‘Poltergeist’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan

Summary

The Rewatchables: ‘Poltergeist’ Episode Summary

Episode: ‘Poltergeist’
Hosts: Bill Simmons and Van Lathan
Release Date: October 8, 2024
Podcast: The Rewatchables, The Ringer
Transcript Available: [Link to Rewatchables Page]

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Introduction

In this episode of The Rewatchables, Bill Simmons and Van Lathan delve deep into the classic horror film Poltergeist. Released in 1982, Poltergeist has long been celebrated not only for its chilling narrative and groundbreaking special effects but also for the eerie series of unfortunate events that surrounded its production. This episode explores the film's cultural impact, its place within the horror genre of the late '70s and early '80s, and the notorious Poltergeist Curse.

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The Golden Age of Horror (1978-1982)

Bill and Van begin by situating Poltergeist within the broader context of horror cinema during its release period. They highlight how the late '70s and early '80s were a transformative era for horror films, characterized by an exploration of deep-seated fears and the supernatural.

Notable Discussion Points:

• Inner Fears: The hosts discuss how films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Amityville Horror, Alien, The Shining, and The Thing tapped into fundamental fears such as the unknown within one's home, the psychological unraveling of familiar figures, and the terror of isolation.

• Cultural Reflection: Van Lathan remarks, "It conjured that really jumped out" (03:26), emphasizing how these movies reflected societal anxieties of the time.

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Poltergeist – A Spielbergian Horror

The conversation shifts to Poltergeist itself, exploring its connection to Steven Spielberg and the distinctive elements that set it apart from other horror films of its time.

Key Insights:

• Spielberg's Influence: Although Spielberg didn't direct Poltergeist, his fingerprints are evident throughout the film. Van Lathan notes, "It feels like a Spielberg movie... There are a lot of Spielberg shots and touches" (15:32).

• Family-Centric Horror: The hosts appreciate how Poltergeist centers on a family's experience with the supernatural, blending heartwarming family dynamics with terrifying occurrences. Bill Simmons shares a personal anecdote, "My wife and I were watching... and we were talking about when it gets to the portal, which one of us would be the one that went in." (18:43).

• Character Analysis: Craig T. Nelson's portrayal of Steven Freeling is dissected, with Van Lathan suggesting that Nelson didn't fully embrace the villainous aspects of his character, potentially limiting his impact (21:03).

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The Poltergeist Curse

One of the most gripping segments of the episode is the discussion of the Poltergeist Curse, a series of tragic and mysterious incidents that befell those involved in the film's production.

Details Covered:

• Tragic Losses: Dominic Dunn's daughter, Heather O'Rourke (who played Carol Ann), and actor Lou Perini all met untimely deaths shortly after the film's release. Bill Simmons states, "Dominic Dunn... and Heather O'Rourke... there's a whole bunch of weird shit going on" (22:00).

• Behind-the-Scenes Mysteries: The hosts explore various alleged supernatural occurrences during filming, such as Jo Beth Williams experiencing moving pictures after shooting scenes and Zelda Rubinstein's visions of her deceased dog shortly before its actual death (25:08, 26:03).

• Impact on Legacy: Van Lathan reflects on how the internet has transformed the Poltergeist legend from urban myth to widespread conspiracy theories, diminishing the mystique that once surrounded the curse (23:57, 24:20).

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Cast and Characters

Poltergeist features a talented ensemble cast whose performances have left a lasting impression on audiences.

Highlights:

• Jo Beth Williams: Portrayed Diane Freeling with depth and resilience. Bill Simmons contemplates whether Williams deserved greater recognition, considering her pivotal role (20:28, 86:53).

• Craig T. Nelson: As the protective father, Nelson brings a nuanced portrayal that Bill feels could have been more villainous, potentially adding complexity to the character (21:08, 86:40).

• Zelda Rubinstein: Playing Tangina, Rubinstein's eccentric performance is both memorable and essential to the film's supernatural elements. Bill questions whether a different actress could have elevated the role further (64:47, 65:05).

• Child Actors: The young cast members, especially Heather O'Rourke as Carol Ann, delivered performances that were both innocent and haunting, contributing to the film's emotional core (86:40, 89:06).

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Production Insights and Behind-the-Scenes Stories

Bill and Van uncover various anecdotes about the making of Poltergeist, shedding light on the collaborative yet tumultuous production process.

Stories Shared:

• Director's Role: Although Tobe Hooper directed the film, Spielberg's involvement was significant enough that many believe he effectively co-directed, leading to disputes with the Directors Guild of America (DGA) (15:32, 16:21).

• Casting Choices: The duo explores potential casting alternatives, including rumors that Shirley MacLaine was considered for Tangina and that Drew Barrymore was initially eyed for Carol Ann before landing her role in E.T. (69:05, 69:34).

• Technical Challenges: The hosts discuss the special effects techniques of the early '80s, noting how certain scenes, like the face-melting mirror effect, are both nostalgic and dated by today's standards (51:03, 61:00).

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Cultural Impact and Legacy

The episode concludes by evaluating Poltergeist's enduring legacy in popular culture and its influence on subsequent horror films.

Discussion Points:

• Box Office Success: With a budget of $10.7 million, Poltergeist grossed over $21.7 million, making it the eighth biggest movie of 1982 and the only horror film in the top 35 that year (34:11).

• Iconic Scenes: Memorable moments like the TV's static noise (“They're here”) and the tree kidnapping the children have become staples in horror film lore, often referenced and parodied (36:28, 39:03).

• Memorabilia and Nostalgia: Bill and Van reminisce about iconic props from the movie, such as the Atari 2600 present in the Freeling household, symbolizing the film's deep integration into '80s culture (50:52, 85:21).

• Remakes and Reboots: They express disappointment in the Poltergeist remake, arguing that the original's unique blend of Spielbergian storytelling and horror elements has not been successfully replicated (63:21, 80:38).

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Notable Quotes

• Bill Simmons: "Why does our daughter keep talking to the TV? What's happening here?" (05:58)

• Van Lathan: "Poltergeist took up a lot of cultural space in the '80s." (03:12)

• Bill Simmons: "They’re here. You’ve never done this before. You’re right. You go." (45:18)

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Conclusion

Poltergeist remains a seminal film in the horror genre, blending family drama with supernatural terror under the influential eye of Steven Spielberg. Despite its troubled production and the tragic events that followed, the movie has secured its place in cinematic history. Bill Simmons and Van Lathan's exploration offers both nostalgic reflections and critical analysis, making it a must-listen for fans eager to understand why Poltergeist continues to haunt audiences decades later.

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For more in-depth discussions and to listen to the full episode, visit The Rewatchables on The Ringer.

Transcript

[Bill Simmons]

If you're a fan of the inner workings of Hollywood, then check out my podcast, the Town on the Ringer Podcast Network. My name is Matt Bellamy. I'm founding partner at Puck and the writer of the what I'm Hearing newsletter. And with my show the Town, I bring you the inside conversation about money and power in Hollywood.

[Van Lathan]

Every week we've got three short episodes.

[Bill Simmons]

Featuring real Hollywood insiders to tell you what people in town are actually talking about. We'll cover everything from why your favorite show was canceled overnight, which streamer is on the brink of collapse, and which.

[Van Lathan]

Executive is on the hot seat.

[Bill Simmons]

Disney, Netflix, who's up, down, and who.

[Van Lathan]

Will eat lunch in this town again.

[Bill Simmons]

Follow the town on Spotify or wherever.

[Van Lathan]

You get your podcasts. Want to shop Walmart Black Friday deals first. Walmart plus members get early access to our hottest deals. Join now and get 50% off a one year annual membership. Shop Black Friday deals first with Walmart Plus. See [e-mail] Big news. The burger King Whopper lineup just got bigger. Now featuring the Million Dooll Whopper contest top three. There's something for street corn stands, bourbon barbecue fans and fried pickle lovers.

[Bill Simmons]

You gotta try them.

[Van Lathan]

You roll your season today. Happy cake. Have it your way.

[Bill Simmons]

You roll. Participating US restaurants, limited time only while supplies last. The rewatchables is brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network where you can find higher learning with Van Lathan.

[Van Lathan]

Absolutely.

[Bill Simmons]

Find the Ringer verse, of course. With Van Lathan. What are we ringerversing about these days?

[Van Lathan]

We're ring versing about Agatha all along.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, Catherine Hyde.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, you like that? Okay, cool.

[Bill Simmons]

Former BS Podcast guest.

[Van Lathan]

The pin.

[Bill Simmons]

No PR person Solo.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. Did it on her own. She's a force of nature. And the penguin.

[Bill Simmons]

Penguin. You like the penguin?

[Van Lathan]

Love the penguin. Love the penguin. If you like the Sopranos, boy, you'll love the penguin.

[Bill Simmons]

It's officially Scary Month here in the Rewatchables. You know what that means, you son of a bitch? You left the bodies and you only moved the headstones. Poltergeist is next.

[Van Lathan]

Don't adjust the television set, your reception's fine. But in their new suburban home, the Freeling family has tuned into something beyond our world. Poltergeist. You'll never look at your television set the same way again. Poltergeist, a Steven Spielberg production, rated pg, now playing at a theater near you. Check newspapers.

[Bill Simmons]

All right. Van Lathan is here. Van, I asked you to pick a horror movie for Scary Month. You sent me a very Strange text back with a bunch of different choices, including every vampire movie ever made.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

But then you said, ultimately, I want to do Poltergeist.

[Van Lathan]

Poltergeist. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Why?

[Van Lathan]

Takes up a lot of space.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

A big, big movie in terms of the movie itself, but also the lore around the movie.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Everything surrounding the movie. It just took up a lot of cultural space in the 80s.

[Bill Simmons]

A lot to get to with this one.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, for sure.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm going to start here. Old school, non murder spree horror movies from 1978 to 1982. The specific time where we get Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Amityville Horror, Alien, Altered States, the Shining, the Thing. Poltergeist. The entity in all the Stephen King movies.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

All right, so what does that mean? Something about this era in those movies where it's like the stuff that's inside you that you're afraid of, the being in your house and being like, what's wrong with dad?

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Being in Antarctica and being like, why is everybody starting to act weird around here? Being stuck at the Overlook Hotel? Like, man, Jack's acting fucking strange lately. What's going on with him or in this situation? Poltergeist. Why does our daughter keep talking to the tv? What's happening here? And it's just. This is this era of that.

[Van Lathan]

The two movies that, for me, in the 80s that, like I said, took up the most space were this one and Nightmare. Right. Nightmare 1. Now, Nightmare had a whole franchise. Freddy Krueger became, like, the biggest villain in the history of horror movies. But they were both two movies that, like, were about things that were sort of undeniable. Like, Freddy, you could not, not go to sleep. It was just a terrifying concept to me as a kid. Yeah, you fall asleep and he's there. You have to sleep. Right. With this one, this was one that, like, the whole family would get together on and it would make you look behind the refrigerator under the bed, what's happening. It just felt like it was really about a family being tormented. And there was something inescapable about the horror. You don't know what your house is built on top of.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

You don't know who's coming to take your children away. And there were so many different parts of it that are just iconic. Iconic. And we would talk about them, like, during the 80s and into the 90s.

[Bill Simmons]

Also, we didn't have the reservoir of movies that were made about this stuff.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, it conjured that really jumped out.

[Bill Simmons]

To me with watching the first half hour of Poltergeist. Again where this family doesn't have a history of like. I just watched the Conjuring last week and I think this might mean this. They're just like, whoa, what's going on here? The fucking chair moved 50ft. That's weird.

[Van Lathan]

She's excited at first.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. She's like, look how cool this is.

[Van Lathan]

Right?

[Bill Simmons]

The chair. Watch. Let's put our daughter and we're gonna put a Rams helmet on her and she's just gonna go flying forward. Isn't this neat? Like she's not. She doesn't have the reservoir of evil from movies like this.

[Van Lathan]

Right? Because she doesn't know yet.

[Bill Simmons]

Doesn't know.

[Van Lathan]

She's completely ambivalent to the fact that these ghosts, these are not the fun ghosts.

[Bill Simmons]

Right?

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

Darren though, we're fucking with you. Stage right. It's about to get dark.

[Van Lathan]

Oh my God. The chairs are stacked up. How awesome is that? Yeah, not awesome at all.

