Remove the frightening clown from the child’s bedroom.
Closing the curtains would hide the frightening tree.
The father should remain with his family until he knows the danger has passed.
The family should leave immediately instead of spending days packing and sleeping in the house again.
Waiting several days after the house is declared clean is again criticized.
The family should be alarmed by moving chairs instead of treating the phenomenon as entertainment.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Clowns; goo; stepmother; Carol Anne; viral footage; trauma; neighborhood; Williams’s career

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 00:08:14Read transcript

When did clowns become frightening rather than friendly entertainment? John Wayne Gacy is suggested as a turning point.
Why is the other side covered in goo, as in Ghostbusters?
Is the mother the oldest daughter’s stepmother? Ages and dialogue suggest the possibility without settling it.
Was Carol Anne targeted because she was the first baby born in the house?
How many online views would real footage of the spirits descending the stairs receive?
Are all the kids damaged for life after these events?
Would the entire neighborhood leave after the house collapses, and would the developer’s company close?
Should Williams have become a bigger star? Her strong work is weighed against a crowded field of contemporary actresses.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Production debate; casting careers; curse lore; budget; football footage

In the discussion (22)

Approx. transcript time · 00:14:59Read transcript

The discussion places Poltergeist alongside Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. in Spielberg’s early-1980s dominance.
The project is described as growing from Night Skies, with Spielberg’s E.T. commitments preventing him from directing.
Spielberg’s visual fingerprints feed the disputed account that he effectively took over directing.
The discussion recounts Directors Guild involvement, a fine and Spielberg’s public letter praising Hooper.
Frank Marshall is quoted crediting Spielberg’s storyboards and near-daily presence while identifying Hooper as the on-set director.
Zelda Rubinstein is reported to have said Spielberg directed all six days she worked.
The film is said to have lost its effects, sound-effects and score Oscar nominations to E.T.
JoBeth Williams’s career is traced through Kramer vs. Kramer, Stir Crazy, The Big Chill and major television films; she is praised as this film’s driving force.
Craig T. Nelson’s long career is surveyed from film roles through Coach, Parenthood and The Incredibles.
The curse discussion recounts Dominique Dunne’s murder by her boyfriend and its connection to her father’s later reporting.
Heather O’Rourke’s death at twelve during the third film’s production is discussed as part of the curse lore.
Lou Perriman’s murder and other deaths are cited in the curse discussion, with a documentary series suggested for further context.
Williams is reported to have found pictures repeatedly crooked at home during production.
Rubinstein’s reported vision of her dog before learning of its death is presented as another strange anecdote.
The clown apparatus is reported to have malfunctioned and actually choked the child actor before the crew intervened.
The film’s roughly $10.7 million budget and strong 1982 box office are cited; the transcript garbles the gross.
Richard Lawson’s family connections and earlier acting work are discussed.
Spielberg’s childhood fear of clowns and a tree outside his window is said to have inspired the movie.
The house is said to remain in Simi Valley, California.
The televised Rams–Saints game is identified as a 1980 Monday Night Football game, with the Saints losing and Archie Manning struggling.
A late-nineteenth-century Denver cemetery incident is cited as an inspiration, correcting an initial garbled date.
The collapsing house is said to have been a roughly four-foot model.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 00:35:12Read transcript

Ebert gave three stars and praised the focus on the family’s experience rather than effects alone.

Casting What-Ifs

King; Spano; unverified MacLaine rumor; Barrymore

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:10:11Read transcript

Spielberg is reported to have asked Stephen King to co-write the screenplay, but King declined.
Joe Spano is said to have been wanted for the father but unable to leave his television contract.
An online claim that Shirley MacLaine declined a role is explicitly unverified.
Drew Barrymore was considered for Carol Anne before being placed in E.T., which is judged the better career outcome.