enjoyed the film, Siskel's right: it's a very special effect heavy movie. If you're looking for depth, this really doesn't do it: it's more eye candy and a showcase for the film techniques of the time. If you're expecting more (which Siskel probably was), you'll be disappointed.
@BlackZeroSA Just because a move is effects heavy doesn't mean it can't have depth. Poltergeist was one of those rare horror films because it was horror with heart & the acting was top notch as was practically everything else. It appears to me that Siskel didn't give the film a chance because its a subpar genre & not many horror films got respect.
@EnzFab73 CONT: I imagined Siskel never would have imagined this film would be acclaimed back in 82 & nomintated for 3 Oscars. He also appears annoyed because he didn't get it. It is a foolish review. It is the mans right to hate the film but its also my right to laugh at it.
@EnzFab73 There is no such thing as dropping the ball as a critic that term simply does not make sense. They state there opinion just because you do not agree with them and just because others do not agree with him does not mean he dropped the ball. All critics are different and all look for different things therefore the term dropping the ball is non-existent.
@EnzFab73 Siskel obviously was biased against sci fi and action films.He seemed to always give harsh unforgiving reviews to these,regardless of whether they were well done or not. Poltergeist was obviously a classic movie,and it was done well.This movie was definitely influenced by the "Twilight Zone".
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Boy these guys are so friggin stupid! not a great film? Not scary? This movie scared the hell outta me when i was a kid! For that matter Rocky 3 is classic! boy sometimes these guys prove how bad they are at what they do.
I love watching siskel and ebert but calling Poltergeist not scary and a bad film and saying ROCKY 3 was a thumbs down are the dumbest things they've ever said.
It's OK to be wrong about movies. But not THAT wrong.
actually in this case, its spielbergs because he had such a contribution really.. Spielberg just got in touch with tobe hooper and said: direct. thats about as much as hooper was involved and you can tell when watching the film. its very spielberg in its fantastical approach. its really nothing like a tobe hooper film
Spielberg more or less directed it. There was a huge controversy at the time, journalists looked into it, and they obtained statements from cast and crew that Spielberg had been doing most of the directorial work.
And it obviously looks like a Spielberg film. Instead of being scary it's basically a big adventure for the characters.
either way sure..the vision of the movie belongs to the director you are right and i agree..either way , i was pointing out that without the writers contribution there is no movie..so it's 50-50
How could they even think of re-doing this film? Kind of disrespectful to the people who died i think. Lets hope creepy stuff happens on set this time to stop them
It was never one of my favorite movies from Speilbergs 80s highpoint. Even as a kid who will take almost anything, I actually thought some of the in this film where pretty dumb,I didn't buy it. I mean with the closet and the rope downstairs was meh, not so clever.Siskel really a point here
I highly disagree with Siskel on this one, and I give it a more favorable review than Ebert did.
I think "Poltergiest" is an underrated movie and it also features a very overlooked performance by Jobeth Williams that I feel deserved an Oscar nomination.
I don't find it that hard to believe. I was more fascinated with the special effects than scared. It's creepy but not scary. I don't remember having to sleep with the light on after seeing it. In fact I slept fine.
"Mumbo jumbo"? Well, It is a fictional movie. What do ya want?
TrettaM 3 months ago
EBERT=UGLY
FANS=LOSERS
TheBitchinbabs 4 months ago
Wait, wait, wait! This is their first disagreement? ... Wow! The first of many! XD
SamhainTheDark 4 months ago
I understand now why now every S&E video is overrun by functionally illiterate trolls. They were "Jackass" fans who can't deal with the reality that their hero died by acting like a fool and killing another human being. So now in denial, they somehow think that by peppering every Ebert vid with swear words typed in ALL CAPS, they're doing anything to dissuade society from thinking of Jackass fans as the lowest common denominator. Mission not accomplished.
WastedPo 5 months ago
What the hell are they talking about!!!! This movie is scary as HELL! I had nightmares about the bedroom scene for years...
