Poltergeist (1982) ft. Pat Green: Suburban Safety Was Always a Lie

Supertobertacular continues as Beth and Michelle welcome Pat Green back to confront the suburban nightmare of Poltergeist. What begins with television static, mischievous spirits, and a dead canary grows into a story about parenthood, corporate greed, medical neglect, domestic violence, childhood terror, and the terrible consequences of building an idyllic community over deliberately buried truths. Steve and Diane Freeling feel unusually real because their marriage rests on friendship as much as romance. They tease each other, get high together, remember their shared history, and remain a team when their daughter disappears into another realm. Diane becomes the film’s emotional and physical force, repeatedly throwing herself into danger for her children, while Steve listens, adapts, and refuses the era’s expected role of domineering male hero. Poltergeist passes the Castellini Test through Diane, Dr. Lesh, Tangina, and Dana, with multiple women essential to rescuing Carol Anne. The episode also considers the production’s use of real skeletons and the tragic lives later folded into the supposed “Poltergeist curse.” Beneath the clowns, trees, static, and spectacular effects, the film’s real monster is greed: the developer moved the headstones, left the bodies, and expected the families living above them to pay the price. Don’t forget that we will be doing a Podbean Live Rewatch of The Exorcist (1973) on Oct 31 at 8pm est. Please check out the Indiegogo for Pat Green’s Hearts of Glass: Fade Away and Radiate