A blog to share my love for the greatest horror franchise in history,talking about the 1980's original series/trilogy as well as the remake that came out back in May 2015 and other news about possible sequels to the remake and special releases of the remake and the original trilogy.
Below are scans from copies of the court documents I
received (public records) from the L.A. County Superior Court.
Ordinarily contracts between actors and studios are kept confidential,
but because Heather was a Minor, the Court had to approve her contract,
and thus it was submitted as a public record as part of the approval
process. Interesting to note that Heather was paid $75,000 to do
"Poltergeist II," but was given $140,000 to do "Poltergeist III." As
you'll see in the scans, there was also some uncertainty at the time as
to whether a TV series pilot that Heather had filmed ("Here to Stay")
would get picked up (it didn't). If it had, the TV show producers would
have had to find some way to work with MGM to allow Heather to do both
(since the TV show would have started filming in May 1987, right in the
middle of the P3 shooting schedule).
Coulrophobics
and parents fail in bid to get ‘distressing’ posters banned as ad
watchdog rules they are ‘not overtly threatening’
Poltergeist poster: cleared by the ad watchdog.
Photograph: ASA
People afraid of clowns have failed in a bid to get “distressing” posters for the film Poltergeist banned.
More than 70 coulrophobics and parents complained about posters and
bus ads featuring the head of a scruffy, smiling clown doll with the
tagline “They know what scares you”.
They asked the Advertising Standards Authority whether the ads for the 15-rated horror film – a remake of the 1982 classic – were suitable for outdoor display.
Film company 20th Century Fox acknowledged the ads had upset some
consumers, but said it had consulted its media owner which said they
were unlikely to cause widespread offence.
The ASA investigated the ads, but did not find they breached its rules.
It said: “The ASA acknowledged that some children and adults
considered that the ad was distressing especially in an untargeted,
outdoor medium and that consumers with colrophobia could find the ad
distressing.
“We noted that the ad had a dark format and the image of the clown stared out from the poster and had a scruffy appearance.
“However, we considered the image was not menacing and noted the ad
included no other images that were likely to contribute to such an
impression.
“The ad also included the text ‘They know what scares you.
Poltergeist’ but we considered in the context of ads for a horror movie
it was not overtly threatening or suggestive of danger, rather it was
likely to be understood by consumers as being a typical reflection of a
movie of that format.
“Although we acknowledged that some distress had been caused, because
we did not consider that the overall impression of the ads was such
that they were likely to cause excessive fear or distress, particularly
in the context of an ad for a horror film, we concluded that they were
not irresponsibly targeted in outdoor media.”
I’m baaaaaaack! Dash Jordan here, folks. First off, I
just want to say thank you to everyone who’s checked out my very first
Top 10 list which I did on my personal favorite Horror Movie Remakes. As
of right now, it’s my most viewed blog on this site and I am eternally
grateful. Incidentally, I’ve had so much fun doing that list, I’m
actually still in quite the mood for another horror movie. So much so,
that I’ve decided to leave that choice up to you guys. Your homework
assignment was to request any horror movie, any decade, good or bad for
me to review. What can I say? I’m a generous guy, and I have complete
and utter faith in you. So, let’s dig through my bag of requests and see
what we pull out…
You know what? You guys really suck! ‘Poltergeist’…the REAL ‘Poltergeist’ was a 1982 horror film
‘allegedly’ produced by Steven Spielberg and ‘allegedly’ directed by
Tobe Hooper who is best known for directing ‘The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre’. I say ‘allegedly’ because Spielberg, who originally wanted to
direct the film was already busy directing ‘E.T. The Extra Terrestrial’
So, he hired Tobe Hooper to take his place in the director’s chair;
even though Spielberg clearly must’ve had most of the creative control
during the film’s production, seeing as how his trademark style still
shines through. Even when he occasionally likes to traumatize people for life.