JBJeppsson 6 months ago
EBERT=UGLY DRUNKARD HYPOCRITE
FANS=LOSERS AND NERDS FROM ANOTHER CENTURY
TheBitchinbabs 6 months ago
People shouldn't be making personal attacks on Siskel and Ebert, but seriously, Poltergeist is widely regarded as a truly great film. I mean, I love Halloween and I'm glad they did too, but Poltergeist is just as frightening in its own way and it definitely has more emotional depth.
WaitingtoHit 6 months ago
FUCK OFF FATSO EBERT
kellygreen5556 6 months ago
Why is Siskel such a whiner?
M0VIES4U2 6 months ago
I feel sorry for anyone who needs Ebert's opinion on which movies they see. I've never seen anyone who looks so ugly.
Dottiecurran 6 months ago
@Dottiecurran, I've read a number of your comments now. They're impossible to miss with the way you visit every Ebert vid, like a jilted ex-lover stalking an old boyfriend. I have no idea what you look like on the outside, but on the inside, you clearly aren't so attractive yourself.
WastedPo 5 months ago
@WastedPo Well, Wasted poop, we can see you are about as attractive as your idol here. If Ebert were my boyfriend, I'd become a lesbian.
Dottiecurran 5 months ago
FUCK ROGER EBERT!
TheBitchinbabs 6 months ago
Ebert is a deformed monster, like his tired and outdated few fans. Anyone needing this ugly freak's movie recs is a loser. Ebert is his or its own horror movie, rotting out now while living. Karma, baby!
ZarahLean 6 months ago
this movie terrified me for ages
basehead617 7 months ago
All are welcome, all are welcome! That's one of my favorite lines in Poltergeist. And I love how the ghosts get fresh with JoBeth Williams too. But the clown and the tree were creepy as hell. ESPECIALLY the guy in front of the mirror.
PrimeTimeJokesta 7 months ago
What was the next movie?
acrovader 7 months ago
I just never understood some of their reviews sometimes. Funny how Siskel claims anybody can do these special effects take a look at Poltergeist 2 and say anybody can do these special effects. Yes, a PG rating was too light for the intensity of this film but it is a solid little thriller and alot of fun to watch. These guys sometimes just acted like total snobs who don't know how to have a good time at the movies.
RASOOL28 7 months ago
Thumbs up if that clown doll gave you nightmares.
cpz91 7 months ago
"Carol Anne! Carol Anne! Carol Anne! Carol Anne! Carol Anne! Carol Anne!"
pineapplesand556ers 8 months ago
This movie was terrifying.
CertifiedGooner729 8 months ago
3:50 is one of the great all time screen kisses.
amsyco 8 months ago
Ugh I get so sick of people saying shit like "he dropped the ball" or, in the case of the lowest form of human life, making fun of Ebert's recent health problems and Siskel's death in retaliation to a review they did twenty years ago. So someone doesn't agree with you. Get the fuck over it and grow up you arrogant dickwads. Your opinion isn't the holy gospel. Would you rather they were dishonest drones who always agreed with the popular consensus?
MrHeslopian 8 months ago 23
@MrHeslopian After seeing your video, Jack Heslop, I can understand why you feel for an ugly freak like Ebert. You are twins! But Ebert was a failed sleaze screenplay writer (Beneath the Valley of the Vixens etc) and alcoholic (its in his bio) who pompously kicks a dead actor for publicity before his family can bury him. So he is fair game. He would be history except no one will remember him soon. I don't give a shit about his health problems
ZarahLean 6 months ago
@ZarahLean The very fact you'd rather make fun of my appearance and compare me to Ebert on that level proves you have the arguing skills of a child. Ebert isn't a screenwriter. He wrote one exploitation screenplay with Russ Meyer that was never supposed to be considered high art. He may well be an alcoholic. So what? Why does that make him a bad person? And which dead actor has he "kicked" for publicity?
MrHeslopian 6 months ago
@MrHeslopian No, your info is wrong. Ebert wrote or co wrote several failed smut screenplays and you are right they are not art! Also involved in "Who Killed Bambi" , also failed trash. And, yes, he was a long time drunk in AA which makes his pompous tweets knocking an actor (Ryan Dunn) who died DUI all the more horrible and hypocritical. I must say that cancer has helped Ebert's looks even if he is missing part of his face now. But I guess I'm a "arrogant dickwad" not you or your idol.
