Tobe Hooper was hired to direct, something which later become somewhat of a massive controversy. Spielberg had seen Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and loved it. Spielberg said about TCM:
“It’s a real cult film, I know, but one of the most truly visceral movies ever made. “Essentially it starts inside the stomach and ends in the heart. As a filmmaker who likes to see everything, I loved it.”
Spielberg then approached Hooper to direct the film.
As the move was about to be released, rumors started flying that Spielberg was the actual director of the film. As stated earlier, Spielberg had a great deal of control over the production, and even seemed to suggest that Hooper wasn’t always the man in charge:
“Tobe isn’t… a take-charge sort of guy. If a question was asked and an answer wasn’t immediately forth-coming, I’d jump in and say what we could do. Tobe would nod agreement, and that become the process of collaboration.“
Spielberg published an open letter to Hooper in the Hollywood Reporter stating:
“Regrettably, some of the press has misunderstood the rather unique, creative relationship which you and I shared throughout the making of Poltergeist. I enjoyed your openness in allowing me a wide berth for creative involvement, just as I know you were happy with the freedom you had to direct Poltergeist so wonderfully. Through the screenplay you accepted a vision of this very intense movie from the start, and as the director, you delivered the goods. You performed responsibly and professionally throughout, and I wish you great success on your next project.“
In a newspaper article, JoBeth Williams commented on the controversial subject:
“Even though Tobe was and participating, you felt that Steven had final say. Sometimes Steven would tell us one thing and Tobe another. But they soon realized that was doing us more harm than good, so they stopped. Later on, whatever discussions Tobe and Steven had, they held in private and then came to us with their decisions.”
In a 2007 interview with Ain’t It Cool News, actress Zelda Rubinstein stated :
“I can tell you that Steven directed all six days I was there. I only worked six days on the film and Steven was there. Tobe set up the shots and Steven made the adjustments. You’re not going to hear that from Tobe Hooper, you’ll hear it from Zelda, because that was my honest to God experience. ” She then added: “I don’t know how to say this… he allowed some unacceptable chemical agents into his work. I felt that immediately. I felt that when I first interviewed for the job. Steven was there, Tobe was there, two casting people from MGM were there and I felt at that time Tobe was only partially there. “
In a recent article with SFX magazine, Craig Reardon shared his views.
“If there was a sense that Spielberg was injecting himself more and more, it was less to do with Tobe as a director than it was he maybe wasn’t moving along fast enough.” Later adding, “My feeling is that he might have been piling some expectations onto Tobe that perhaps he was not aware of or that Tobe could not fulfill.“
For some, the issue is still up in the air, but no matter who truly deserves the director’s credit, there’s no denying that Spielberg was a massive part of the creative force of Poltergeist. In the Fangoria interview, Frank Marshall had this to say:
“From the start, it’s been Steven’s movie-from the idea to the treatment to the design of each storyboard and on from there; and he closely controlled each aspect of it’s production. It’s a Steven Spielberg production and he wanted it to be the film that he envisioned.“