[Bill Simmons]

It's really a bad sign.

[Van Lathan]

But there's no Vera Farminga or Patrick Wilson there for her to be able to draw from.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, nightmare is a good example too because that's another one where the fundamental fears we have are, is there someone in my house? I can't fall asleep because that thing in the window scares me. I'm scared because I've woken up the last two nights at 3:15 and now I'm scared that I'm going to wake up again at 3:15 and I don't know what that means. I'm scared someone's under my bed. I'm scared someone's in my closet. Like these are all fundamental stuff. All of these movies from this era like just were like, we're gonna hit this hard.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

And this is the ultimate one. Like you're watching this going, just take the clown out of the little boys room. The clown's scary. Just put it in the fucking attic. Hey, the tree, you can see it through the window. Just close the curtains.

[Van Lathan]

It's funny, when I was watching the movie back now, there's all kinds of different motifs of basically kind of evil in the room. Oh yeah, there are Darth Vader posters every sleeping under Darth Vader. It's evil Sith wizard. Right? There's the tree outside, there's the clown. There's a feeling of safety that they have there. But when you look around it, there's a lot of scary stuff in there.

[Bill Simmons]

Who the fuck puts a. I mean this is like, should be a nitpicks but who has a clown in a chair facing your little Kid who's like nine. Like, if I did that to my kids, they'd probably Menendez brothers me.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, Jesus.

[Bill Simmons]

Is that a verb yet?

[Van Lathan]

Let me ask you this. What. What era? Because I had this in the question for you. What era did the clown become a figure of fear? Is this post or is this always been. But remember when did Bozo was like a huge. Bozo was like a huge deal. Used to watch Bozo.

[Bill Simmons]

I know, but clown who wasn't afraid of clowns?

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

What grown man is like, I'm dressed as a clown again this week. And I'd be like, oh, my God, that guy's got bodies in his basement. John Wayne Gacy.

[Van Lathan]

John Wayne Gacy.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. That's what changed the clown motif.

[Van Lathan]

I changed the clown motif right there.

[Bill Simmons]

John Wayne Gacy also, like, you know, let's say my son was seven and you're like, oh, I'm going to get Ben a birthday gift. And you're like, I got him this really creepy clown put in his room. Yeah. He's just going to stare at you as you sleep.

[Van Lathan]

Something else about the 80s themselves. I was thinking about this movie. There was a supernatural aura to the decade.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

And it's difficult for me to like, articulate now, but remember, it was a highly religious decade. The religious right was everywhere. Everyone was talking about things that you couldn't see, couldn't touch, couldn't grab. And it did seem like some of the horror movies in the 80s were kind of like a reaction to that idea. Like a reaction. Yeah. Like a. Even this movie is like litigating spirits and malevolent spirits and like what exists after death? What is it? It's not just. It's coming for the children.

[Bill Simmons]

The Beast.

[Van Lathan]

The beast, right.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, think about. So Invasion of the Body Snatchers. That's about. That's more science fictiony, but it's like we can all be replaced. But it's just spooky. And basically, if you fall asleep, you're in trouble. Right. Amityville Horror is. Something bad happened in this house. It actually might be coming from the basement. And these people are too stupid to realize it. The dad's starting to lose his mind and it's just getting creepier and creepier. But that was like one of the first get the fuck out of the house movies. Right. And now we've been making those for 50 years. Then you go into alien and altered states, which is more of the. It's kind of the alternate, you know, subconscious or in aliens case, we're just in outer Space and just we can't go anywhere. Humans can't control this.

[Van Lathan]

Right. Like, we're completely out of control. There's this force.

[Bill Simmons]

The thing is like that too.

[Van Lathan]

Perfect killing machine.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, yeah. The entity is an interesting one. And it's in this poltergeist world. And it's Barbara Hershey. I don't know if you've seen this movie, but it's fucking nuts, right? And I don't know how they filmed it in 1982, but she's basically getting raped by this evil spirit over and over again and can't fight it, can't get out of the house. And the thing won't let her leave the house.

[Van Lathan]

That's what you don't have to worry about a remake for.

[Bill Simmons]

It's not a comedy. Yeah, it's not.

[Van Lathan]

You don't have to worry about that one.

[Bill Simmons]

You definitely don't want to watch that with Netflix. Your girlfriend and her parents. Definitely not. But it's a fucked up movie. And it's kind of movie that would. I don't even think it would get made in any form now. Not even like on Shutter and then all the Stephen King movies. But then Nightmare, I think was the shift where Nightmare is like, how can we take all this stuff that worked? Let's go a little pop culture with it. Let's go a little more mainstream with it. Let's make this a little more 80s and then we're off in that direction. But Nightmare is a shift to me.

[Van Lathan]

And then Nightmare also has like this weird morality to it to where Kruger was an asshole son of a bitch, but then he was murdered by all of those people. So you start to like. And even in this one, these horror movies in these decades, they start to like, play with like, who really is at fault and who really the victims are. You can make an argument that in this horror movie that the ghosts are actually the victims because they were cooling, right? They weren't doing anything. And then someone came along and disturbed their eternal life.

[Bill Simmons]

They just want to take a swim.

[Van Lathan]

They just want to chill. Yeah, they just want to chill.

[Bill Simmons]

They swim. Nighttime swim.

[Van Lathan]

Like we've been here and now you guys. And so they're saying, get the hell out of here. And they pull the house under at the end.

[Bill Simmons]

So I talked about dipping in your deepest fears. I said some of this already, but is there something under my bed? Is there something wrong with our house? Why do I keep waking up at the same time? What's up with this clown in my bedroom? Why is everyone acting so Strangely around me. What happens if the devil's just like, I've now targeted you and I'm coming after you?

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

How do I get out of this completely insane, possibly supernatural situation? And why is my husband starting to unravel? Yeah. What other themes are like this that you.

[Van Lathan]

Have we talked about it a little bit with Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Is this person really this person a la they Live Johnson situation? Like, I gotta put the glasses on to see that you really have a fucked up face and you're working with the aliens. Yeah. Am I really myself?

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, that's a good one.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. Like, there are a couple of movies later on that play with the actual. Am I a demon? Am I turning into something? Did I do all of this stuff? And then just like the classics. Is there a werewolf that lives on my block? Fright Night? Is there a vampire that lives next door to me? Like, just the classics like that. The Fright Night remake is overhated to me with Colin Farrell, but it does a great job of saying, hey, if there's an all powerful, like, nocturnal beast living next door and they wanna hang out with you, like, what can you do about it? Like, nothing.

[Bill Simmons]

I should have mentioned American Werewolf in London in that. Cause that's another one.

[Van Lathan]

It's definitely in that run for sure.

[Bill Simmons]

Definitely in there.

[Van Lathan]

Definitely in that run for sure.

[C]

What's.

[Bill Simmons]

What's happening to me? Yeah, something shifts after this. I think out of all of these, I still think there's something wrong with my house. Is the best gimmick of all the gimmicks.

[Van Lathan]

Well, because.

[Bill Simmons]

Because the new house is hope, it's happy, you establish roots, you want it to go well, and you don't know why it's not going well.

[Van Lathan]

And it's something that you would hold onto even if something was a little bit off track.

[Bill Simmons]

Right. You're going glass half full as much as you possibly can.

[Van Lathan]

This dude is walking around. They do a good job of this in the movie. He's selling people on other houses. Like, welcome to Phase four. Hey, in Town and Country, this guy put a goddamn Jacuzzi in his. This is a great place to live, except it's not. It's not a great place to live. You need to get away from this place. But not only are you rooted there, you want other people to come move in there. Because he's like the greatest house salesman of all time, so he believes in what he's doing.

[Bill Simmons]

Can we talk about the summer of Steve Spielberg?

[Van Lathan]

Oh, yeah. And this is a big backstory to how this movie gets. This is one of the best actually made this movie. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

There's so much good research with this, I almost couldn't believe it. It was a smorgasbord. It was. All I was doing last night after watching this was like, oh my God, I forgot this. Oh, I forgot that. But Spielberg has Raiders in 81, massive hit. Directing ET and producing this movie. And they end up coming out a week apart in 1982. And he officially becomes the guy. And that's it. These are ETs the biggest movie of the year. And Poltergeist is the biggest horror movie of the year. And we're off.

[Van Lathan]

It's almost like he's making the decision to dominate every potential genre that he could.

[Bill Simmons]

Right. This was his only real horror movie and he produced it. He didn't direct it, but as you point out, he co wrote it. It was his idea. He had an idea called Night Skies which was. It's supposed to be a sequel to Close Encounters. They wouldn't let him direct it cause he had this ET contractual stuff. So he found Tobe Hooper. It's Tobe, right? It's not Tobe.

[Van Lathan]

I don't know.

[Bill Simmons]

T O B E. I never got an answer whether it's Tobe or Tobey.

[C]

Probably Toby.

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

I'd say it's with an E though. Whatever. He found Hooper.

[Van Lathan]

Where's fantasy?

[Bill Simmons]

Fantasy would know somehow. But they collaborated and then there's just a lot of stuff about. Did Spielberg actually kind of direct this movie? And when you watch it, it feels like a Spielberg movie. There's a lot of like Spielberg shots and touches and the zoom in close ups or the zoom out or the big wide shots of the suburban neighborhood. And I don't know, if you told me Spielberg actually directed it, I'd be like, I believe that.

[Van Lathan]

Well, there's. I mean the stories get to the fact that this movie is coming along at a point to where Spielberg is so hot that everything that he's connected with, everyone wants to see it.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

And at a certain point he's just not happy with what he's seen from the movie. So he just kind of like takes it over and then. But if you watch it thinking that you can see his DNA in the.

[Bill Simmons]

Movie, the movie ends, which I did last night.

[Van Lathan]

And the first thing that it says is a Steven Spielberg production. That's the first thing that it says.

[Bill Simmons]

So it got so dicey that the DGA got involved and they had to like pay Hooper a fine. Spielberg had some quote in a Magazine piece about or a newspaper piece. Tobe. Toby Tobe isn't a take charge sort of guy. If a question was asked, if an answer wasn't immediately forthcoming, I jump in and say what we can do. He would nod agreement. And that became postulous of collaboration. And all of a sudden the buzz started. Spielberg actually directed it. So he actually wrote an open letter in the Hollywood Reporter the week it came out to Hooper, basically saying it was amazing to work with you. But then as the years pass, all these people pop up. Like Frank Marshall, who's had an amazing career. He's a co producer and he was like the creative force of the movie was Stephen Hooper was the director on the set every day. Stephen did design for every storyboard. It was on the set every day except for three days. And then Zelda Rubinstein, who played Tangina.

[Van Lathan]

It'S a Steven Spielberg film.

[Bill Simmons]

She said Steven directed all six days she was on the set.

[Van Lathan]

It's a Steven. So she just fucking came out.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, she's like, fuck it. She's like one of those old wrestlers.

[Van Lathan]

It's got children interacting with supernatural and otherworldly forces. Something that we've seen Spielberg movies before. It's got family.

[Bill Simmons]

It looks like they live down the street from the ET People.

[Van Lathan]

It's like the same world.

[Bill Simmons]

Like it'd be like a street over.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, it's got. It's the same world. It's really a supernatural fable in a way. And there's a morality in it in a way. And also with this film, most of these family horror type of movies, their job is to scare you. So there's a hopelessness in there.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

This movie is continuously hopeful as you're calling to your child who is there. And you're using the personalities of the parents to try to get the kid to come to the light or not go to the light. A superhero comes in at the end. A little pint sized, clairvoyant medium, all of that. It's a very Spielbergian type of movie when you look at it like that.

[Bill Simmons]

My wife and I were watching. My wife loves this movie. We were watching last night and we were talking about when it gets to the portal, which one of us would be the one that went in.

[Van Lathan]

That's so interesting. I gotta get it.

[Bill Simmons]

And we both immediately agreed it was my wife and not me.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

I was like, you'd do a better job. She's like, I would. Plus it kind of symbolizes our relationship where I always have to do the tough stuff and damn, you just kind of And I was like, I can't. I don't have a comeback. I would be holding the rope going, get in there, honey.

[Van Lathan]

Bill, why, Bill, why don't you have a comeback? What if you just said to her, but, yeah, I paid for the rope?