Dottiecurran 6 months ago
@Dottiecurran I wasn't aware of Ebert's other screenplays. Thank you for enlightening me. I'm more aware of his film reviews. Either way, he's a wonderful critic and an intelligent, sensitive man. He may have been a drunk but he never drunk and drove. He expressed sympathy for Dunn's family, but he was right to criticise a man who endangered the lives of others. How would you feel if an idiot like Dunn ran over your mother, or your best friend, because he was too drunk to see where he was going?
MrHeslopian 6 months ago
@MrHeslopian I don't kick the dead before the funeral. How would you feel if you were the family and this Ebert santimoniusly uses you for publicity? And I am not Dunn's fan. The issue is Ebert. I disagree that he is a a wonderful critic or sensitive man, etc. He is vile in everyway. Don't live in the past. I'm glad he is now so awful he could be in Jaws, but only the made for TV version. Cheap. And I'll bet he drove drunk, too.
Dottiecurran 6 months ago
@Dottiecurran
I don't think that the Twitter entry: "Friends don't let Jackasses drink and drive" is cruel or meant to gain publicity. It is not attacking anyone. It is not even insensitive. Ebert knows what he is talking about, and I think it is a good thing that he wrote it (and the blog entry following it). It is sad that a person died, but it is also important to remember that he brought himself and someone else into the situation. He could have killed more people. Someone has to say that.
DeineMuddah11 6 months ago
@DeineMuddah11 ebert was a drunken slob, now a hypocrite. oh, what did he say about the movie? oh, should I see it? oh tell us what to think oh man of such taste!
TheDeeFormed 6 months ago
@ZarahLean Keep up the good work, gal!
Dottiecurran 6 months ago
@Dottiecurran I sort of feel I owe Mr. Heslop an apology now. Although I reacted to his hostile original statement, I should not have written he was Roger Ebert's twin. Nobody is that bad. So, when you read this Mr Heslop...sorry. We will have to disagree on Ebert.
ZarahLean 6 months ago
I can't stand Poltergeist either. It has that 'Spielberg Glow' to it that makes me want to puke.
Deavi783 9 months ago
I have to agree with Siskel on this one. I don't think that the story was strong enough or the characters convincing enough to present such a smorgasbord of special f/x and sell the audience a bill of goods as if this could happen. It's a gluttony of fake sentimental moments mixed with at times very brutal and gorish scenes....a movie that is confused at it's core and obviously pandering for box-office success with 2D story lines, flaccid characters and cheap gimcracks like a Disneyland ride.
quidseeker 9 months ago
Hindsight proves exactly what these idiots wre full of! With that in mind it makes practically all of their reviews worthless. Spoken with a "we're better than all of you attitude" makes their reviews even more funny considering they were so off the mark.
mattvoyager 9 months ago
Thumbs up if this made you afraid of your TV.
edebbws07 9 months ago
my thoughts on all films
Poltergeist: A Classic
Poltergeist II: Despite it's problems, it's a good sequel
Poltergeist III: Ultimately the worst in the trilogy
UltimateDumeandGwen 9 months ago
What was the 'next' movie??
acrovader 10 months ago
Ebert gave Garfield thumbs up and The Thing a thumbs down. He can eat a dick
Rawr5649 10 months ago
both these guys are snobbish assholes.
BRm2008 10 months ago
how can you not know what this movie is about? just look up the definition of the word. a poltergeist is the manifistation of mischevious spirits through the presence of a person, usually a YOUNG person. the film later reveals where those evil spirits originate. I got what this movie was about when I was 5!lol
NotNamedJones 10 months ago
This is an amazing film, especially compared to the tripe that is out there today. I guess they were expecting the paranormal version of Gone With the Wind...
silverfish1 10 months ago
Yeah, they're both out to lunch on this one (though Roger a bit less so). It is a master class in how to use mise-en-scene to create tension and dynamism and change mood, particularly in that great hallway scene before they go into the bedroom to get Carol Anne. That entire scene is so dynamic, in how the people keep rearranging themselves, that it took me many viewings to realize it was done beautifully in a single shot.
swatch71 10 months ago
Are you fucking kidding me, Siskel? Poltergeist is an amazingly constructed film, the cinematography, story, acting, music score, it's all great.
scottishthunder47 10 months ago
4:56 Mumbo jumbo.
