Poltergeist

Robbie: I don't like the tree, Dad. Steve: That's an old tree, it's been around here a long time. I think it was here before my company built the neighborhood. Robbie: I don't like its arms. [whispering] It knows I live here, doesn't it? Steve: It knows everything about us, Rob, that's why I built the house next to it, so it could protect us: you and Carol Anne, and Dana and your mom and me ... That's a very wise old tree. Robbie: It looks at me. It knows I live here.

Poltergeist (1982 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Steve: Tomorrow, I'm going to call someone -- Diane: Oh yeah? Who, for instance? I already looked in the Yellow Pages. "Furniture Movers" we got; "Strange Phenomenon", there's no listing.

Poltergeist (1982 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Steve: You know Teague, he won't take "Go to Hell" for an answer. Diane: What are you going to do? Steve: I'm gonna give him directions.

Poltergeist (1982 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Diane: How long have you been investigating haunted houses? Dr. Lesh: Mrs. Freeling, the determination as to whether your home is haunted is not very easy. [A heavy teapot slides across the table by itself in front of her] I -- what I meant to say was, it might very well be a poltergeist intrusion instead of a classic haunting. Steve: There's a difference? Ryan: It's electrical. You can smell the charge. Dr. Lesh: Poltergeist are usually associated with an individual. Hauntings seem to be connected with an area, a house usually. Marty: Poltergeist disturbances are of fairly short duration, perhaps a couple of months. Hauntings can go on for -- years. Diane: Are you telling me that all of this could just suddenly end at any time? Dr. Lesh: Yes, it could, unless it's a haunting. But hauntings don't usually revolve around living people. Diane: Then we don't have much time, Dr. Lesh, because my daughter is alive somewhere inside this house.

Poltergeist (1982 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Ryan: Mr. Freeling, we'll record any psychotronic energy or event. Dr. Lesh: Yes, Ryan photographed an extraordinary episode on a case in Redlands. Ryan: That's right. It was a child's toy, a very small Matchbox vehicle. Rolled seven feet across a linoleum surface. The duration of the event was seven hours. Steve: Seven hours for what? Ryan: For the vehicle to complete the distance. Of course, this would never register on the naked eye. But I have it recorded on a time-lapse camera. It's fantastic. Steve: -- Mm-hm --

Poltergeist (1982 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Dr. Lesh: Would your family welcome a serious investigation of these disturbances by someone who can make first-hand observations? Steve: Dr. Lesh, we really don't care about the disturbances -- the pounding and the flashing, the screaming ... the music. We just want you to find our little girl.

Poltergeist (1982 film), CC BY-SA 4.0