There’s a reason Poltergeist is a stone cold classic horror film. It’s scary, it’s funny, it’s heartfelt – it hits every beat expertly. A key player in making that happen was Michael Grais, who along with fellow scribe Mark Victor, delivered the script for producer Steven Spielberg.
Michael shared his journey and insights with us in a Script to Screen session hosted by Bob Shultz, taking us through the ins and outs of bringing this spookfest to life.
The first thing we learned is that Michael and Mark very nearly didn’t write it at all. Their work had landed in Spielberg’s hands and, impressed, he’d brought them in to discuss an entirely different project. He wanted them to write a remake of A Guy Named Joe (which Spielberg would eventually make, re-titled ‘Always’).
At the end of the meeting he casually mentioned to them that he was working on a story where the ghosts come out of the TV, and the concept hooked them so much that they called him later to ask if they could write that one instead.
It takes a lot of guts to say no to a legend, let alone to try and bargain with one. But they knew which project they’d be better at and it paid off – sometimes you need to know when and how to say no.
The team very much took ‘write what you know’ to heart. Michael may not have lived in a haunted house but he and Mark did grow up in the suburbs, so they knew just how to draw the setting and fill it with authentic characters.
A lot of the film’s appeal comes from the decision to spend plenty of time in Act One with the family interacting, allowing us to bond with and relate to them properly before their world’s turned upside down. Eventually, when they’re in danger, we fear for their lives and root for them to overcome. Having the parents Steve and Diane smoking weed was a nice touch to humanise and modernise them: “These aren’t the Cleavers,” Michael said, referring to the squeaky clean parents of 50’s sitcom Leave It To Beaver.
Interestingly, there was also some discussion in development about how many people had to die to sell the horror. As many as three of the family members were on the chopping block at one point, but luckily a compromise was reached and little Carol Ann is only mostly dead for half the film!
When it came to the spooks and thrills, Michael said they did the logical thing: they sat down and talked about their childhood fears. Apparently, Michael was quite a fearful child, and the tree at the window came directly from his childhood nightmares. It was interesting to hear this straight after Pat Higgins’ session telling us to do exactly this for our horror scripts – clearly it works!
Michael also touched on why Steve has such a passive role throughout: his fear is powerlessness, and so he’s pushed to the background. Diane’s fear is losing her child, so that’s the trial she’s put through. The creature knows your fears and plays on them, but it didn’t reckon on Diane’s strength in fighting to get her daughter back. They let Steve be the hero in the sequel, so he gets his chance to shine later too!
The lesson I took to heart was how humour in horror elevates it. It’s the same for drama – laughter can help you relate to the characters and relieve a little of the tension which you can then rebuild. As a writer I always find that I can’t help but sprinkle humour through my work, so it’s gratifying to realise that even in straight horror it can be used as a tool to temper the peril. “Horror and comedy are cousins” after all, as Bob said.
Even if you don’t write horror, this is an excellent session to watch for insights into characterisation. You might have to watch through your fingers though!
Sam Kurd is a screenwriter based in Nottingham. He can be found on Facebook and found on Twitter but he can mostly be found in bed.