Dyli 11 months ago
shut up SISKEL, more ebert!
wejw14 1 year ago
@wejw14 ebert talked the whole time!
Rawr5649 10 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Fuck Siskel throw the Jews back in the ovens
SupremacySheets911 1 year ago
This movie was the most effective because it uses descriptions without actually showing it. That psychic lady's monologue made the idea of actually being in that realm terrifying.
YesWeCantaloupe 1 year ago
siskel is just a terrible reviewer.....
AdrianMorrison101 1 year ago
Watched Poltergeist last night as one of my Halloween films
queenrocks21 1 year ago
I have to emphatically disagree with Siskel & Ebert here. Poltergeist was and still is a great movie. I'm not a huge horror fan, but Poltergeist is one of my all time favorite movies. Watching it is like going on a thrilling roller coaster ride. Everything from the acting to the music (genius score from Jerry Goldsmith) to the touches of humor throughout made for one very entertaining movie. And isn't that the whole point of watching a movie? To be entertained? Poltergeist is a modern classic.
celticangel73 1 year ago
I think it's so funny to hear them bash all the old movies that turned into classics. You never know what's going to stick around and what's going to just fade away.
MyGalileo7 1 year ago
Didn't some critics trash Psycho as well? John Carpenter's "The Thing" came out in 1982 as well and was slashed mercilessly by critics. Now it's considered by many to be a sci-fi classic. So first impressions of movies don't always hold up over time.
titans0002 1 year ago
@titans0002 Yes.
BigDickMcGirk 1 year ago
do you know what the next movie was?
Shamborn 1 year ago
@Shamborn E.T.
swatch71 10 months ago
did you know that when stephen speilberg made this movie, he was thinking about his childhood, because when he was just a lil kid, he thinks that on his tv, their might be people in the tv looking at him.
DimeraFan28 1 year ago
They(S&E) did suffer a lot from Professional "Harrumph-itude" a lot. I actually look back and see that Joe Beth Williams gave a fantastic performance as a modern 80's mother ofcourse facing fantastic paranormal scenarios aside. her character before the phantasmagoria starts is quite dimensional, funny and sustaining in the more sedate scenes that easily could have made the movie drag. She should have gotten an Oscar nomination in my opinion.
240ups 1 year ago
Hmmm, wrong lads. Poltergeist is a damn fine movie though I will concede it is too strong for younger viewers.
fireflyfan1 1 year ago
This was a very scary movie back then. The tree scene espsecially
morath11 1 year ago
siskel whines too much about children in peril
MrWackypackages 1 year ago
I like these guys now, we got them on UK TV for a bit in the early 90s I think, at the time it was so different from Barry Norman (who was a good reviewer too), beause of the back and forth, just like a pair of friends after watching a movie. But I didn't really appreciate good reviews back then. Reviewers will never be universally popular, these guys said what they thought, and could see the daftness in much of mainstream cinema. They didn't pan the movie. And I think the review was balanced.
dmsni 1 year ago
roger was right on the dot about the whole PG thing, i was scared shitless when i saw some of these scenes and i was crying when it was over
uncensored008 1 year ago
@uncensored008 man, my mom had to take me out the theater because I got too scared at the closet scene. when the tentacles was coming out the closet. That there scared the crap outta me. LOL And tonight at midnight man, Im going to see a midnight screening of Poltergeist. LOL
Bloodsport1 1 year ago
Siskel and Ebert They are retarded. They don't know a good movie if it came up and bit em lol. Poltergeist was cool and it ended up on the top ten list .$131.7 million in ticket sales.
Napsyout 1 year ago
That lady with the big glasses scared me the most.