Anyways, the story is about a family being terrorized by evil spirits
due to their home being built over an old cemetery. After the ghosts
kidnap their youngest daughter, the family seek out help from
parapsychologists and a spiritual medium to bring their child back from
the other side. So of course, some Hollywood Neophiles didn’t like the
fact that ‘Poltergeist’ is more than 30 years old, so they copied and
pasted the script, edited it and added some of the leftover jumpscares
from ‘The Conjuring’. Yep, still funny. Nonetheless, how ironic that I do a Top
10 on the ‘Good’ Horror Remakes only to come back to my normal style
with a review of one of the most unnecessary, shameless, and boring
remakes I’ve ever seen in my life. You know how today’s horror movies
usually get slapped with a PG-13 rating? Well, somehow a PG-13 movie
from 2015 manages to come off more tame and stripped down than a PG film
from the early 80s. I almost didn’t want to review the ‘Poltergeist’
remake because everything wrong with this movie and its very existence
has already been established by more professional critics. However, what
caught my attention is the fact that some people even have the nerve to
consider this version to be “scarier than the original”… now I think we
need to have another heart-to-heart talk, people. This…is a scary movie
moment: This…is a Jump Scare: This…is frightening: This…is annoying: In other words…JUMP SCARES ARE NOT FRIGGIN’ SCARY!!! Hahaha…still a good game though. But back to this failure
of a re-imagining. When you think of the name Steven Spielberg, what
normally comes to mind? Likeable characters, right? None are to be found
here, I’m afraid. Well, not exactly…there are actually a few things
that keep this movie from being the absolute worst movie ever. One of
which is Sam Rockwell who plays the father in this movie. Sam Rockwell
is a very underrated actor who always manages to steal the show, no
matter what movie he’s in. I swear the poor guy tries his hardest to
make us forget that we’re watching Grade A Cash-Grab Trash, but I have
the feeling that even he regrets starring in this travesty just as much
as the people who had to sit through it. Hey, the man can still dance
though!
Told ya! Anywho, you also have Jared Harris who you may
recognize as Prof. Moriarty from ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows’,
playing Carrigan Burke; a TV Occult specialist a.k.a. Zelda Rubinstein’s
replacement. To be fair however, Jared Harris certainly tries his best
with the rushed script as well; giving us a stoic yet commanding
performance with just a hint of dry humor. At the same time, it’ll still
be the late and great Zelda’s calm and eccentric performance as Tangina
Barrons in the original that we will always remember. Often imitated,
but never duplicated… R.I.P. Zelda Rubinstein(1933-2010) I will also admit that I did kinda like the whole
character arc of Griffin, played by Kyle Catlett; the middle child and
only son who’s literally afraid of everything from malevolent spirits to
poorly-rendered CGI squirrels, but who manages to fight through his own
anxieties and fears to basically save the day by the end of the movie.
Very well-paced, sure. But, not even that’s enough to change the fact
that Hollywood has truly ran out of classic movies to “re-imagine” at
this point, that they had to resort to remaking a film with a backstory
so tragic and coincidental that it’s left many people speculating to
this day whether or not there is truly such a thing as “The Poltergeist
Curse” Bottom line, Sam Rockwell couldn’t even make this movie a
rental. The 2015 remake of ‘Poltergeist’ is a paper-thin rehash of a
plot, with characters that range from forgettable to unlikable, a lack
of effort from most of the actors, ineffective scares that are clearly
ineffective, CGI that looks like it was all lifted from an Xbox 360
game, and a complete and utter absence of the quiet moments that helped
made the 1982 film stand out from most other horror films; all of which
is all packaged and sealed with the “We’re in 3-D so take us seriously!”
seal of approval, as if that’s something the cast and crew should be
proud of. This movie could’ve easily been just another run-of-the-mill
supernatural home-invasion film, if it wasn’t for the fact that the name
‘Poltergeist’ and some diet-scary clown doll ended up getting plastered
all over the posters and trailers. Any of you who haven’t seen this
movie yet…I truly envy you. Don’t expect another horror review for
awhile, guys. Because I said so! This is all your fault…I still love you, but I’m very disappointed. Gotta Dash!
Videos & Photos:
Poltergeist(2015) (owned by 20th Century Fox, MGM, Ghost House Pictures & Vertigo Entertainment)
Poltergeist(1982) (owned by MGM & SLM Production Group)
Inglourious Basterds(owned by Universal Pictures & The Weinstein Company)
The Conjuring(owned by Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, The Safran Company & Evergreen Media Group)
Hellraiser(owned by New World Pictures, Cinemarque, Entertainment BV, Film Futures & Rivdel Films)
A Nightmare On Elm Street(owned by New Line Cinema, Media Home Entertainment & Smart Egg Pictures)
Five Nights At Freddy’s(owned by Scott Cawthon)
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon(owned by Lorne Michaels, Michael Showmaker & Gavin Purcell)
The Mummy(1999) (owned by Universal Pictures & Alphaville Films ITV2 Films)
Kenan & Kel(owned by Nickelodeon Productions, Bass Entertainment & Tollin/Robbins Productions)