[Bill Simmons]

Well, I mean, I didn't want to have to go there, but it was like, she's like, when we take the dogs for a walk, I pick up the poop. And I was like, you're right. That's exactly the same as the portal to hell to save our daughter.

[Van Lathan]

I gotta be honest with you, this was rough for Craig T. Nelson's character in this movie. He had a tough one.

[Bill Simmons]

He had some dad decisions I disagreed with. Which we'll be diving into in the podcast. Yeah. So Oscar nominations. Not a lot. They lost to ET for visual effects, sound effects, and weirdly, best score, which I have some thoughts on later. But this did not get nominated for best picture or anything like that. One huge thing we should talk about with this. So no major stars, right? Jo Beth Williams and Craig T. Nelson is the two stars. But both really good careers and this catches them at the perfect time. So Jobeth Williams was on this show called Jabberwocky, which was a Boston. They showed in Boston. I don't know if it was everywhere, but it was a kid show. Then she was naked in Kramer vs Kramer 2 episode Arkham White Shadow and she was in Stir Crazy. Well, she was the naked girl in Kramer vs. Kramer.

[Van Lathan]

Naked and Kramer vs. She's the one.

[Bill Simmons]

That the little boy is going to pee and see. And then she's in Stir Crazy. She's female lead.

[Van Lathan]

And then she just goes on to become a very steady force in the town.

[Bill Simmons]

Right? So she did Big Chill.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

She did a movie called Adam about a missing kid that was like the biggest TV movie of the entire 80s. 38 million people the day after, which was the biggest TV movie of all time. She's starring that nuclear war joint she was in Teachers. She turned down Murphy Brown in 1988. They gave it to Candice Bergen. Like she was a big star. And she's really good in this movie, right?

[Van Lathan]

She is actually the driving force.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, she's fucking awesome in this movie. And then Craig T. Nelson, who was kind of that guy who's an injustice for All Star Crazy prep. Benjamin does this.

[Van Lathan]

All the right moves, all the right moves.

[Bill Simmons]

Steph Georgevich is football coach. Great part.

[Van Lathan]

Later on become coach, right?

[Bill Simmons]

Killing Fields, bad guy in action.

[Van Lathan]

Jackson, a great fucking villain in action.

[Bill Simmons]

We'll be doing that on rewatchables at some point.

[Van Lathan]

I actually think he didn't lean into villainy enough because he comes back in.

[Bill Simmons]

The Turner and Hooch.

[Van Lathan]

Turner and Hooch.

[Bill Simmons]

Bad guy.

[Van Lathan]

Right? Bad guy.

[Bill Simmons]

Devils advocate a little. Seriously.

[Van Lathan]

So maybe I'm wrong because.

[Bill Simmons]

No, he did. He villain did up.

[Van Lathan]

He villain it up a little bit more.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, Villain did up and then has this whole 2000s, he stars in the District, he's My name is Earl. And then he's the dad in parenthood for like 100 plus episodes. So he had ended up with a five decade career.

[C]

And he's Mr. Incredible, right?

[Van Lathan]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

An incredible. Just incredible. Just incredible. Like a recognizable face. One of those guys that when you see him in something, you know it's probably gonna be good.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. So they nailed the actors. And then the biggest piece of this movie that we had not discussed yet, we're gonna do it right after a break because we're gonna talk about the Poltergeist Curse.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. Want to shop Walmart? Black Friday deals first. Walmart plus members get early access to our hottest deals. Join now and get 50% off a one year annual membership. Shop Black Friday deals first with Walmart Plus. See [e-mail] this is the sound of.

[Bill Simmons]

Your ride home with dad after he caught you vaping. Awkward, isn't it? Most vapes contain seriously addictive levels of nicotine and disappointment. Know the real cost of vapes brought to you by the fda. All right, Van. The Poltergeist Curse. So both of the daughters in this movie are dead within a couple years for different reasons. Dominic Dunn. That's the same Dominique Dunn. Yeah, Dominique Dunn, who's the daughter of Dominic Dunn, gets killed by her boyfriend in a case that really starts a whole bunch of domestic violence stuff in the 80s and 90s, leads to Dominic Dunn's reporting about the O.J. trial and the Menendez brothers. All this stuff, awful story. And then Heather O'Rourke, the little girl, she's filming Poltargeist 3 and dies of a bowel obstruction, septic shock, like really strange. And she was only 12. There's another guy in this movie, Lou Peramin, killed with an ax by a crazy intruder. And then there was another one in the second movie who died. And everybody has stories from all the movies about just weird shit going on. And this is considered probably to be the most cursed movie of all the movies. Including there's a shudder series that's excellent called Cursed Movies. And this is one of the ones they did in season one.

[Van Lathan]

This was a very 80s thing. I'm sure it exists in other decades, too, with other movies too. But one thing that the Internet has actually done, in my opinion, is that it's depowered the urban legend and given rise to the conspiracy theory. Yeah, the urban legend doesn't exist as much as it used to anymore.

[Bill Simmons]

I miss the urban legend.

[Van Lathan]

I miss the urban legend a little.

[Bill Simmons]

Bit like Mikey from Pop Rocks. Mikey ate the Pop Rocks and died. Whatever.

[Van Lathan]

That was the whole thing, like, all of them. Right. Like the urban legend to where people talk about it, but you can't really investigate it that much because there's not as much at your fingertips to like, look into things.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Van Lathan]

This was one of the biggest cinematic urban legends, conspiracies, myths, whatever, of the 80s. And it was weird.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm learning. Positive. It's a myth.

[Van Lathan]

I'm not saying. Yeah. I'm just saying it's like. Well, I don't know that it's. I mean, what would you describe as a myth? It's like, do you think that there's.

[Bill Simmons]

Over the film, that there's just an incredible amount of weird. Like an inordinate amount of weird shit that happened to the people who made this movie as they were making the movie and after. Because there was other stuff. Like, Jo Beth Williams said she was making the movie and she would come home and the pictures on the wall of her house would be crooked again. And they weren't crooked before.

[Van Lathan]

See, part of this, though. I used to think part of this.

[Bill Simmons]

Cause was like a selling of the movie.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. But there was a point to where this stuff would be talked about. And, like, where I'm from, people would be like, all right, that's what you. Playing with spirits.

[C]

Right?

[Bill Simmons]

Be careful.

[Van Lathan]

Be careful playing with spirits. Like, calling up all them spirits. Them spirits will follow you out of that TV and follow you home. And then I was wondering about this as we were talking about knowing that we were gonna talk about it. Should I say if some of the stuff that they said was happening. And to be honest with you, even some of the unfortunate things that happened, if that didn't become a part of the marketing of the film, like, oh, interesting. This is actually real. And these are.

[Bill Simmons]

But the film was out before. I think some of this stuff happened.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Cause there's some other stuff. Like, I mean, this is stupid, but Zelda Rubenstein said she had a vision of her dog that came to her and said goodbye. And then five hours later got a call that her dog was dead. She was like, that Was weird. Robbie, the little kid, has a poster in his room for Super Bowl 22, which does not take place for six more years. In the year Super Bowl 22 happened, the little girl died right around there. That's weird. Robbie got strangled by the clown. And they fucked it up. And the clown kind of malfunctioned and actually started strangling him. And they realized that he was turning purple.

[Van Lathan]

I'm getting uncomfortable.

[Bill Simmons]

And they fixed that. It's on the video monitor.

[Van Lathan]

Wait a minute. I'm actually kind of like. As we run through this, I'm starting to feel weird.

[Bill Simmons]

This is the weirdest one, though. Carol Ann begins communicating with the afterlife. And the channel on. The TV's on channel 12. And she died when she was 12. See, it's just like. Yeah, it's just creepy. It makes me feel like a little. And then she actually died during the filming of Poltergeist 3.

[Van Lathan]

And once again, it is. There's no way to talk about the movie and not talk about it is a part of the story of the movie. Like, there were specials on TV based around it. There were segments of stuff that talked about it.

[Bill Simmons]

Lots of shits.

[Van Lathan]

Magazine articles, multiple shifts, multiple stories.

[Bill Simmons]

E. True Hollywood stories. All kinds of shit.

[Van Lathan]

Whole nine. Just talking about the Poltergeist story, particularly around the Dominique Dunne and the younger girl that passed away. They would talk about her all the time.

[Bill Simmons]

You know, as you know, I'm always. I have an open mind with all this stuff.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

I think when you go into the conspiracy corners and you really start reading about it, people are pretty passionate about it.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

It reminds me of the Shining. There's a great documentary about the shining called room 237. Did you ever see it?

[Van Lathan]

No.

[Bill Simmons]

I think it's on Pluto. It's all these people, what they see from the Shining. And they all see different things, Right. Some people see it as like, this is when we took America from the Native Americans. That's what it's about. Some people think it's about when we went to the moon, but we actually didn't because Stanley Kubrick filmed a fake moon landing. And that's what it's about. And he just hits all these different crazy theories. And these people, like, genuinely believe them, right? They're like, here's what this means. Here's why they did this. And it's all about what they want to see out of it. And unfortunately, I think that happened to Poltergeist.

[Van Lathan]

I've never asked you this before. If there's one conspiracy theory slash Urban legend slash wacky deal that Bill Simmons believes either is true or could be true.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

What is it?

[Bill Simmons]

First of all, thank you for asking, because there's a bunch of them.

[Van Lathan]

Okay. I want to know.

[Bill Simmons]

Should I go? Somebody that's in the news.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

I think Sean Combs killed Biggie.

[Van Lathan]

Wow. Okay. You're not the only person.

[Bill Simmons]

That's a really good conspiracy theory that I think I subscribe to because it goes back to the case of who had the most to gain. And if you look at it, it's like he actually had the most to gain because he had the whole library. He had the artist. He didn't leave. He still had the stuff. He was able to vault himself up in the void, and it's like, oh, that actually makes sense.

[Van Lathan]

But, like, Big was his biggest.

[Bill Simmons]

And now we know he might be a sociopath.

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

Seems like pretty decent evidence that something's wrong with that.

[Van Lathan]

Why you say the most of the game when Big was his meal ticket, A lot of people would say at.

[Bill Simmons]

That point, he rode the meal ticket. He cashed it in, and then vaulted himself up from the meal ticket.

[Van Lathan]

When. When did you first have that thought that you did?

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, in the 90s. I always thought. I was always like, this is suspicious. This worked out too perfectly for this guy. Yeah. Because some people think he killed Tupac, and I actually don't think he did.

[Van Lathan]

That was. That was a little issue.

[Bill Simmons]

That's too easy.

[Van Lathan]

Look at that on dj vlad.com.

[Bill Simmons]

But the JFK stuff is like. The JFK stuff is the easiest for me. It's like, clearly they did it and they changed the autopsy. Like, there's just no question there was multiple shooters.

[Van Lathan]

Who was the they?

[Bill Simmons]

They. Absolutely.

[Van Lathan]

Who is the they?

[Bill Simmons]

They. The doctor. Did you see the Parkland one? The Parkland doctors?

[Van Lathan]

Look, I don't think that there was a lone shooter, but I'm.

[Bill Simmons]

My question is they changed the autopsy. They, like, sewed up his head and did all kinds of crazy shit.

[Van Lathan]

Who is the they?

[Bill Simmons]

Well, it's probably CIA.

[Van Lathan]

Okay. Or the mob.

[Bill Simmons]

With the mob.

[Van Lathan]

With the CIA. With the mob.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Ho. Okay, I get it. Those are two good ones. Those are two good ones. I believe in Sasquatch.

[Bill Simmons]

Interesting.

[Van Lathan]

Yep.

[Bill Simmons]

What's your evidence?

[Van Lathan]

Well, a lot of it comes from Harry and Hendersons, but, like. But I believe. I believe in Sasquatch. I'm the type of person that if. Number one. I think it could be true. Number one. Cause it's an animal, right. That would have essentially gone extinct. But it's a Missing link in the evolutionary chain. And it would know how to be away from people. Maybe it's nocturnal. Whatever. Whatever. I. The evidence is that I think it could be real Sasquatch. Loch Ness. Those are my opinions.

[Bill Simmons]

It makes sense. There's like, one giant crazy something out there.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. That we don't know. And maybe this Sasquatch is nomadic and he travels all around. Maybe we're actually all seeing the same Sasquatch, which is why we don't see him that much. Or maybe it's only, like, six Sasquatches out there.