CrazyRsQuester 1 year ago
Poltergiest has become a horror classic.....nice call Gene.
arodz21 1 year ago
violent? my ass
BRm2008 1 year ago
wank review of a now classic movie by a pair of talentless, smart ass idiots!
mattvoyager 1 year ago
It turns out that the movie used real human corpses for the scene with the coffins, and several people who worked on the movie had really bad luck some time after. kinda eery.
waitingformypopcorn 1 year ago
I always thought the creepiest part of this movie was that scene where the boy notices that his puppet clown isn't sitting in the chair anymore & he starts looking around his bedroom for him. When that clown grabbed him & pulled him under the bed, I almost crapped my pants! LOL
vodude 1 year ago
@vodude Me, too. I saw this when it was in the theaters. I, and my sisters, nearly shit over the clown.
wasteland70 1 year ago
Yeah this movie is a classic. It may have been rated PG but it still had some pretty scary moments that put alot of today's horror movies to shame & what's really impressive is that they didn't rely on blood & gore to do it.
vodude 1 year ago
I thought the original Poltergeist is one of the scariest films of all-time. Plus, it's on my Top 50 films of all-time list. How that film got a PG rating though? I will never understand. I'll take that film over every slasher film!
JML101582 1 year ago
@JML101582 It was originally rated R according to IMDB
ConnDevi88 1 year ago
@ConnDevi88 : Oh yeah, I forgot, it was going to be R until Speilberg convinced the ratings board that it's a family film so they gave in and gave it a PG rating. Then again, how family films have scenes of actual skeletons from graves and people's faces getting literally ripped off!
JML101582 1 year ago
wow I never knew Poltergeist was a movie Gene hated :-(
What about Rocky 3 :-)
KaristaSwiss 1 year ago
Did you know that when Stephen Speilberg did this movie, it dated back to his childhood, when he was a lil boy, he believed that there were people in the tv watching him, and we know that's not true. oh btw i still think that gene siskel (r.i.p)doesn't like movies that put children in peril.
DimeraFan28 1 year ago
@DimeraFan28 That's probably the main reason why he didn't like Jumanji, however he did call it "ambitious."
moviehypno23 1 year ago
Siskel is a total snob about this well-made ghost story.
danby68 1 year ago
well, if siskel says so. i will not like it now because i don't want to upset him.
idiots.
MyMerryMelodies 1 year ago
You have the E.T. review? That did that right after.
acholl980 1 year ago
I can't believe how much they were allowed to show of that one rope scene. That is a huge part of the movie.
bulls1 1 year ago
I completely disagree with both of them especially Siskel. Poltergeist is one of the best horror movies of all time.
feelingfluffy 1 year ago
The short lady creeps me out more than the ghosts do.
blakiecakes419 1 year ago
This didn't really scare me. I thought it was more a visual effects movie rather than a truly scary movie, IMO.
moviehypno23 1 year ago
I don't really remember this movie that well since I haven't seen it in over 10 years or so. But I saw it when I was like 11, 10 or 9 or so and it scared the freaking daylights out of me. I have never been so scared of a movie in my entire life as when the clown doll started coming after the girl. I've been scared of dolls since. I can hardly sleep with them in the room. Which was a big problem with a former girlfriend of mine that had a collection of old dolls in her room.
danielkjohansson 1 year ago
comparing it to Rocky 3? Who do you think you are Siskel?
radiolocke 1 year ago
fact: the blonde girl died when a tv fell on her... the really odd part of that story- it was craig t nelsons 45th birthday
hdtwoodsman 1 year ago
@hdtwoodsman What the hell are you talking about?
Arthur5041975 1 year ago
well, here's a lil known fact about stephen speilberg when he made this movie, when he was just a kid, he thinks that there's people in the tv watching him. but i think that's silly, kids believe all sorts of stuff, why when i was young, i was afraid of people with black/white faces. but i know that it's not real.
StefanoFan27 1 year ago
They seriously gave away most of the movie...
