Yesterday, we shared a Revisited video that focused on the 1982 Tobe Hooper / Steven Spielberg collaboration Poltergeist – you can watch that video in the embed above, and watch the movie itself HERE. Just hours after that video was posted, Warner Bros. announced that they will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Poltergeist by giving the film a Digital and 4K UHD release on September 20th!
The announcement video can be seen in this Twitter embed:
Hooper, who has previously made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eaten Alive, Salem’s Lot, and The Funhouse, directed Poltergeist from a screenplay Spielberg wrote with Michael Grais and Mark Victor. Spielberg also crafted the initial story. The film has the following synopsis:
Strange and creepy happenings beset an average California family, the Freelings — Steve, Diane, teenaged Dana, eight-year-old Robbie, and five-year-old Carol Ann — when ghosts commune with them through the television set. Initially friendly and playful, the spirits turn unexpectedly menacing, and, when Carol Ann goes missing, Steve and Diane turn to a parapsychologist and eventually an exorcist for help.
Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Heather O’Rourke, Beatrice Straight, Michael McManus, Virginia Kiser, Martin Casella, Richard Lawson, James Karen, Dirk Blocker, and Zelda Rubinstein star, with appearances by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2‘s Lou Perryman and Predator‘s Sonny Landham.
Originally released on June 4, 1982, Poltergeist was made on a budget of $10.7 million and ended up earning more than $121 million at the box office. Of course, that means it spawned a franchise, but none of the follow-ups have come close to reaching the first movie’s level of popularity.
I don’t have 4K UHD capabilities myself, but it’s always nice to see studios doing something to celebrate the anniversaries of horror classics they have in their libraries. Will you be getting the 4K UHD edition of Poltergeist? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