[Bill Simmons]

Have you ever done a deep dive on the Super Duper? Way deep in the ocean. Weird shit going on down there.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. But that's real. We see that, though.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Like, there's, like. I don't know what's going on down there. It's like, all kinds of different animals and stuff.

[Bill Simmons]

We see that. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

We know they're down there.

[Bill Simmons]

I. One conspiracy theory that I think as I get older and I really think about it, and I think. I just think Jordan got suspended. I'm back. I'm back on that one. There was some. There's a clip of his press conference, and he says, if Mr. Stern lets me back in the league, like, it's just, like, under his breath. There's just a lot of. I just. And we'll never know.

[Van Lathan]

Right?

[Bill Simmons]

We'll never know. And all the excuses on the flip side of it. But I just. It doesn't add up to me that all we talk about is how crazy competitive this guy was. And at the height of his powers, he's just like, I'm good. I'm gonna play a sport I'm not good at. It doesn't make sense. I get it. I get it. I get it.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

He's so competitive, though. He's just like, I'm good. I won three titles in a row. I've done it.

[Van Lathan]

We'll get back to the movie. The only thing I'll say about the Jordan thing.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Is if they were going to suspend him, if they were gonna do two years.

[Bill Simmons]

No Jordan, two people. Only two people would know him and Stern.

[Van Lathan]

Okay. Only two people would know him and Stern. If Stern was going to suspend him through two years without Michael Jordan. That's such a gamble.

[Bill Simmons]

He did suspend him is my conspiracy. But what I'm saying is, like, we can either say I suspended you, or you can come up with a story. Why you're gonna take a year and a half.

[Van Lathan]

But just think.

[Bill Simmons]

But it's gonna be one of those Two choices. I'll let you choose.

[Van Lathan]

But think about all what David Stern would have to do to cover for the conspiracy. It seems like he wouldn't do that and hold Michael accountable at the same time. It seemed like either you would actually do it and embarrass Mike, but if you were not going to embarrass him, then covering it up for him, it didn't seem like it would make that much of a deal to him.

[Bill Simmons]

But if you give him Mike the choice, I don't know what happened. I'm just saying it's a really good one. I think there's a lot of meat on the bone, man.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

I mean, he's just, look at all the other super crazy competitive athletes we've had over the course of mankind. And this is the one who's like, yeah, I'm good. Okay, I'll take 18.

[Van Lathan]

Those are some good ones. Those are the top ones. We didn't get too crazy. We didn't do ancient aliens or any of that stuff like that.

[Bill Simmons]

We didn't do the Malaysia flight.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, I don't want to talk about that. Let's get back to Poltergeist.

[Bill Simmons]

You got to watch room 237 though.

[Van Lathan]

I will. All right.

[Bill Simmons]

$10.7 million budget for poltergeist made one 21.7 million.

[Van Lathan]

That's a hit, baby.

[Bill Simmons]

12 to pulled its money. 8th biggest movie in 82. Only horror movie in the top 35 that year. Horror movies were not like big moneymakers back. It really didn't. It wasn't until the mid-80s that they became. I think this was one of the most.

[Van Lathan]

I don't know why. It feels like the golden age of the horror movie though. It feels like Freddy Jason, Pinhead.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. The serial killer one. Yeah, yeah. And Roger Ebert three stars. An effective thriller, not so much because of the special effects, but as because Hooper and Spielberg have tried to see this movie strange events through the eyes of the family members instead of just standing back and letting the special effects overwhelm the cast along with the audience. Good review. All right, today's the most rewatchable scene is brought to you by Paramount. A mountain of movies awaits on Paramount. A mountain of heart pounding action blockbusters like Top Maverick, Mission Impossible, Fallout and Gladiator. You excited for Gladiator 2?

[Van Lathan]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

A mountain of jump scares with thrillers like Scream 6. Smile in a quiet place, day one. You excited for Smile 2? No, I like Smile.

[Van Lathan]

I never saw it.

[Bill Simmons]

Smile's good. Smile's like unsettling.

[Van Lathan]

That's a scary trailer. I don't wanna see it. I'm not. I won't see.

[Bill Simmons]

It's creepy. And a mountain of fun for the kiddos with family favorites like if Paw Patrol the Movie and Dora and the Lost City of Gold Discover something new every week on Paramount. I'm gonna start with the opening scene. Great performance from the dog. I'm just handing out the Brandy Booth Award for best performance by a pet right now to that golden retriever. His name was Ebuzz. Oh, great job just going in everybody's room. He's like, oh, there's some potato chips. I think I'll eat those.

[Van Lathan]

He brings it throughout the entire movie.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, great job by him. And then we get to see the little girl staring at a tv, which we knew is coming because we saw the trailer. This movie had a good trailer, by the way, Carol Ann's second TV night when she wakes up every bit. They're asleep in the bed, which they set up really nicely. It's like, all right, goodnight. And then they get scared all of a sudden. Next shot, they're in the bed, but then everyone's asleep. And she goes toward the TV again. And that smokey hand kind of comes out.

[Van Lathan]

This is the they're here situation. Yeah, that they're here to scare the shit out of me back in the day, man.

[Bill Simmons]

And became the famous line of the movie.

[Van Lathan]

They're here. Yeah. The they're here was like, it. It made Snow on your TV scary for a while. Oh, because TVs don't. You don't get snow anymore. That's gone. I got that.

[Bill Simmons]

I had that. In what stage is it worse? Snow and the tv.

[Van Lathan]

I have that as well. It doesn't happen anymore.

[C]

But I didn't even know people called it snow.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[C]

I thought it was just like static snow. That was the term people used.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

You're toxically young.

[C]

Yeah, I'm not even that young.

[Van Lathan]

But still annoying, though.

[Bill Simmons]

Like, he's in the cable generation. The TV didn't go static like that.

[Van Lathan]

What did it do? It would wave up what happened when there was no channel. Where you were no channel. What happened?

[Bill Simmons]

It was just TV 24 7.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[C]

I actually don't even have a memory of what you're describing.

[Van Lathan]

When there was no channel. When there was no channel on it.

[Bill Simmons]

But this is Antenna not. Once we move from antennas, snow's gone. Okay, that's what happened.

[Van Lathan]

Damn.

[C]

I know it's static. I mean, like, I remember seeing static on the TV for various reasons. I just didn't know. It was called Snow.

[Van Lathan]

Okay, cool.

[Bill Simmons]

They're here.

[Van Lathan]

They're here.

[Bill Simmons]

I have kitchen chairs on the table. That whole scene.

[Van Lathan]

That's a great scene. TV people.

[Bill Simmons]

Huh? Do you see them? Do you?

[Van Lathan]

Because she's still entertained by what? She's still not entertained. That movie. That. That scene is good because in the Spielbergian way, that's still. Oh, my God. ET oh, my God. Third Close Encounters with the Third Kind. Oh, my God. There's something amazing and unexplainable happening. The movie still has a little bit of innocence there before, you know, like, what these guys are up to.

[Bill Simmons]

I liked her in this movie.

[Van Lathan]

She's great.

[Bill Simmons]

I was like, that seems like a great spouse and life partner who's like, just how cool. The chairs and just, like, really upbeat at all times. Her kids getting pulled into a portal.

[Van Lathan]

And even when they do, she still finds a way to have a little fun.

[Bill Simmons]

Just. Just had it going.

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

Next scene, the tree takes the brother.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

He's like, must have been a tornado. That was no tornado. And then Caroline's gone.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, Carolyn.

[Bill Simmons]

They got to search for Carol Ann. That whole scene is super scary. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

When the tree comes in and gets the boy because the boy feels something about the tree, something's off about the tree. There's something more to the tree. When the tree comes alive and grabs him, then you're like, oh, my God.

[Bill Simmons]

He climbs the tree. Cause he's like, what's up with this tree? He's, like, trying to get a feel for the tree, and you can't.

[Van Lathan]

By the way, the movie does a great job of setting up in their house almost everything that will come back to attack them later on.

[Bill Simmons]

The two scariest scary movie things for when I was a kid were that tree and Amityville Horror. Waking up at 3:15 every day and knowing that it was gonna turn to 3:15 and that something bad had happened and just being like, oh, my God, it's gonna be 3:15. I remember being a kid after I saw that movie, and it'd be like. I'd wake up and it was like 2:59. I'd be like, oh, my God, it's almost 3:15.

[Van Lathan]

The scariest thing for me in a movie was the Nightmare on Elm Street Quick Sleep, which was when a character is trying not to fall asleep, and all of a sudden they go like this. And they're awake. And you're like, oh, my God. They didn't fall asleep, only they fucking are asleep.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. They don't realize that.

[Van Lathan]

And they don't realize that they're asleep, and they look at their teacher, and the teacher's like, okay, now on the next chapter. Open up your books. It's time to fucking die. And I'm like, oh, my God. When that happens and somebody becomes like, Freddie.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Like, that used to scare the shit out of me.

[Bill Simmons]

That goes back to what we were talking about. The fundamental things we're afraid of is like, if I had to stay awake, but I was super tired, could I stay awake? Could I fall asleep? If I'm lying in bed and I think somebody's under my bed, should I check it, or should I just lie here? Because if I look under, maybe there is somebody under my bed.

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

All that shit. That's the stuff. As an only child who saw too many horror movies, that's the stuff I thought about.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Maybe that's why I'm so weird.

[Van Lathan]

Could be. Could be.

[Bill Simmons]

My parents. My dad took me to see the Shining. I was like, 10. Like, what the fuck?

[Van Lathan]

Mr. Simmons.

[Bill Simmons]

Borderline child abuse.

[Van Lathan]

Mr. Simmons. What you on, dog?

[Bill Simmons]

We saw the Shining. Father and son go to see the shining.

[Van Lathan]

That's tough.

[Bill Simmons]

Dr. Lesh's speech I just have as the rewatch book, because she's kind of explaining the stuff, like, about the spirits. They resist going into that light, however hard the light wants them. They just. They just hang around, watch tv, watch their friends grow up feeling unhappy and jealous. And those feelings are bad. They hurt. And then some people just get lost on the way to the light, and they need someone to guide them to it.

[Van Lathan]

A very important character in this movie on a rewatch.

[Bill Simmons]

Maybe they weren't ready. Maybe they hadn't lived fully yet, but they lived a long, long time, and they still wanted more life. They resist going into the light, however hard the light wants them. They just hang around. I actually do believe this might be a thing.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

As you know, I believe in some of this stuff, but I could see people being trapped and waiting to be released to wherever they want to go. And they're just kind of stuck here fucking with us.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. And they're like. They can't get to the next thing.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. So it's like I pushed over a water bottle today and scared that lady. That's like the highlight of their week.

[Van Lathan]

Once again, from the country, from a place where everybody has a ghost story and they will get mad.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

If you do not believe them. So they watch this stuff and they think this is just a happening that happened to some family.

[Bill Simmons]

If it's happened to you in some form you believe it from that point on.

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

So yeah, as I've told you, it's happened to me. Poltergeist fucks with the paranormal crew. We get ripping his face off, steak and maggots guy. We get headphones guy seeing weird shit. I liked when the poltergeist is like, let's raise it up a level.

[Van Lathan]

Richard Lawson, who was Beyonce's father in law.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, interesting. I knew him as the white shadow teacher who had ptsd.

[Van Lathan]

All roads lead back to white shadow.

[Bill Simmons]

I know. Well, that's. They had three white shadow people in this.

[Van Lathan]

Richard Lawson was married to Tina Knowles. They actually just got a divorce maybe last year.

[Bill Simmons]

He had a lot of stuff. By the way, he's got a long IMDb he's like one of those guys.

[Van Lathan]

Yep.

[Bill Simmons]

He's coming up later.

[Van Lathan]

Her daughter. His daughter. Bianca Lawson, long time actress as well.

[Bill Simmons]

T'angina's speech is the other key speech. I wouldn't have this as the most rewatchable, but she sets it up, does the whole. The thing about the soul's perpetual dream state. Carol Ann helped them cross over. It's like, okay, I get it now. This is nice. And then she's like, there's one more thing. A terrible presence is in there with her. And she does that whole part. To her, it simply is another child. To us, it's the Beast. It's like, oh, shit, the Beast is here.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

I thought we were just fucking around with some light spirits.