MacFlo1983 1 year ago
The music by the great oscar winner Jerry Goldsmith is amazing. He also did Alien, The Omen, Mulan, the first 3 Rambos, Small Soldiers and Looney Tunes Back in Action.
clashrogers 1 year ago
@clashrogers He also did Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH that same year. RIP
acholl980 1 year ago
this is a good flick.
AngryAgain 1 year ago
Comment removed
123cartoonist 1 year ago
i've seen that, i recently borrowed the dvd of that movie from a friend of mine, and it was so awesome, the second and third one was also awesome.
StefanoFan27 1 year ago
Siskel has terrible taste. Ive watched about 15 of these review clips from real classic movies and Siskel hasnt liked any of them. He was probably one of those purists stuck in the past that only like films like Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia. There are good movies from every time period
mystro810 1 year ago
I don't know about Siskel, but, the special effects helped to tell the story. I remember watching this movie when I was younger and there's one part in the movie that actually scared the crap outta me. &, when I grew up, it still gave me creeps. It's the part where one of the paranormal workers start to peel his skin off. Does any1 remember that part. Gross & grissly.
feetler 1 year ago
Well it looks like "Poltergeist" got the last laugh...it is now considered a classic.
Hollywoodsteve 1 year ago
Poltergeist was awesome. It's funny that back then, Siskel couldn't wrap his head around the paranormal when with a modern audience that is in the post Spielberg days, these kinds of films are second nature.
ZerlinHits 1 year ago 7
well, did you know that spielberg, made this from his childhood?.
StefanoFan27 1 year ago
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@StefanoFan27 What did that mean? It's based on a Twilight Zone episode.
greg5566 1 year ago
@ZerlinHits I always love it when someone thinks about 20 years ago as the ancient past when people didn't know anything. Science fiction has been around forever. Polergeist is based on a Twilight Zone episode from 1963. The things on Twilight Zone and Outer Limits were way way wilder than anything on TV or movies today. Spielberg isn't the one that introduced this stuff--he got it from his childhood: the TV shows and movies from the '50s and '60s.
greg5566 1 year ago
Siskel's review of this was really bad.
AllianceCrusha 1 year ago 2
This movie worked in every phase,effective and most important very scary
AllianceCrusha 1 year ago
This movie is a classic & it still is scary today
SeanConnery9000 2 years ago
looking for depth in a horror movie? wtf. this movie scared the shit out of everyone i know who watched it. that's the fucking point.
avalanchesoul 2 years ago
Sorry Siskel RIP but your review of POLTERGEIST sucks. Judging by his harsh criticism, you'd think he was reviewing "Ghoulies 3". He dropped the ball on that one. POLTERGEIST is a fantastic film. Thank goodness, Ebert gave it 3 stars in his review and the majority of the critics liked/loved the film and I do agree with Ebert since I saw this film when I was 10 and I had to sleep in my parents bed for a week.
EnzFab73 2 years ago 4
You have to remember that a review cant' 'suck'. It's all opinion, and while I enjoyed the film, Siskel's right: it's a very special effect heavy movie. If you're looking for depth, this really doesn't do it: it's more eye candy and a showcase for the film techniques of the time. If you're expecting more (which Siskel probably was), you'll be disappointed.
BlackZeroSA 2 years ago 3
@BlackZeroSA Just because a move is effects heavy doesn't mean it can't have depth. Poltergeist was one of those rare horror films because it was horror with heart & the acting was top notch as was practically everything else. It appears to me that Siskel didn't give the film a chance because its a subpar genre & not many horror films got respect.
EnzFab73 1 year ago
@EnzFab73 CONT: I imagined Siskel never would have imagined this film would be acclaimed back in 82 & nomintated for 3 Oscars. He also appears annoyed because he didn't get it. It is a foolish review. It is the mans right to hate the film but its also my right to laugh at it.
EnzFab73 1 year ago
I really love siskel and ebert but siskel was a terrible critic.
He has given negative reviews to films for reasons that make no sense whatever, and this is one of them.
