The Gadgets From Poltergeist That Fueled Our Nightmares

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For a TV that's featured prominently in one of the most iconic horror movie posters of all time, the Sony Trinitron KV-2643R was surprisingly hard to track down. This 26-inch set is what passed for a "Giant Screen" television back in 1982. It cost $1,349.95, which is about $3,400 in today's dollars. MGM

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Robbie's Cardinal Red Schwinn Scramber SX100 weighed 32 pounds, came with a flash welded, carbon steel BMX frame, and had a quilted competition saddle. These features did not make it any better at transporting beer. MGM

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The early '80s turned out to be a golden age for action figure carrying cases. Here, we see Karrio's Micronaut Robot and Darth Vader Collector's cases in Robbie and Carol Anne's room. MGM

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The little remote control battle between Steven Freeling and his neighbor doesn't make sense for a number of reasons. One of the biggest is that his neighbor is using a 2nd generation Zenith Space Command 600 remote from the mid-70s to change Steve's brand new Sony Trinitron set. MGM

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Man, there's a lot of Sony TVs in this movie. The 9-inch KV-9400 is the color set found in the Freeling kitchen. Don't sit so close, Carol Anne, you'll ruin your eyes! MGM

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Obviously, a young hip couple like the Freelings would have an Atari 2600 (possibly a "heavy sixer") on top of the TV in their room. MGM

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Too bad that bedroom TV, a Trinitron KV-2643R, also serves as the gateway for the restless spirits (aka "The TV people") to enter the Freeling home. MGM

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Introduced by Milton Bradley in 1979, the $43 Big Trak was a six-wheeled programmable vehicle that could go forward, backward, turn, pause, and fire a "photon beam." You could enter up to 16 commands on its keypad, which the vehicle would then execute in sequence. MGM

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This possessed Imco Wind-up Space Robot has a decidedly evil, high-pitched laugh in the movie. In reality, it only came with sparkling action. MGM

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Sony's Studio 7080 had everything you needed in an '80s hi-fi sound system, including a turntable (PS-636), cassette deck (TC-U60), integrated amp (TA-636), tuner (ST-636), audio timer (PT-79R), and a remote to control it all. Giant speakers not included. MGM

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"Tell us more about the strange occurrences in your home, Steven. And speak directly into this 1980 Sony 'Stowaway' cassette recorder." MGM

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When your ceiling starts vomiting old jewelry through a portal to another dimension, why not use the Sony VO-26510 U-matic Videocassette Recorder to document the weirdness? MGM

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Unlike the superhero franchises and big-budget blockbusters of today that swoop in to dominate theaters between June and August, the summer of 1982 offered something different: variety. For three months audiences were treated to a veritable genre buffet that included everything from modern sci-fi classics like Blade Runner, Tron, and E.T., to coming-of-age and action comedies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and 48 Hours.

Fantasy and adventure connoisseurs got Conan the Barbarian, while the more romantically inclined found An Officer and a Gentleman. It was even a great summer for horror flicks: John Carpenter’s gore-fest, The Thing and Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist turned June into a particularly terrifying month for theatergoers. Granted, the latter’s lax PG rating probably gave it a broader (and much younger) audience than it would have received had cowriter, producer, and unofficial co-director Steven Spielberg not successfully talked the MPAA down from its original R rating. But if anything, that only amplified the movie’s emotional resonance for an entire generation of unsuspecting parents and children.

Still, it’s hard not to wonder how a film with a body count of zero (not counting Tweety the bird) managed to freak out so many people. The movie’s sassy psychic medium, Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein), probably sums the answer up best: “[Poltergeist] knows what scares you.” Hooper and Spielberg knew how to scare you too. Rather than relying on a deranged, psychotic killer or grotesque monster, the movie simply exploits some very basic fears. Put another way, Poltergeist reaffirms what every kid already knows is terrifying. That creepy clown your weird aunt gave you for your birthday? It wants to choke you in your sleep. Dark closets? Obviously portals to the spirit realm. And of course (of course!) that giant dead tree in your backyard is just waiting for the right time to eat you alive.

The movie’s list of malevolent objects doesn’t end with trees and clowns either. Like any good Reagan-era suburban nightmare, Poltergeist features a rotating (sometimes literally) cast of menacing household gadgets, toys, and other domestic electronics. Conspicuous consumption is front and center in the Freelings’ cookie-cutter home, be it the family’s trio of high-end Sony Trinitrons or the living room’s comically oversized stereo speakers. And it’s no accident the angry spirits use many of these objects as a means to enter the house (the TVs) or further terrorize the Freelings.

This May, an obligatory Poltergeist reboot will attempt to scar a new generation of kids and parents. Based on the first trailer, the modern-day PG-13 update appears to stay mostly true to the spirit of the original. The Sam Raimi-produced movie directed by Monster House‘s Gil Kenan will have an updated version of the creepy clown, grabby tree, and inter-dimensional closet, along with what we can only assume will be plenty of jump-scares. Despite 2009’s digital TV transition and the fact that “dead air” no longer exists, it also appears to feature TV static. As for the original’s not-so-subtle warnings about the excesses of unbridled consumerism and pernicious influence of television? We’re guessing those messages will stay trapped in that quaint alternate dimension known as the analog era.