[Van Lathan]

I thought it was some ghosts that were up to hijinks.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. We thought we were putting chairs on the table.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. I mean, we know that they're not quite. We know that, you know, they. But we thought maybe they were. They had her in there because they're playing with her. Yeah, but we didn't know it was the Beast. She actually gives the movie that depth when she comes into it. And also, what an eccentric little actress to come in. She looks like she would know some stuff about the other plane or dimension or whatever. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

She's either perfectly cast or perfectly miscast.

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm willing to talk it out later. Run to the light, baby. Tell her to go to the light. No, they'll follow her. They've been following her for weeks. Not telling you. It's all I knew. I tell her I am. Run to the light, Carol Ann. Run as fast as you can.

[Van Lathan]

No, honey, no, no, it's a lie.

[Bill Simmons]

You can't choose between life and death when we're dealing with what is in between. Now tell her before it's too late. Run to the light, baby. Mommy is in the light. Caroline, you're waiting for.

[Van Lathan]

Mommy is waiting for you in the light.

[Bill Simmons]

Caroline gets saved.

[Van Lathan]

Goo.

[Bill Simmons]

This is when the couple says, like, you've never done this before. You're right. You go. And the mom. The mom's mom's obviously gonna be the one. The clown scene is the last one. I have clown under the bed. Mom climbing the wall. We're upside down. Pool with the skeletons.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

You son of a bitch. You lift the bodies. You only move the headstones. What's happening? They're in the car. He's like, don't look back. You're just fucking getting the fuck out of dodge. That whole part is my favorite part. When they think the house is clean. And guess what? It's not. And all hell breaks loose.

[Van Lathan]

Perfect.

[Bill Simmons]

Last 15 minutes.

[Van Lathan]

Definitely not clean. She fucking lied. The wife, did she lie?

[Bill Simmons]

Or was it just maybe not a great. What was her job? What's it called?

[Van Lathan]

She was like. She was a medium of, like, a house cleaner.

[Bill Simmons]

Of spirits, maybe. She was, like, not a, you know, a Jokic kind of medium. She was more like a Karl Anthony Towns.

[Van Lathan]

Explain.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, just like, kind of lower level.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, good. Oh, okay.

[Bill Simmons]

You could win some playoff games with her, but shit, this is her finals. But these are five fouls in the first half moment. She's like, the house is clean.

[Van Lathan]

Not a multiple MVP type of. Okay, I get it. I get it. By the way, I love. Just let everybody know I love Jokic. He's my favorite player. Love him. It is now. I'm completely reformed. I'm completely reformed. I'm completely reformed. I've gotten rid of that. I can't let discrimination.

[Bill Simmons]

What's your most rewatchable scene?

[Van Lathan]

So it says Jo Beth up the wall. That's the most rewatchable scene because. Not because of that. Don't try to act like that.

[Bill Simmons]

It's a small piece of it. She looks great.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. Not because of that. Just because that scene, like, guys. It's really not because of that. It's because. Just because of that scene, you know, something is gonna happen. You know, it's not over.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

You just don't know what.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

And you don't think that there's any way that in the little last part of the movie that they could turn it up any more than what they just did for the last, say, 25 to 30 minutes? And they do. Everything gets scarier and higher stakes and, like, Craig T. Nelson's character not being there and nobody else Being there, all the protection is gone, and it's just the three of them having to figure it out. It really is an exhilarating ending to the movie.

[Bill Simmons]

I'll just do that nitpick now. I'm not leaving the house for a few days. I'm staying with my family until I make sure everything's cool. I'm not gonna be like, hey, I'm gonna be gone, Poke. It's poker night.

[Van Lathan]

I'll do.

[Bill Simmons]

I'll be back.

[Van Lathan]

I'll do another Nick.

[Bill Simmons]

I'll be back by 11.

[Van Lathan]

I'm fucking gone. Are you kidding me?

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, it's gonna take a couple days to pack.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, it is. The little small lady said that the house is clean. Okay, cool. So we'll take our time, pack it up, and then go to sleep.

[Bill Simmons]

I figure maybe Monday, we're out of here, I'm gone.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, I'm gonna hire some people to. I'm gonna, you know, do my part to stimulate the economy. Hire some people to come box up the house, let them deal with it. Yeah, I'm out.

[Bill Simmons]

That's like the old Eddie Murphy sketch that he in. I think he did in Delirious. Or maybe it was the one before that when he's about how horror movies and he doesn't understand when the people, they get into the house and he's like, get out. Yeah, and he would just be like, I'd be fucking out.

[Van Lathan]

You could have.

[Bill Simmons]

In five seconds. Too bad we can't stay.

[Van Lathan]

Like, you could have it. It's your house. You got it. Beast.

[Bill Simmons]

So we both have that for most rewatchable and most rewatchable scene was brought to you by Paramount. From action blockbusters to thrillers to favorites for the whole family, you gotta watch Smile. It's good. No, you gotta watch it.

[Van Lathan]

I'll check it out. I'll just be honest with you. That trailer really freaks me out.

[Bill Simmons]

Find something new to watch every week. A mountain of movies awaits on Paramount. Plans start at $7.99 a month. Start streaming now. We'll take one more break, and then we'll do the rest of the categories.

[Van Lathan]

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[Bill Simmons]

What's the most 1982 thing about this movie. I have some options for you.

[Van Lathan]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

Snow on the TV.

[Van Lathan]

That's very 1982.

[Bill Simmons]

Calvin Klein jeans. Super Joe Beth is wearing those at one point. Yeah, those Sony giant box TVs where the. The dials are on the side of it. Like the. It almost like would take up this whole wall. Very 1982. The little kid had Clue the board game in his room.

[Van Lathan]

That's fun.

[Bill Simmons]

Gene Charlotte was on the TV at one point.

[Van Lathan]

Like. Yeah, at the beginning. Like they're.

[Bill Simmons]

But my winner is you gotta look for it. But on the TV and the biggest TV, there's an Atari 2600 with some controllers on the top. I got Nostalgic.

[Van Lathan]

Wow.

[Bill Simmons]

I had Intellivision and Atari.

[Van Lathan]

I had a friend of mine had the Intellivision almost.

[Bill Simmons]

Intellivision had better sports.

[Van Lathan]

It had the little boxing game with the little stick guys.

[Bill Simmons]

Boxing, football was amazing. Baseball was good.

[Van Lathan]

But like right when I started to play the Intellivision a little bit like I was to the age to where then Sega and Nintendo came straight.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. What's age? The best. Staring out your window, Being terrified of something that's right outside the window. Eternal. Oh, this is good. Evil. Late 70s, early 80s. White businessman. Characters like Louis Teague, evil developer.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, the guy who just.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, we just moved the headstones. It's fine.

[Van Lathan]

Such a capitalist that he'll just.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, we're just gonna move the headstones.

[Van Lathan]

Destroy a whole cemetery and not care. And inside.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, nobody'll know.

[Van Lathan]

Right?

[Bill Simmons]

I miss those characters. They couldn't have. You couldn't have that character anymore because people would be like, there's no way this person would be too self aware. What do you have for what stage? The best? I have a bunch.

[Van Lathan]

What's age the best. Number one family ghost films. Yeah, like just the whole family ghost genre was gone for a little while and then just exploded into its own whole universe. Which obviously is.

[Bill Simmons]

What's the best black family horror film?

[Van Lathan]

Black family horror film?

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. What's like Black Poltergeist? It doesn't exist.

[Van Lathan]

So there's a movie that is kind of about a family. The movie is called Death by Temptation. Have you ever seen this?

[Bill Simmons]

What year range are we talking about?

[Van Lathan]

So like 89 or 90. And what it's about is. It's like. It's about Samuel Jackson, I think is in the movie at some point. It's about this spirit that comes back once a generation to like attack the earth. Oh, and there is this. The lead in the movie is a kid who is the son of like A preacher. And he is the one that has to kill this spirit in this generation. Khadim Hardison is in it.

[Bill Simmons]

Kadeem Hardison.

[Van Lathan]

Kadeem Hardison is in it. Wow. I think Samuel L. Jackson is in it. And the spirit is like a demon or a vampire. But it tempts you because, like, it's a beautiful woman and it tempts you.

[Bill Simmons]

But it's like, I've definitely seen this at some point in my life.

[Van Lathan]

It's a succubus. And there's one scene in the movie that's like, legitimately terrifying. Kadeem Hardison is trying to def.

[Bill Simmons]

By temptation.

[Van Lathan]

Death by temptation. D, E, F. And there's one scene he comes home and he comes home and he's on the tv. And everything that's happening to him that you're watching is happening to him on the tv. And the tv, the demon is inside of it and it's talking back to Kadim Hardison. It's just a very, very, very scary scene.

[Bill Simmons]

James Bond III is in this.

[Van Lathan]

James Bond III is.

[Bill Simmons]

I love James Bond iii. Bill Nunn's in this.

[Van Lathan]

Bill Nunn's in it, Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

I have some shocking news. You're not going to believe this.

[Van Lathan]

What?

[Bill Simmons]

This movie's available on Tubi.

[Van Lathan]

It's not a family horror movie.

[Bill Simmons]

TVs like, sign us up, we'll put this in. Fucking fucked up 80s horror.

[Van Lathan]

This kid is like. It's in his family lineage to fight this succubus demon.

[Bill Simmons]

The ind. It's 1990 and the indb description is an evil succubus is preying on the bitterness. Black men in New York City. Yeah, that sounds great.

[Van Lathan]

She's killing black guys because they want to have sex with her.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm watching that this weekend.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, it's good. It's good. I legitimately like it. It's one of. I'm doing a top ten black horror movies on higher learning. I'm doing a top 10 list and it's on my list. It's good.

[Bill Simmons]

What do you call that? The Van Le 10.

[Van Lathan]

The Van Le 10, yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

What stage? The best. The word poltergeist is pretty much. It's German for noisy ghost. Great word.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Good job by the Germans for once.

[Van Lathan]

I mean, they play good soccer.

[Bill Simmons]

I like the schnitzel's.

[C]

Right.

[Van Lathan]

It's pretty good.

[Bill Simmons]

Spicy mustard, soccer.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

They do such a good job. This is a wood stage. The best of showing a normal 3 kid family seeming normal for the first 15 minutes. So when weird shit starts happening, it really resonates. Which ET does too. I. To me, that's Spielberg. He's really good at setting the table of, like, this could be any family. You know, families like this. And then even, like, her with the joint in.

[Van Lathan]

I have that bed, like, smoking weed.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Age really good. They're just hanging out. And she's in the bed, she's smoking weed. The kids come in. Like, it's. That's. That whole little part of it just ages pretty well. She's just hanging out.

[Bill Simmons]

That would be a less fun scene in 2024 because she would just be like, I took a microdose gummy thing and just.

[Van Lathan]

It wouldn't even matter.

[Bill Simmons]

Happy. I just like seeing somebody hold the 1982 joint. Mom in bed as the kids.

[Van Lathan]

He can't roll up. He's like, yo, roll up. If you don't know how to do it. He's reading a. He's reading a magazine or a book about Reagan.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, he's reading a book. Reagan, my president.

[Van Lathan]

Reagan, my president. Or something like that. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

What else do you have? For what stage?

[Van Lathan]

The best.

[Bill Simmons]

Anything I see it.

[Van Lathan]

I have family ghost films. I have smoking weed. Those were the only things I had.

[Bill Simmons]

I have this story. Jo Beth said she didn't want to get in the pool with the skeletons. And he said, I'll go in there with you. And he went in there with her for a couple takes.

[Van Lathan]

Who was the he?

[Bill Simmons]

Spielberg.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, Spielberg. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Spielberg's like, I'll go in there with you. And he went and stood in the water, and she thought it was very sweet of him. Another wood stage. The best. They did a direct TV commercial in 2008 that was like a parody of this movie that I thought maybe nostalgic for the days when DirecTV actually was a decent business. Damn. Now they just bought Sling and Dish for a dollar and nobody has DirecTV anymore.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Anyway, it was Craig T. Nelson complaining to Carol Ann that it was bad cable reception and the static on the TV. I remember that. The Fortune 3 Clap Award for most gifable moment. It's gotta be the little girl staring into the tv, right? Or turning around and saying, they're here.

