Last Wednesday, The Black Museum held
its newest lecture at The Royal.
This long running series has put on
many great events in the past, but this one in particular was extra
special, as filmmaker Gary Sherman was particularly well suited for
this forum. I've seen him speak at a few events now and man, does this guy have stories. He's an extremely affable
individual who would describe himself as “someone who has been very
lucky and often been at the right place at the right time”, but I'd
say there's a bit more to it than that. It takes more than luck to
find a crew that would follow him into the insanely ambitious project
that was Poltergeist III.
While it is true that Sherman has
always been a very technical director, whether it be that impressive
opening tracking shot in Death Line or the abundant special effects
(courtesy of Stan Winston) in Dead & Buried, Poltergeist III
would be the culmination of his talents. Not bad for a project that
Sherman himself said that he initially did not want to do. He
explained that the studio had first tapped him for Poltergeist II,
but he was unavailable. When they came back to him for part three, he
agreed because they'd been instrumental in getting his
debut Death Line made. His one condition was that he wanted
everything to be done in camera with no optical effects.
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| Filmmaker Gary Sherman talks Poltergeist III. |
We sometimes forget there was once a
time when computers did not rule the day and Poltergeist III might be
one of the most impressive examples of pre-CGI filmmaking out there.
To most I'm sure, the third Poltergeist entry was a throwaway sequel,
overshadowed by the tragic death of its young star, Heather O'Rourke.
I can assure you that no one thought that after this lecture.
Everyone in attendance walked away with a new appreciation for this movie. Although I believe we're still not sure who was
crazier, Sherman for attempting it or the studio for signing off on
his requests.
The evening consisted of a screening of
Poltergeist III with running commentary from Sherman. Whenever a
significant effect happened, they would stop the film and he would
explain how it was done. We would then watch the scene again with this new context. Perhaps the most impressive thing about
Sherman's techniques was that they were honest-to-God magic tricks.
When he pulled back the curtain, the audience reaction was that of
true awe.
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| Movie magic! |
Using mirrors and double sets, Sherman
created an veritable amusement park haunted house – or rather
skyscraper. You add in the talents of Dick Smith, the inventor of
modern make-up (and the reason I grew up thinking Max Von Sydow was
twenty years older than he actually was) you have a gift that keeps
on giving. The session ran about three hours and Sherman regaled us
about every facet of the production, including the parking garage
explosion debacle and the three different endings.
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| The late Heather O'Rourke in Poltergeist III |
Sherman also talked at length about
O'Rourke who he absolutely adored, saying that being a pallbearer at
her funeral was one of the worst days of his life. He's decidedly not
happy with how the film turned out overall, but he's really proud of
the effects, which is why he was glad to talk about them at this
event. I hope does this talk in more cities because it's a film
clinic for filmmakers and cinephiles alike, especially ones with a
love of practical and in-camera effects.
I can't reiterate enough how super cool
a night this was. It was a Black Museum for the ages that struck the
perfect balance of subject and subject matter. Huge thanks to Paul,
Andrea & Gary for putting it on.
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| Filmmaker Gary Sherman w/ BM curators Paul Corupe & Andrea Subissati |
*Event pics courtesy of Brian Baker.
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