Poltergeist is Funny No Really I'm Serious

I am on a personal vendetta regarding a specific 1980’s horror movie, and I wasn’t going to discuss it this week but of course a recent trailer release for a certain reboot forced my hand. So let’s talk about Poltergeist.

Not the reboot of course it’s not even out yet and while the trailer does show a lot of interesting things it doesn’t mean a damn thing till the movie is in theaters. So a little bit of background on the original: Poltergeist is ostensibly a 1982 horror movie directed by the fantastic Tobe Hooper. I say ostensibly, because, while every single person I have ever met (except for one person they know who they are) adamantly insists that it is indeed a horror film, I find it to be one of the most clever, subtle, and fun horror comedies ever made. Indeed THIS is my vendetta: a private little war against the very concept that Poltergeist is anything but the most brilliantly written and executed horror comedy ever created. The entire movie is a complete riot from beginning to the end. There is so much wonderful comedy in the form of sight gags, clever dialogue, and simple silliness it’s hard to believe that it was not intentional (I’m still not entirely sure if it is or isn’t myself).

I could go on and on listing, and describing scene after scene, and then explaining why it is funny, but that would be a waste of time for all involved so I am just going to suggest that you watch the movie (for the first time, or again) as a horror comedy and not a pure horror film. However I do want to explore the reasons and implications of Poltergeist as a comedy. First of all what strikes me the most about all this is why did it turn out so funny? All of the interviews with cast and crew speak of it like a truly scary horror film. The answer came to me as I was searching through an online copy of the script for some of the funnier scenes, and I found that one scene in particular had a significantly different line then the finished film. This slight change in line added the humor to the scene. This leads me to the conclusion that the change from horror to horror comedy came during filming when spur of the moment script changes lead to fun comedic moments.

Another interesting implication of Poltergeist being a horror comedy is that its very existence is in and of itself a meta-joke: Whether by man or by fate this movie which almost everyone calls one of the greatest scary movies from the 80’s is in actuality one of greatest comedies from the 80’s. But this then begs the question: are comedies and horror films really all that different. There are certainly similar techniques involved with well executed horror and well executed comedy. Both horror and comedy rely almost entirely on setup and a well-timed pay off, and the only real significant difference between horror and comedy is the reaction in the audience. Furthermore since everyone interprets and reacts to events differently wouldn’t that mean that horror and comedy are subjective? Well no not really there are clear patterns that define weather an audience will react with fear or humor. These patterns are in tone and subject matter, and Poltergeist straddles the line of tone really well, so even though its subject matter rests solidly in the territory of horror, it manages to cause me to react with humor rather than with fear. But whatever you think of Poltergeist’s tone and relative humor I think we can all agree that clown scares everyone!

Back when I posted this to Tumblr a helpful user by the name of: Hitch22rises pointed out a flaw in this post: 

"Could you possibly give an example or two? Your whole post is “I actually discovered that Poltergeist is a comedy…. but trust me when I say that there’s humor in it”. 

I’m legit interested in the premise, but you haven’t provided any details. You’re just saying “Dudes trust me, there was this one part… and it was actually funny”.

Let’s hear it!"

           This was my reply: I have heard the same criticism from a few other people. I often have trouble describing scenes i feel they don’t sound nearly as funny when I try to describe them so i tend to avoid it. but clearly you all are right i have made a mistake in not doing that this time so here are some brief scene descriptions for all to enjoy.

There is a moment when a group of paranormal investigators are looking over the house and they are excitedly relating an event where they witnessed a matchbox car move across a room over the course of a day. The father is listening with a bored expression on his face. The father then opens the door to the young child’s room for the paranormal investigators, and they look on in shock and horror as there are things flying around and whizzing about everywhere.

also there is the entire character of Tangina played by Zelda Rubinstein. Zelda Rubinstein was undoubtedly cast because of her strange voice. It was likely intended to be creepy, but i found it to be rather amusing. Furthermore there is this wonderful scene where Tangina and the mother character were working with the portal to the ghost world. the time came for someone to go in the ghost world and fetch the little girl. the mother said that she’d go, Zelda said: “But you’ve never done this before”.
The mother replies: “Neither have you”.
After a moment of consideration Tangina concedes: “Good point, you go.”