Mistaken responsibility: did Steven Spielberg actually direct ‘Poltergeist’?
As one of the most popular movie directors of all time, Steven Spielberg has managed to gain such an audience thanks to his largely family-friendly approach, making such gems as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Jurassic Park. Yet, the filmmaker has long had a dark streak, with moments of horror creeping into some of his most accessible movies, from the supernatural adventures of Indiana Jones to the very real terror of war in Saving Private Ryan.
Such wasn’t an industry secret either, with Spielberg announcing his fondness for such visceral cinematic horror with his first breakout hit, 1975’s Jaws. A masterpiece of popular cinema that tells the story of a seaside town reluctant to close its beaches when a shark begins killing swimmers, Jaws includes some terrifying moments that truly make you question its PG rating.
So, when Spielberg pitched the idea of an all-out horror film in the form of 1982’s Poltergeist, few were surprised to see the director diving into the genre. Conceived and co-written by Spielberg, the film was born out of his unmade movie, Night Skies, which was pitched as a sequel to his own 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But, when the concept was never given the green light, he took concepts from the script to inspire not just Poltergeist but E.T., Gremlins and 2005’s War of the Worlds, too.
Yet, despite the concept being his creation, Spielberg was unable to helm the project due to contract obligations with Universal for the release of E.T., so he reached out to Tobe Hooper to direct the film. Still in the infancy of his career, Hooper was best known for his disgusting slasher flick, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and looked up to Spielberg at the time as a significant source of inspiration.
Thankfully for Hooper, Spielberg wasn’t prepared to fully step back from the project, finding himself taking a hands-on approach to the movie, which told the story of a family ripped apart by the emergence of a demonic ghost in their home, giving actors direction, organising shots and generally exerting creative control. Such has long prompted fans of the movie to question whether Hooper directed the film at all or if Spielberg was actually the one pulling the strings, with reports from some of the leading cast members confusing this question further.
“I think, in his heart of hearts, he would’ve loved to have directed it,” JoBeth Williams told Vanity Fair in relation to Spielberg, “Tobe was not as experienced as Steven was. He very much listened to Steven’s ideas about things, because it was Steven’s movie, really. And I’m sure there were times when it drove Tobe crazy to have Steven so actively involved, but he never let on.”
Williams’ comments weren’t made in isolation either, with many other actors and crew members stating that Spielberg had a significant amount of control during the making of the movie. Anyone familiar with the filmmaker’s work is able to see this clearly while watching the movie, too, with Poltergeist flowing with the same snappy pace as a Spielberg classic while shining with a familiar timeless sheen.
These rumours as to Spielberg’s involvement aren’t anything new, either, with the director being pressured by the Director’s Guild of America at the time of the film’s release to clarify who exactly helmed the movie. “Regrettably, some of the press have misunderstood the rather unique, creative relationship which you and I shared throughout the making of Poltergeist,” he wrote in an open letter to Hooper in The Hollywood Reporter, “I enjoyed your openness in allowing me, as producer and writer, a wide berth for creative involvement.”
Though a nice sentiment from Spielberg, the letter doesn’t exactly definitively state that Hooper was the one directing the movie and calling all the shots. In reality, it’s likely that Spielberg should have received a directing credit on the film, with him and Hooper sharing the title, yet, seeing as he couldn’t contractually be the director, thanks to his work on E.T, the praise will forever (officially) go to Hooper.
