My Basic Ramblings: I've never been one for horror movies. I've never seen any of the Friday the 13th series, or the Halloween series. I saw one of the Freddy Krueger movies, but I'd be lying if I could say which one it was.
Poltergeist, however, seemed like one that was classic enough that I should watch it. So, one Friday night I rented the laser disc, and watched it over at Chris's. (His housemate, Jeff, refused to watch it, proclaiming it was "too scary". Chris just didn't want to watch it, so it was me alone watching it.)
All in all, it wasn't that scary. (Though I'm sure if I'd seen it ten years ago, I'd still be sleeping with all the lights on.) There were a few parts where I had to cover my eyes, it was because the scene was gross, not scary. (The "chicken on the kitchen floor" scene.) Even the "chunks of blood falling into the sink" part wasn't that bad - instead of thinking "OH MY GOD THAT GUY'S RIPPING HIS FACE OFF, EWWWWW", I thought "Gee, that looks an awful lot like what happens when I dye my hair."
There were a few little things that stuck out, while I was watching this movie. First, in the scene where Craig T. Nelson first talks to the psychologist woman, he relates the ages of his family. His wife is thirty-two, and his oldest daughter is sixteen. So do we assume that he's been married before, or that his wife gave birth when she was sixteen herself?
Then there's all the Star Wars stuff in the kids' room. Nice crossover.
Why do they ("they" meaning the people of the world as a whole) even bother to portray clowns as happy, cheerful people? Both movies I watched that night (this one and Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure) had scenes with evil clowns. Stephen King's novel (and subsequent TV mini-series) It had Pennywise the evil clown. (And I know that the titles of books are supposed to be underlined, not italicized, but this web editor doesn't underline for some reason.) Even songs like "Tears of a Clown" show clowns as being more than smiling happy lovable buffoons with red noses and big feet. If/when I go to Hell, there will be a bunch of clowns waiting for me.
Language Lesson Of The Day: "Poltergeist" comes from the German words poltern, "to knock", and geist, meaning "spirit".
Real Estate Lesson Of The Day: If you're going to build a residential complex on a graveyard, spend the extra cash and dig up the coffins. It'll save you more money in the long run.