[Van Lathan]

So that's a giffable moment. Another giffable moment in a disgusting Hollywood way is the guy's face getting messed up in the mirror, like, just as a gif. Oh, this is happening to me. Like his face completely coming apart. Cause it looks so 80s and 80s cheesy and disgusting. That would be a good gif as well.

[Bill Simmons]

Great. Shotgun award for most cinematic Shot. It's gotta be the skeletons popping up in the pool, right? Would you go? Anything else?

[Van Lathan]

I liked.

[Bill Simmons]

So fucking scary.

[Van Lathan]

That's very scary.

[Bill Simmons]

What would be worse?

[Van Lathan]

There's nothing worse. I also like the reveal for some reason in the movie that they're about to build this new phase of this all on graves. And you go, oh, oh. Like, that's what's going on. And the guys. And that kind of makes. Gives the movie some form. Cause you're wondering, like, why is this happening to these people? And then you realize that there's a reason.

[Bill Simmons]

Den of Thieves. Benihan Award. Scene stealing location. Exactly what you just said. The Big Kahuna Burger Award for best use of food and drink. It's the Steak and Maggots.

[Van Lathan]

Steak and Maggots.

[Bill Simmons]

Come on.

[Van Lathan]

All right.

[Bill Simmons]

Butch's Girlfriend Award. Weak link of the film. Do you have one for this or do you want me to go?

[Van Lathan]

Nah, it's a hard award to give out because I don't want to give it out to anybody. That. So I have one.

[Bill Simmons]

I have one. The score got nominated for an Oscar. And I don't understand why it's the score for the movie. It's not creepy enough. It's kind of like happy. Feels more like it could have been the score for E.T. i don't understand it. I've never understood it.

[Van Lathan]

I think that that's by design. I think that they want to keep this movie. This is a horror film.

[Bill Simmons]

They wanted to keep it like a PG family.

[Van Lathan]

They want to keep this movie.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, guess what? There's fucking skeletons in a pool. Like, we're past the point of family friendly. Like, this is a scary movie. I don't know. Like the guy who did it, Jerry Goldsmith, legend, did Rudy Hoosiers, he did the Omen. Won an Oscar for it. Oh.

[Van Lathan]

So he. It's in his will.

[Bill Simmons]

So it's like he knows how to do it. And I just. I thought it was a weird choice. What stage? The worst.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, Jesus Christ. So much. A lot.

[Bill Simmons]

Go ahead.

[Van Lathan]

The. Obviously the cat calling of the teenage girl by the.

[Bill Simmons]

By the construction crew. The guy from 48 Hours. Billy Bear.

[Van Lathan]

Billy Bear. Just so that whole scene. Number one, they're catcalling her. She stands up for herself.

[Bill Simmons]

She's like 16.

[Van Lathan]

She's 16. And then the mom watches it and laughs at it. It's part of growing up.

[Bill Simmons]

We know she's probably stoned, right?

[Van Lathan]

Probably. So Snow on the tv.

[Bill Simmons]

The catcalling was hilarious.

[Van Lathan]

It's funny.

[Bill Simmons]

No, just that hilarious. That. That's in the movie.

[Van Lathan]

It's just a different. It's a different time. Snow on the TV has aged terribly because you don't see the snow on the TV anymore. The effects during the face melting thing.

[Bill Simmons]

The light effects are pretty 1982.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. But that's kind of to be expected when you're watching the movie.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, yeah. So I have. They're like, this isn't a haunting, it's a poltergeist. And then as you see it, it's like, no, it's actually a haunting. Yeah, it really was. This movie should have been called the Haunting, not Poltergeist.

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

It's a bunch of people who died and were in graves and then they knocked down the tombstones and build houses on them and they were pissed off, decided to haunt some shit.

[Van Lathan]

What was the definition? Cause she. I can't remember. She explained what the difference was.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, she was like, this isn't a haunting. This is poltergeist. This is a, you know, an evil ghost that's coming after you. But it wasn't one ghost. It was a whole bunch of them. To me, that sounds like a haunting. Another wood sage of worst. I mentioned earlier the family not having seen any. There's something wrong with the house movies to be properly scared because those movies didn't exist.

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

So they had no kind of foundation to be like, hey, this. I just reminds me of whatever Poltergeist 2 and 3 I never liked.

[Van Lathan]

I don't even remember them. I don't know that I've seen three. Two is the one with the. They bring in the Native American shamans. I don't know that I've seen 3.

[Bill Simmons]

Being able to change your neighbor's TV with a remote definitely has aged the worst. You can't do that now.

[Van Lathan]

I didn't even know that you could do it. Then I saw that at the beginning. Saints were playing at the beginning.

[Bill Simmons]

I have something on that later. Yeah, really bad edit after the chair sliding scene where all of a sudden they're in the front door of some of the neighbor's house and there's history behind it. They made a Pizza Hut joke and that was the end of the scene. Pizza Hut got mad and they ended up cutting the scene early to get to the next scene. And if you watch it, it's a terrible edit, which I've always wondered why they edit it that way. But that's the reason.

[Van Lathan]

I'll tell you guys something now. If you're listening to this and you were born basically anytime after like 1985. You don't remember we talked about this before on the Bad News Bear podcast. You just don't remember the delight that Pizza hut in the 80s was.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Van Lathan]

Just going to Pizza Hut, The Giant place, The Pizza Hut.

[Bill Simmons]

It was a new thing.

[Van Lathan]

The Pizza Pizza Hut was.

[Bill Simmons]

We had Papagenos in New England though. You've ever heard of that?

[Van Lathan]

No.

[Bill Simmons]

It was like kind of a local Pizza Hut. Two more things. The 2015 remake that they made. Fuck that movie. This movie should not have been remade. Yeah, that's offensive. And then this movie, because of the way they filmed it when it was on cable in like the late 80s and the 90s and it was like paint and scan and too close and it was kind of hard to follow. And now that the TVs are wide, it's way better. But I think that hurt the rewatchability.

[Van Lathan]

Of a little bit of all of the retreading of the horror movies that came out in the mid 2000s to the mid 2000s.

[Bill Simmons]

Like the Amityville horror remake, When A Stranger Calls, all of them.

[Van Lathan]

Halloween came back. They redid Nightmare, Freddy, all of those. Were any of them. Anybody in the room? Were any of them either comparable to better than the originals? Was there anything that really got a remake to where you're like, this is something that should have been remade and updated for a new audience and it's stuck? Great question. Rob Zombie's Halloween, all of that stuff.

[Bill Simmons]

Great question. Thank you for asking. I think the When A Stranger Calls remake is really good. And it's a big hit in the Simmons family.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, God.

[Bill Simmons]

We've watched it multiple times.

[Van Lathan]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

It's just a better version. The original one is Stranger Calls. It's. The first 15 minutes is great and then the movie dies and becomes a bad 70s movie. So they redid it, made it smarter, made it more modern, and it's just better. So I would go that one. I didn't like the Zombie Halloweens. None of those, I thought worked. I was out on all those. The Ruffalo Hannah Rubinick Partridge over acting award. They knew and they let it happen.

[Van Lathan]

Don't you call me lady. I come in here, I give these things to you.

[Bill Simmons]

Give me all you got. Give me all you got.

[Van Lathan]

I treated you like a son. You fucking stabbed me in the heart. Fuck you.

[Bill Simmons]

Fuck you. I actually, I couldn't come up with anyone for this. I thought the movie was well acted.

[Van Lathan]

Well acted and perfectly cast. I thought going into it that Zelda would be the one.

[Bill Simmons]

No, look at it. She scales it down.

[Van Lathan]

It's actually less. She's eccentric, but it's, like, actually less.

[Bill Simmons]

The doctor, I thought. But she's good too. The only one I thought was maybe the little boy kind of dials it up trying to be super scared. But he's supposed to be scared.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, he's terrified of that.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. I couldn't have an answer for that one. Was there a better title for this movie? Haunting the Beast.

[Van Lathan]

The Beast could have been good, but the Beast does give the movie a little bit more of an aggressive tone. But the Beast could have been good.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. The CR Thinks Luke Wilson could have been Harrison Ford. Hottest Take award. Zelda Rubinstein, the actress who plays Tangina. You could tell me she's perfectly cast. You could tell me she kind of sucks.

[Van Lathan]

Okay. Wow. Jesus Christ. She's almost like the mascot for the movie. I gotta hear this.

[Bill Simmons]

She's not positive. She's a good actor. Like, she gives that long speech and I feel like I'm sitting in Barry's acting class watching somebody do a scene with Barry. Like, she's just not that good of an actress. And I think the rest of her career bored out. But she's perfectly cast because she seems like the kind of person who'd be a medium. But I just wonder, like, what happens if they got an awesome actress for that part? Is it a better movie?

[Van Lathan]

I think what you needed more than anything. I'm looking for my high stake, by the way. I think what you needed more than. Anyway, more than anything in that was somebody that looked like they would be a medium.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay. But it couldn't have been Sally Field with some crazy makeup on, maybe actually trying to act.

[Van Lathan]

But, like, if you looked at somebody who looks like they could talk to people from another world.

[Bill Simmons]

Could have been Shirley MacLean.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, she did it in real life.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. So could you.

[Bill Simmons]

I just wonder, like, did they miss an opportunity to have an awesome actress in that part?

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

And just like somebody that, like, think of it now, if you're re. If you're redoing Poltergeist, which unfortunately they did. But you. I think you would want, like, a killer actress for that part.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. Or somebody that embodies the same quirky, zany.

[Bill Simmons]

Like, imagine like, Viola Davis as the medium. And she comes in and she's like, smacks it down for 15 minutes.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. You like that type of shit?

[Bill Simmons]

No. Does, like some major. She's in control of the room. She's fucking scary.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

I don't know.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. I got to see it. I mean, it's a hot take just cause she's so recognizable.

[Bill Simmons]

Like, or Meryl Streep right now is like the old medium coming in.

[Van Lathan]

It's too big of a role for him, though.

[Bill Simmons]

Like you need somebody.

[Van Lathan]

I get it. I guess I get it. My hottest take.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

I think the ghost world has reverse racial dynamics, okay. These ghosts are always fucking with white people.

[Bill Simmons]

That's why we don't have black horror movies.

[Van Lathan]

These ghosts are always fucking with white people. I think what happens is when you get to the ghost world, it's flipped around and the people who have the power in the afterlife to go. Cause there's a bunch of ghosts back there and they're going, yo, man, we here for a while. What the fuck with these motherfuckers? They think they go build a house where I'm sleeping. Fuck them. Take the kid. Take her. Hey, keep her back there. Beast, what you doing? Hey, Beast. That's my homie. Like, that's the. That is. To me, I think it's the. Cause if you look about, if you look at it, not a lot of movies where black people are being fucked over by ghosts. It's not. These are ghosts of people that they mad and they like, we gon take our eternity and we just gonna mess with y'all for a little while.

[Bill Simmons]

This is a great theory. I would say the counter would be that there were no black filmmakers basically in the 80s and 90s because nobody cared about finding them.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

And maybe that's why we didn't have it. But what I don't understand is why we don't have more of it now.

[Van Lathan]

More black horror movies.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, well, we've gotten better in the last 10 years.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, no, no. Definitely a lot of them coming. But here's the thing though, not to get hyper serious for a second, but what happens is a lot of times when there's not a whole lot of investment into different types of films being made or different types of talents, what you really do is you squeeze the.

[Bill Simmons]

Amount the same type of thing that's happening, right? I mean, so like what happens is.

[Van Lathan]

Like when you get a chance to tell your story, you don't take a chance on your horror story or your sci fi story. And that's changing now. What you do is you kind of give Hollywood. What has happened in the past is you give Hollywood what they want to see from black auteurs and black filmmakers. Now that's completely different. You're seeing great sci fi, great horror. There was a horror comedy called the Blackening. That came out right. That's very, very funny.

[Bill Simmons]

You love that movie.

[Van Lathan]

I love it very, very.

[Bill Simmons]

I watched on an airplane. It was fine, but I think the airplane heard it.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. So just stuff like that and you're going to see like that expand a little bit. It's a lot better now than it used to be.

[Bill Simmons]

Casting what ifs. Spielberg wanted Stephen King to co write the Poltergeist screenplay. He said no.

[Van Lathan]

Interesting.

