Cross over children. All are welcome here at Nightmare Nostalgia, and oh man do I have a special treat for you guys! A beautifully vintage and rarely seen 1981 Poltergeist trailer, that in my opinion, looks ten times scarier than the movie itself!

The classic horror film from legends Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper, well according to more recent reports and the truth unearthed by the Shock Waves Podcast, mostly from Spielberg, of an all-American seemingly apple pie family’s lives violently disrupted by a malevolent presence known as a poltergeist in and around their home, both terrified and enthralled audiences around the world. Poltergeist, having just celebrated its 35th anniversary earlier this Summer, and personally speaking, one of my top five horror flicks of all time, was apparently scaring the shit out of audiences across the pond way before it’s initial June 4th, 1982 theatrical release. And looking at this just under three-minute gorgeous teaser for the film that had us all bolting our closets shut upon a first viewing, it isn’t far-fetched to see why.

This seldom-seen 1981 teaser runs brilliantly like a pure real-life horror documentary, and if this is what you had first laid eyes on before anything else about this film in the early ’80s, you could have been convinced that this was a true story. I mean, the trailer does say at the very end, “Poltergeist, the first real ghost story.” Along with very little film footage from the actual movie, but rather stunning screenshots and breaks of paranormal experts explaining exactly just what the hell a poltergeist really is; it kind of could scare the shit out of anyone who is easily frightened by such things.

I’m a little bummed and feel sort of robbed that the US didn’t promote this trailer in place of the others we received for this movie. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I personally, have never seen this gem until recently. Every little thing about this teaser is done so well and is forcing me to have a Poltergeist marathon in my living-room as we speak. You might feel the same way too after watching it. Check it out!