Poltergeist
Poltergeist
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Abstract
The Academy Award-winning Poltergeist (1982), created by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, is a film that can be framed as a cinematic anomaly – a high budget, high profile Hollywood summer blockbuster but also a film which is a legitimate horror movie. Poltergeist is a film of paradoxes, from its inception, production, and narrative there is a continual sense of contradiction. audiences, reviewers, and critics alike have found it hard to define and categorise the film – as it is an outright horror, family adventure film, blockbuster, and grindhouse text all at the same time. It is from these opposing standpoints that this book explores the production and themes within – discussing the films sense of duality, dichotomy, and contradiction. The notion of the American Dream, greed, the disregard of the tradition and the importance of family are also key concepts that are debated. This text also explores how Poltergeist is both spine-tingling scary experiences yet also a ‘safe’ movie – a ‘gateway’ text for viewers into the realm of horror and a film that shows a willingness to push boundaries in its implied and explicit depictions to incite these scares.
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Front Matter
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1:
They’re here
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2:
The evolution of suburban horror
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3:
Tricksters and fairy tales
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4:
The American Dream/The American Nightmare—The Politics of Poltergeist
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5:
Television and trauma
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6:
Matriarchy and monsters—The importance of family and the feminine
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7:
Cultural resonance and conclusions
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End Matter
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