[Bill Simmons]

They originally, instead of Craig T. Nelson, wanted this actor named Joe Spano, who was on Hill Street Blues, which is the biggest drama of the first part of the 80s, to be the Craig T. Nelson part. And the creator of the show, Spano would not let him out of the contract.

[Van Lathan]

Do I know Joe Spano?

[Bill Simmons]

He was like Hill Street Blues guy number six. I've never heard of. His whole career in life would have been different.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

There's stuff on the Internet about Shirley MacLaine being offered a starring role and she turned it down. I couldn't tell if it was true or not. But then this is true. Drew Barrymore was thought of for Carol Ann.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, wow.

[Bill Simmons]

And they decided she made more sense as Gertie and ET Damn.

[Van Lathan]

Think about that good little.

[Bill Simmons]

What would have been better for her career? Probably E.T. right?

[Van Lathan]

Oh, for sure.

[Bill Simmons]

But Poltergeist, that was a huge part.

[Van Lathan]

That was a gigantic part.

[Bill Simmons]

Just not as big of a movie.

[Van Lathan]

But E.T. is just. It's minted in film lore.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, the Van Lathan Award. Did this movie need more black people? We only give this out when you're here.

[Van Lathan]

I can't believe that one, homie. Shout out to Richard Lawson. I can't believe he was there. As long as he was that big ass camera walking around. You better get the fuck out of this place with these people.

[Bill Simmons]

They could have stuck in a couple more where the evil businessman guy who was knocking the headstones. He could have been anybody.

[Van Lathan]

That's not gonna happen. We not building. We're not building the doctor. Which doctor?

[Bill Simmons]

The doctor who gave the big speech that was with Richard Lawson in that crew.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, you talk about.

[Bill Simmons]

She could have been anybody. Doctor. Doctor. Jess.

[Van Lathan]

Okay, I will say this. There's a lot of people out there now, these brothers that are ghost hunters. I did their podcast. We're just getting into that. Okay, so we weren't at that point yet. Okay. We in 82. We had bigger problems than trying to fuck with ghosts. Like we weren't to that point. We're not to that point yet. So no, I was happy to see Richard Lawson in that bitch. Well, he's two black guys fucking with ghosts in the 80s.

[Bill Simmons]

He's in there back. Yeah. Ernie Hudson.

[Van Lathan]

Ernie Hudson was there as well.

[Bill Simmons]

Best that guy award. He's eligible. Zelda Rubenstein. Is Tangina.

[Van Lathan]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

Sonny Landam as the cat calling construction worker who became Billy Bear and was also a predator.

[Van Lathan]

The neighbor.

[Bill Simmons]

Is Zelda Rubenstein. Zelda Rubenstein or is she just the lady from this movie?

[Van Lathan]

She's a lady from this movie. That's.

[Bill Simmons]

So she wins.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Dionne Waiter's award. I can't give it to Tangina. I don't know if it's like a heat check performance. I gotta go with Louis Teague, the evil developer. Unbelievable scene where he's just calmly explaining and then getting mad at Craig T. Nelson.

[Van Lathan]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

Tombstones. Nobody will know.

[Van Lathan]

Is there any thought about Dominic Dunn for this? Like, every scene she's in, she's doing.

[Bill Simmons]

She's actually really good in this. That's good call.

[Van Lathan]

She's doing.

[Bill Simmons]

She might be in it too much, though.

[Van Lathan]

Like, she might be in it a little bit too much.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, she good screaming in this. She has a good. What is happening?

[Van Lathan]

With a big hickey on her neck.

[Bill Simmons]

Recasting couch. Director City.

[Van Lathan]

I.

[Bill Simmons]

The little brother's like a C plus. He's fine. He's fine.

[Van Lathan]

What?

[Bill Simmons]

What?

[Van Lathan]

What more did you want?

[Bill Simmons]

I have. Can I give you a young Mark Paul Gosler?

[Van Lathan]

Oh, wow.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. Maybe a young Ricky Schroeder.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, Schroeder, bro.

[Bill Simmons]

Can I give you somebody who actually went on to have a career after this movie? Schroeder was like, oh, my God. Mark Paul Gossar was in Poltergeist.

[Van Lathan]

Schroeder was in his bag. Schroeder at this point.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Little Joy Lawrence, maybe. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Somebody from the 80s that ended up becoming somebody.

[Van Lathan]

Schroeder was the man.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. Tony Romo, Chris Collinsworth or someone else for the director's commentary. I think Chris, you would say, Chris, I want.

[Van Lathan]

I like. I like the. I can't do Chris. I wish. I wish Cr.

[Bill Simmons]

She just went right into that portal, Al. She wasn't afraid of that portal at all. Went right in. Fell through the ceiling.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, my God.

[Bill Simmons]

We forgot to mention how cool it was that they fell through the ceiling.

[Van Lathan]

They did.

[Bill Simmons]

Covered in that weird jelly. Whatever it was during this time. Why does the afterlife have, like, jelly.

[Van Lathan]

Stuff during this time? I was about to say this. Even in Ghostbusters, which is my choice for best double feature. Yeah, I had Ghostbusters with this. You know, you have. Cause they just needed The Ghostbusters badly.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

You needed Venkman to come in here and get this whole thing right. Why is there goo? I didn't know goo in the current theme, particularly Ghostbusters. Too. There's goo. Why is there Goofy on the other side? What's the goo?

[Bill Simmons]

Never. Never understood it. Half ass turned at research. Spielberg's own fears as a child were a fear of clowns and a tree that was outside his window. Hence the movie. The house is located in Simi Valley, California. Still exists. You can go see it. My son and one of his friends went to the Menendez house a couple days ago to check it out.

[Van Lathan]

Seems like a good idea.

[Bill Simmons]

They got yelled away.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, they were pissed. Apparently. A lot of tourists and stuff going by now.

[Van Lathan]

How do you feel about the fact that these things that were so ubiquitous in the late 80s, early 90s now are flirting with that same ubiquity because of Netflix and stuff like that?

[Bill Simmons]

I know. They're just playing the hits. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

I remember living through when everybody couldn't stop talking about Jeffrey Dahmer. I remember living through when everybody couldn't stop talking about OJ it started with OJ Everyone couldn't stop talking about the Menendez brothers. People are coming up to me, asking me questions about the Menendez brothers, going, hey, have you heard about the Menendez? I'm like, yeah, fucking right, I've heard about the Menendez brothers. But they seem to know so much more about it because we were only seeing the headlines and the Internet and stuff.

[Bill Simmons]

So the Rams Saints game is from a Monday Night football game in 1980. The Saints are your favorite team.

[Van Lathan]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

They show one play. It's a pick thrown by the Saints. The Saints lost the game 27 to 7. Vince Ferragamo threw two TDs to Preston Dennard. Archie Manning, Saints quarterback for the game, 12 for 12 for 26, 92 yards, two picks, seven sacks. The Saints fell to seven fucking sacks. The Saints fell to 0 12. Yeah, so I. I'm old and I used to know this stuff, and now I forget a lot. So I was like, 00:12. What was their final record? I go on Pro Football Reference, and they were 0:15. They played. They played the jets or they were 0:14. They played the jets and they beat the jets by one point. And I'm like, I wonder if this game's on YouTube. And I went. And the entire game was on YouTube. And I zoomed through the fourth quarter. They were down 2014. Touchdown. Got a huge stop. Guys ran on the field celebrating because they weren't going to go in 15 because no team had gone without a loss. And anyway, the 1980 Saints, everybody.

[Van Lathan]

Archie. So, you know, like the Faustian bargain where you get something and then you get.

[Bill Simmons]

He's like, I want my kids to be awesome at football and just kick the shit out of me for 10 years.

[Van Lathan]

Kick the shit out of me for 10 years. But both of my sons and then my grandson now. Yeah, they'll have all the success.

[Bill Simmons]

I just get awesome Mannings.

[Van Lathan]

Yep.

[Bill Simmons]

So apparently this story was inspired by an incident in the late 80s in Denver where this whole cemetery thing actually happened in the late, late 1800s.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

And then that's it. Apex Mountain, Spielberg, you could make the case. Raiders ET Poltergeist, the mo.

[Van Lathan]

The, like the.

[Bill Simmons]

Just this week right here. Like when is he. When did he have more juice than this?

[Van Lathan]

I mean, this was the making of Steven Spielberg. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

This is it. He could do whatever he wanted after this. Craig T. Nelson.

[Van Lathan]

It's hard. Probably not.

[Bill Simmons]

Probably not.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Jo Beth Williams. Yes.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, for sure.

[Bill Simmons]

Creepy clowns in a bedroom.

[Van Lathan]

That's it.

[Bill Simmons]

I agree. Portals.

[Van Lathan]

Portals.

[Bill Simmons]

Portals in a closet, definitely.

[Van Lathan]

Portals in a closet. For sure. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Ghost movies.

[Van Lathan]

Family ghost movies. I think.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. I think this is the Apex cursed real life movies.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, for sure.

[Bill Simmons]

I think it is too. Hooper also did Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. No, that's his claim to fame. This movie is probably not as connected to him as, you know.

[Bill Simmons]

And people also thought Spielberg did it. And then Franek escapes from a fucked up haunted house. It's this versus Amityville in the finals and I don't know who wins. He goes back and gets the dog at Amityville Heart. They're like, dad, you gotta get the dog. I would have gone back to get Murph. You would have gone back to get Bozeman for sure. Goes back, comes running back with the dog. That's pretty good. But this is him screaming, don't look back. I think that's probably the goat.

[Van Lathan]

And to be honest with you, another Spielbergian part of it is the very last scene where they put the TV outside.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

You get to have a little laugh, a little bit of heart. Like when you leave the theater.

[Bill Simmons]

Cruise or Hanks.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, shit. Cruz.

[Bill Simmons]

Cruz. Oh, I think this is absolutely Hanks. This is the most Hanks it is. It's easiest. Hanks win in a while.

[Van Lathan]

It's Hanks. It's Hanks. But I would want to see Cruz. I want to see.

[Bill Simmons]

He'd have to be the star though. He'd have to go in the portal. Hanks would let the wife go in the portal.

[Van Lathan]

Has Cruz ever done anything scary type?

[Bill Simmons]

No. Cause the Scientology thing, I think.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, yeah, that's true. I don't know why I want to see him in a scary type situation. I want to see him disheveling and all of that. But obviously, Hanks is the American everyman father type of guy.

[C]

Craig Hanks, 100%.

[Bill Simmons]

Come on, Van.

[Van Lathan]

I apologize.

[Bill Simmons]

Racehorse. Rock band. Wrestler. Fantasy team name. Poltergeist Pools.

[Van Lathan]

I'll just go poltergeist for the horse.

[Bill Simmons]

Poltergeists.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, poltergeist for the horse.

[Van Lathan]

Poltergeist for the horse.

[Bill Simmons]

What a cool name for a horse.

[Van Lathan]

Poltergeist.

[Bill Simmons]

I like it. Picket knits. We covered a lot of these. The biggest one, we just have to hit again. The lady says the house is clean. And then they're like, all right. And they take four or five days before they actually get out. That's crazy. And then nobody thinking it's alarming that somebody. Chairs can just go across the kitchen. Them not being more frightened by this, it's adorable. But I also don't understand it. I would be way more scared and freaked out.

[Van Lathan]

Like, you know what the ghosts are thinking? Like, behind the scenes, the ghosts. As all of this has happened, the ghosts are looking at her and they go, oh, she think we pussy, right?

[Bill Simmons]

Why are they scared?

[Van Lathan]

Like, she think. Like, she think it's a game. Hey, you see what she doing? She didn't put a helmet on the child.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

And put the child in the thing.

[Bill Simmons]

We're taking the kid now.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. And then. No, we gotta take the little girl. She testing us. And then the ghosts take a L and they stay. And the ghosts are texting each other again. They're like, what are these people on? Like, what's up with them?

[Bill Simmons]

That's when they decided to escalate.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, man. Let's go get the fucking.

[Bill Simmons]

Did you have any other picking nits? Cause I feel like we did.

[Van Lathan]

No, we already did all things.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, we didn't have those.

[Van Lathan]

Mine was staying in the house. The whole nine. We already did them all.

[Bill Simmons]

Sequel, prequel, prestige tv. All black cast are untouchable. If they. So they did the remake. All black cast was the natural idea for that. I don't know why they didn't do.

