JC Fernandez

17th Feb 2013

Poltergeist (1982)

Corrected entry: After Diane pushes back all the kitchen chairs around the clean breakfast table she walks past Carol Anne who is sitting on the corner kitchen counter. As Diane reaches under a base cabinet for cleanser and a rag, on the countertop above is the reflection of the waffle iron. You can see movement in the direction of where the table is as well as the snapping movement of the leaves of the tree behind the countertop TV at the same time. This is before Diane stands and turns to find the chairs suddenly stacked on the clean table.

Correction: The ghosts didn't teleport the chairs into the stacked position, they MOVED them. Seeing a reflection of this stands to reason.

JC Fernandez

8th Sep 2010

Poltergeist (1982)

Corrected entry: In the scene where the chairs are stacked up on the table, while JoBeth Williams ducks under the counter to get something, you can see the reflection in the waffle iron of the crew moving around off-camera to manipulate the chairs. It can't be a reflection of the chairs moving because the chairs are light-colored and the shadows are dark.

Correction: The reflection isn't distinct in any way. You certainly can't identify them as human. Just because you know how the effect was accomplished doesn't exclude the possibility of an explanation within the fictional movie world. Perhaps there was some other poltergeist activity in the kitchen beyond the chairs. We see the ghosts move objects (chairs, the coffee pot, a steak, the piano) throughout the movie. Not to mention when they physically manifest themselves. The fact is that there are any number of story-related possibilities for the indistinct movement in the reflection.

JC Fernandez

11th Mar 2009

Poltergeist (1982)

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

21st Oct 2008

Poltergeist (1982)

Corrected entry: In the scene when Marty is watching the steak slither across the table, the steak is over one of the tile lines on the table (obviously there is a slit there and the steak is being moved by rods underneath.) After Marty shines the flashlight and the shot cuts back to the steak, you can see by the tile lines that it is in a different position.

Correction: Of course it's in a different position... it's moving! You're using your knowledge of how they made the steak move (which is more deductive than obvious, because no "rods" are visible) to guide your opinion of where the steak should be. But there's no reason to think the steak couldn't have moved to a different place while the camera was focused on Marty.

JC Fernandez

5th Jan 2008

Poltergeist (1982)

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

11th Mar 2003

Poltergeist (1982)

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

27th Dec 2001

Poltergeist (1982)

Corrected entry: Watch when Carol Anne and her mother are in the tub with the red goop all over them. The father rubs a wash cloth over the face of Carol Anne to clean off the goop and the unconscious child tries hard but her eyes squint.

Correction: The human body is still prone to twitches and reflexive movement even when asleep or unconscious. Perhaps dad was a bit rough with the washcloth and her facial muscles reacted. Not to mention that Carol Anne was starting to awaken.

JC Fernandez

27th Aug 2001

Poltergeist (1982)

Corrected entry: Right in the middle of the movie when a psychic tells about how haunted the house is (the evil force has kidnapped their daughter, and she's in TV land, as they can only hear her through the TV) She tells them what they will do to get her daughter back from the poltergeist. And she specifically tells them that she can only hear her mothers voice. Then in another scene she says to the parents "who is she more threatened by" and the mother says the father. So the psychic tells the father to tell his daughter that if she doesn't say anything she will get a smack. So of course the father tells his daughter that, but isn't she only able to hear her mother's voice?

Correction: First, Tangina never explains the plan to retrieve Carol Ann, she only explains what death is and why the spirits have targeted Carol Ann. Second, she wasn't being literal when she said that Carol Ann can only hear her mother's voice. She was trying to instill confidence in Diane, telling her that Carol Ann is alive and it's possible to reach out to her.

JC Fernandez

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