Poltergeist is a great film. I'm even surprised Ebert's review wasn't more enthusiastic.
lineba20 2 years ago
@EnzFab73 There is no such thing as dropping the ball as a critic that term simply does not make sense. They state there opinion just because you do not agree with them and just because others do not agree with him does not mean he dropped the ball. All critics are different and all look for different things therefore the term dropping the ball is non-existent.
YB71KV 1 year ago 6
@EnzFab73 I also think that it was a great movie, but seriously, I was never scared. (Except the guy ripping of his face scene) Just my two cents.
R2R3L4 1 year ago
@EnzFab73 You act like Siskel not liking it actually has some impact on your life. Woah.
wagzetsu 1 year ago
@EnzFab73 Siskel obviously was biased against sci fi and action films.He seemed to always give harsh unforgiving reviews to these,regardless of whether they were well done or not. Poltergeist was obviously a classic movie,and it was done well.This movie was definitely influenced by the "Twilight Zone".
mrbrianmccarthy 9 months ago
@EnzFab73 its called an opinion
iceman34m 8 months ago
Is it true most actors died in this filme?
PeteFeet96 2 years ago
yeah! the boy dies, his big sister too! I don't know about the little girl...or maybe I just confused the 2!
CthulhuCosmicGates 2 years ago
The little girl died.
prooc 2 years ago
no the little girl and older sister died
eddyc09 1 year ago
What was the next film they reviewed?
lustertheleopard 2 years ago
@lustertheleopard E.T. They gave yes votes on them. (this was before the thumbs)
acholl980 1 year ago
This movie scared the hell out of me when I was little, that clown and evil tree will always haunt my nightmares.
AshCosgrove 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Boy these guys are so friggin stupid! not a great film? Not scary? This movie scared the hell outta me when i was a kid! For that matter Rocky 3 is classic! boy sometimes these guys prove how bad they are at what they do.
samprofit1 2 years ago
I love watching siskel and ebert but calling Poltergeist not scary and a bad film and saying ROCKY 3 was a thumbs down are the dumbest things they've ever said.
It's OK to be wrong about movies. But not THAT wrong.
lineba20 2 years ago
wow, this movie is so spooky, and i wonder how old that lil girl that starred in this movie would be today?.
StefanoFan27 2 years ago
sadly she got sick and died in the 3rd poltergist movie not sure how old she would be if she was still alive
hermionebrowneyes 2 years ago
Shed be around 34 right now, the girl who played her older sister was murdered in 83.
mofrakker 2 years ago
Gripe, gripe, gripe. This is a great movie.
TrevWks 2 years ago
there are a thousand things that can go wrong on a movie, but there never was a good film that came from a bad script.
itsbuckethead 2 years ago
theyre here...damn!
TheCGIMaster 2 years ago
That guy has huge glasses. Does he have serious vision problems?
Maloperverso 2 years ago
Thats how big glasses were back in the day.
maxg316 2 years ago 10
come into the light stewie, come into the light
thepossessor 2 years ago
heather o rourke died at young age
badturkali 2 years ago
So did Dominque Dunne who played her older sister.
Scott3843 2 years ago
What did she die from? I saw she died like right after the film came out.
mikey55mike 2 years ago
She was murdered by a stalker or her ex if I remember correctly.
JoMammaSmurf 2 years ago
who was?. just wondering?.
StefanoFan27 2 years ago
@JoMammaSmurf Dunne was strangled by her boyfriend.
acholl980 1 year ago
her ex
dnasty312 2 years ago
wow, i wonder how old would heather o'rourke be if she was alive?. she died 21 years ago.
StefanoFan27 2 years ago
have to agree with roger on this one.