[Van Lathan]

It'd be funny.

[Bill Simmons]

Like, why not?

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm really mad that they remade it, though, and I don't think they should have. There's a prestige TV version of Poltergeist. That I'd be willing to actually hear.

[Van Lathan]

The pitch for a prestige tv. Television.

[Bill Simmons]

So basically, they're doing this with, you know, they've done, like, way more elaborate versions of this. Like, the stuff what's His Face does Mike Flanagan.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, yeah, for sure.

[Bill Simmons]

And that's like Poltergeist 9.0.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah. I mean, look, if they were able to, like, over five, six episodes, kind of give you all of these thrills.

[Bill Simmons]

And shit, how about different houses built over their graveyards?

[Van Lathan]

Could be that would work.

[Bill Simmons]

Is this movie better with Wayne Jacobs, Danny Trejo, Sam Jackson, J.T. walsh, Byron Mayo, Harley Mays, evil laughing Ramon Raymond or Philip Baker Hall? I think we have room for Sam Jackson.

[Van Lathan]

I was just like, in the Richard Lawson part. Is Sam Jackson as the Richard Lawson guy adds a little bit more. Yeah, no diss to Richard Lawson.

[Bill Simmons]

No, a little more comedy, little more fun, little more energy.

[Van Lathan]

For sure.

[Bill Simmons]

Just want to ask her who gets it. Visual effects.

[Van Lathan]

You know, I went with the script, the writing.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay.

[Van Lathan]

I think the script is really good on the movie.

[Bill Simmons]

I go for 82. The visual effects, probably unanswerable questions. All right, here's one. So Jobeth Williams character, I think is the stepmom for the oldest daughter, because they say she's like 32, and the. The daughter's like, 16, 17. They did something in the police station where it seems like the other two kids are their kids together. And then she's the stepmom of the older kid, but then the kid calls her mom. So there's something there. There's some theories on the Internet about that. That she's the stepmom. Unanswerable. Did they go after Carol Ann because they were living there for the entire time Carol Ann was there? Did they go after her because she was the first baby born in this forbidden. You took our tombstones Barrel Ground land.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, yeah. And Carol Ann was born in the house.

[Bill Simmons]

That's what I mean.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

So they. Wait, then. So that paranormal video they take of all the spirits with the faces coming down the stairs. How many views on YouTube, if that actually existed? Is it. Is it more than the best Lonely island video?

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, for sure. If people think it's real, we're going north of 50.

[Bill Simmons]

Like, bigger than Zapruder film, bro.

[Van Lathan]

I watched an interrogation video on YouTube last night that had 14 million views.

[Bill Simmons]

Would Mr. Beast his number one video top, just light faces coming down stairs for five minutes.

[Van Lathan]

Actual paranormal. It's huge.

[Bill Simmons]

All those kids are fucked up for life, right?

[Van Lathan]

Everyone. Everyone.

[Bill Simmons]

Like, none of those kids Come out unscathed.

[Van Lathan]

Everyone. Everyone.

[Bill Simmons]

Dominique Dunne goes to college. Her character, like she's just a mess the whole time.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay.

[Van Lathan]

What percentage of the neighborhood stays after they witnessed the house collapse into a paranormal dungeon?

[Bill Simmons]

Which was done by a little. Apparently a little four foot model, by the way they made this whole thing. I think everyone moves everyone.

[Van Lathan]

The phase over. No more phases.

[Bill Simmons]

I think they then have to dig up all the. Or put the tombstones back. Whatever they. Yeah, you gotta. Or maybe you just do nothing and it's just gone.

[C]

And then nobody shutters. Right. The whole construction company probably goes.

[Van Lathan]

Has to. Yeah, has to.

[Bill Simmons]

Here's one. Jo Beth Williams was a star. Should she have been a bigger star?

[Van Lathan]

It was a very, very, very crowded crowd.

[Bill Simmons]

Right Then it's this fight. We've talked about it before in previous pods, these five year windows. And then you just get replaced by whoever the next Fresh Face is. I always loved her. She was awesome in the Big Chill. She was really good in all those TV movies. I always thought she should have been bigger.

[Van Lathan]

She's up against Debra Winger.

[Bill Simmons]

She's awesome in this movie. I know Debra Winger.

[Van Lathan]

She's up against Sally Field. She's up against every single actress of.

[Bill Simmons]

That young Meryl Streep.

[Van Lathan]

Young Meryl Streep at that time. That's a really crowded field at that time.

[Bill Simmons]

I liked her. She's from Texas. Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Jo Beth.

[Bill Simmons]

Best double future choice. You say Ghostbusters.

[Van Lathan]

Ghostbusters. For me.

[Bill Simmons]

I would say E.T. i would do E.T. first, then this. Do the fun heartwarming version and then go dark India red Zawatna award would happen the next day. I think we covered it. Everyone in the neighborhood leaves.

[Van Lathan]

Everyone's gone.

[Bill Simmons]

Everyone's gone. Here we go. What piece of memorabilia would you want from this movie?

[Van Lathan]

I thought about this.

[Bill Simmons]

Here's my answer. Not the clown. Not want the fucking clown.

[Van Lathan]

There is a Darth Vader head. They had so much cool Star wars stuff in the movie, which you kind of feel like now is Spielberg saying what's up to his homeboy George Lucas.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, I mean, it was a phenomenon.

[Van Lathan]

Phenomenon. So like kind of there's like a. There's a poster on the wall, but then there's like a Darth Vader clock or something like. That's probably what I would have taken if I'm being for real. That or the like.

[Bill Simmons]

Do you take that for you?

[Van Lathan]

For me? That or the fucking tv. The TV from Poltergeist.

[Bill Simmons]

I think the TV is the right answer for just maximum value. The coach Finstock award for best life lesson. As always, when weird shit starts happening in your house, that's really fucking scary and disorienting. Get the fuck out.

[Van Lathan]

Get out.

[Bill Simmons]

Just leave. No, don't be a hero.

[Van Lathan]

Right?

[Bill Simmons]

Just get. Just get out.

[Van Lathan]

Leave other houses, not other children.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Like, just go somewhere else. Have a nice weekend.

[Bill Simmons]

This isn't a who's More macho competition.

[Van Lathan]

If I came to your crib and you were like, van, you moved. Why? And I'll be like, I'm gonna be honest with you. I moved because the pain in my living room kept flipping upside down.

[Bill Simmons]

And then Boseman went to a portal.

[Van Lathan]

And Boseman went to a portal.

[Bill Simmons]

Like, if you returned five days later.

[Van Lathan]

If I tell you that.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

You're gonna be like, that's a good reason to move.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

So, like, what's the downside?

[Bill Simmons]

Who won the movie?

[Van Lathan]

Ooh. Well, I didn't do the ghost movies. Won the movie. If one person. If one person had to win the movie. If one person had to win the movie, I would say it was Jo Beth.

[Bill Simmons]

So I think it's either Spielberg or Jo Beth Williams, because her part is just. She's just really good in it, and her part's really good, and it's just a great role, and it's a huge movie, and I feel like she should have gotten more credit for it.

[Van Lathan]

She.

[Bill Simmons]

Spielberg got, like, all the credit for this movie.

[Van Lathan]

It was just that.

[Bill Simmons]

Because it was just ET Then this, and it was like, Spielberg. He was on the COVID of Time and Newsweek. It was like, summer Spielberg, and she kind of got shoved aside. But it was like one of those, you know, James worthy in Game 7 of the ADA Finals, where it's like, I put up a triple double. And at 35 motherfuckers, when you look.

[Van Lathan]

At it, they sideline Craig T. Nelson. Cause he starts drinking and whatever, Whatever. And she kind of has to hold it together. So, yeah, it's kind of her. It's her show.

[Bill Simmons]

What do you got?

[C]

Craig had never seen this. I loved it. I thought it was awesome. I thought, I'm not a horror movie guy at all. And I think that's why I like this more, because Spielberg and horror is an amazing combo. It's, like, sprinkling, like, a little, like, childish, magical dust on, like, something that should be terrifying to me. This felt like a Disneyland. Scary ride at Disneyland. I'm, like, watching it. I'm like, all right, this is okay. And then the effects are pretty cheesy, but I almost don't even think were the effects good in 82. I kind of feel like they weren't even that good in 82.

[Bill Simmons]

For 82, they were really good.

[C]

That was good.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[C]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

We didn't have anything in 82. We didn't have barely had cable in 82.

[C]

I thought it was cool because Spielberg made the house feel, like, welcoming and warm the entire time. Every other movie now that gets made, that's about, like, the haunted house. It's the most terrifying scene. The house you want nothing to do with. Throughout this movie, I am still, like, I would go in that house. Like, I would go hang out with them. He made the whole thing feel like, warm and welcoming. And this, like, family horror genre is something that I just, like, didn't really know about. And I think it being dated also makes it a little bit easier to watch now.

[Bill Simmons]

But did you watch it thinking that it was a Spielberg movie? Like, did it seem Spielberg eating.

[C]

Oh, my God, he directed this movie. It's all over it. I mean, the way the camera moves also, like, his name is everywhere. It can be without technically saying he's the director.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[C]

It's at the beginning. It's the last thing you see on the poster. It's like the biggest name. The way the camera moves and all of the. I mean, it basically feels like you're watching E.T. which is an amazing combination to see Spielberg mixed with horror. I thought it was really cool.

[Bill Simmons]

Iconic movie. Beloved.

[Van Lathan]

Iconic.

[C]

And the acting is great.

[Van Lathan]

Also.

[C]

Just like a really good parenting movie. A really good depiction of.

[Van Lathan]

They're cool parents.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, Good parents.

[C]

And just like the relationships that mothers have with their children and fathers have with their children, there's a scene that.

[Van Lathan]

Like, directly interrogates that the mom has.

[C]

To go into the portal. Like, I think it's the right call.

[Bill Simmons]

So Liz goes into the portal for you.

[C]

Liz goes into the portal for our daughter.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[C]

I think they set up the mother father dynamic really well.

[Van Lathan]

So if it was a son, would it then be you that went into the portal?

[Bill Simmons]

No, no. This goes either way.

[C]

Yeah. I think it's like the mother's connection. I mean, it's why the mom is communicating with her the whole movie. Like, it's that, like, maternal bond. And Spielberg has an interesting relationship with his mom, I think. And I think it's like, that is really hit upon. Well, also, most horror movies don't end.

[Bill Simmons]

I don't know.

[C]

It's like, even the ghosts in this movie are like, they're not really bad people. They're just upset because they got a house Built on their graves.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. You feel bad for the ghosts.

[Van Lathan]

You find out in the second one that the ghost is kind of a bad person.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They dialed it up.

[C]

But Spielberg didn't have anything to do with that one.

[Van Lathan]

Right, right, right, right, right, right, right.

[C]

Spielberg to be like, the family's great and also the ghosts have a point.

[Van Lathan]

Right? They do have a point. They have a legitimate grievance. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Only the evil builder is a bad person.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Louis Teague, like, it's like horror with.

[C]

A lesson is not that common. And I thought it was great.

[Bill Simmons]

All right, that's Rewatchables, another scary month movie. We got three more coming in October.

[C]

I also like that this movie was. This movie could have been 90 minutes, but it was an hour 54. And I think it's cause Spielberg was like, we're gonna take the time, set up the characters. First 15 minutes is like no horror. And then even at the end, there's like those moments of silence when she's in the tub. I mean, they're sitting there. Those are like three minute scenes cutting back to everybody. There's so much silence in this movie and they really sit in it. And I think it's worth it to not be 90 minutes. I think like the extra 15, 20 they added to build all that stuff really hits.

[Bill Simmons]

Craig always looks at the time before he starts the movie.

[C]

I do. It's dead now. Every movie's joker is like, what, 225? It's a joke.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, fuck.

[Bill Simmons]

What was the one that was 90? And you were so delighted that we did like two months ago we did one. It was like 89 minutes and you were like doing backflips.

[C]

Oh, it was Night shift.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Van Lathan]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Night shift just zips through.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[C]

It's a lost art.

[Bill Simmons]

Van Lathan, a true pleasure as always.

[Van Lathan]

Thank you, my friend.

[Bill Simmons]

Thank you, Craig.

[Van Lathan]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

We'll see you next week in the rewatch.