Poltergeist

Poltergeist (1982)

25 corrected entries

(6 votes)

Corrected entry: In the scene where the kitchen chairs get rearranged on the table, just when Diane bends down to grab a rag and a bottle, there's obvious movement reflected in the chrome waffle-iron, above her head.

Correction: Of course there's movement reflected, the kitchen chairs are rearranging behind her.

JC Fernandez

Corrected entry: In the scene where Dr. Lesh is explaining what the "light" means to the Freeling boy she calls him Tommy at one point but the character's name is Robbie. It's not that the actress got confused and called the boy by his real first name which is Oliver, so who knows where she got the name Tommy from?

Correction: You need to rewatch this scene. Dr. Lesh never refers to the kid by name (not Tommy, not Robbie or any other name).

JC Fernandez

Corrected entry: Watch the scene in the kitchen when the poltergeist puts all the chairs onto the kitchen table. When Diana walks over to the cupboard you can see the reflection of the crew in the kettle moving the set into position.

Correction: There is a reflection of something moving, yes. But it's impossible to discern what it's a reflection of. It could just as easily be a reflection of the chairs moving.

JC Fernandez

Corrected entry: Instead of Steve and the neighbor spending all that time fighting with the remote controls and nobody getting to watch their program, wouldn't it just be easier for them to get up and change the channel on the TV? I mean, I know people can be lazy with their remote controls, but come on...

princesskelli

Correction: It's a fair point, but there's no real reason why they shouldn't do it the way they do. It's not very useful to anyone but it's not a mistake.

Corrected entry: Near the end of the movie, when Diane falls down the stairs and runs towards the door, she grabs the door knob. When she gets thrown backwards, you can see the cable that is attached to her shirt, pulling her back, in the first couple of frames in slo-mo.

Correction: If slow-mo is necessary, it is not a valid mistake.

Sacha

Revealing mistake: When the chair moves across the kitchen floor, Craig T. Nelson goes to investigate it (after it has stopped moving). He goes up to the chair and flips it over. If you look closely, Craig almost hits the camera with the chair's legs. You can tell this has happened because the camera moves up very quickly and Craig looks straight at the camera crew with very big guilty eyes. This is more easily visible on the widescreen version of the film. (00:33:30)

More mistakes in Poltergeist

Carol Anne Freeling: They're here.

More quotes from Poltergeist

Trivia: While filming the toy clown attacking Robbie, the clown's arms were wrapped tightly around Oliver's neck. He immediately said he couldn't breathe but Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper both thought that he was ad-libbing. When Spielberg saw Oliver's face turning purple, he realised that he really was being asphyxiated and ran over to remove the arms from his neck.

More trivia for Poltergeist

Question: What exactly is the red slime on the body of Carol Anne and her mother after they are rescued from the another dimension?

Answer: Ectoplasm.

Phixius

More questions & answers from Poltergeist

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.