GDpigpen1 2 years ago
i like what somebody said when they called this movie close encounters of a "dark" kind.
aicfan85 2 years ago
great movie, siskel is off the mark here
kalsolarUK 2 years ago
"Go in to the light, all are welcome, there is peace in the light".
willhw926 2 years ago
its not steven spielbergs movie.
hes just the producer and the writer.
its tobe hoopers film
badturkali 2 years ago 2
actually in this case, its spielbergs because he had such a contribution really.. Spielberg just got in touch with tobe hooper and said: direct. thats about as much as hooper was involved and you can tell when watching the film. its very spielberg in its fantastical approach. its really nothing like a tobe hooper film
led227 2 years ago
yeah, producers sometimes choose the director.
and spielberg choosed hooper for the film
badturkali 2 years ago
well isnt the writer the one who puts the movie together?
doh...
the story is what makes a movie last time i checked...everything else comes second...so it s half hoopers movie half spielbergs
jazzmanEE 2 years ago
yeah, steven spielberg was the one who got the idea but hooper was looking to make a ghost movie.
so spielberg selected tobe hooper
badturkali 2 years ago
Spielberg more or less directed it. There was a huge controversy at the time, journalists looked into it, and they obtained statements from cast and crew that Spielberg had been doing most of the directorial work.
And it obviously looks like a Spielberg film. Instead of being scary it's basically a big adventure for the characters.
belinskii 2 years ago
yeah, steven spielberg wrote the film and he choosed tobe hooper to do the film
it was spielbergs idea
badturkali 2 years ago
nope. the director is the one with the vision. how the story is shown to you is what makes the movie
sethisawesome 2 years ago
either way sure..the vision of the movie belongs to the director you are right and i agree..either way , i was pointing out that without the writers contribution there is no movie..so it's 50-50
jazzmanEE 2 years ago
i respectfully disagree. with the writer, you've got a story. with the director, you've got a movie
sethisawesome 2 years ago
well a movie is a story isnt it? 50-50 my friend
see ya ! :)
jazzmanEE 2 years ago
They almost always hate on horror movies, espeically Siskel.
joezam44 2 years ago
By the way, this was the only film I was ever really scared of when I was a kid.
TheScumfrog 2 years ago
i was born in 79.
so when i was a kid and saw this,and saw that clown grab that kid from under the bed, i just about hit the roof..
korky94 2 years ago 2
Uh he meant to say "Tobe Hooper's new horror movie 'Poltergeist'".
doowoppingchainsawer 2 years ago
No, it's common knowledge that Spielberg did in fact direct it. His name might not have been on the director's chair, but he DID direct it.
TheScumfrog 2 years ago
In the 80's, Steven Spielberg had more drawing power then Tobe Hooper.
rathraven1313 1 year ago
There's remake being planned which will suck.
clashrogers 2 years ago
oh god
korky94 2 years ago
How could they even think of re-doing this film? Kind of disrespectful to the people who died i think. Lets hope creepy stuff happens on set this time to stop them
ConnDevi88 2 years ago 3
It was never one of my favorite movies from Speilbergs 80s highpoint. Even as a kid who will take almost anything, I actually thought some of the in this film where pretty dumb,I didn't buy it. I mean with the closet and the rope downstairs was meh, not so clever.Siskel really a point here
Hermy1138 2 years ago
This movie is Creepy.
snake5475 2 years ago
Wow, This Would Be The 21-year Aniversary Since That Lil Girl's Death.
StefanoFan27 2 years ago
It scared me! The part where little Heather says "They're here." gives me the creeps everytime.
DMMP28 2 years ago 3
itz a good film directed by tobe hooper. im a fan of tobe hooper.
the film was actually produced and written by steven spielberg. it sayz that on the dvd cover. but tobe iz still good.
badturkali 3 years ago
what is wrong with u gene, how could u not like this film, its a classic
mooveeguy 3 years ago
I highly disagree with Siskel on this one, and I give it a more favorable review than Ebert did.
I think "Poltergiest" is an underrated movie and it also features a very overlooked performance by Jobeth Williams that I feel deserved an Oscar nomination.
AJthemoviebuff 3 years ago 3
I find it hard to believe they didnt find poltergeist to be scary, Are they kidding? This is one of the scariest movies of alltime.
lance33177 3 years ago 3
I don't find it that hard to believe. I was more fascinated with the special effects than scared. It's creepy but not scary. I don't remember having to sleep with the light on after seeing it. In fact I slept fine.
yellowcougar18 3 years ago
i like diz vid. try 2 upload tobe hooper's crocodile(2000), siskel and ebert review if u can.
badturkali