Passes the Bechdel test
Poltergeist
1982. Directed by Tobe Hooper, written by Steven Spielberg and Michael Grais and Mark Victor.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
8 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 17 scenes out of 178. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Life is very pleasant for the close-knit Freeling family until a host of otherworldly forces invades their peaceful suburban home. It starts with just an odd occurrence or two to the amusement of everyone, but soon their house is turned into a swirling supernatural sideshow. The forces at work are anything but friendly, and if the luckless Freelings don't clear out soon, they'll all be swept off into nightmarish chaos.
- Released
- 04 Jun 1982
- Genres
- Horror, Thriller
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 79 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 5 wins & 9 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Diane 154 lines, woman
- Steven 119 lines, man
- Dr. Lesh 63 lines, woman
- Tangina 63 lines, woman
- Robbie 45 lines, man
- Carol Anne 35 lines, woman
- Mr. Teague 24 lines, man
- Dana 17 lines, woman
- Farrow 16 lines
- Ryan 16 lines, man
Full cast, 24 people
- JoBeth Williams as Diane Freeling
- Craig T. Nelson as Steve Freeling
- Beatrice Straight as Dr. Lesh
- Dominique Dunne as Dana Freeling
- Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne Freeling
- Oliver Robins as Robbie Freeling
- Zelda Rubinstein as Tangina Barrons
- Richard Lawson as Ryan
- Martin Casella as Dr. Marty Casey
- Michael McManus as Ben Tuthill
- Virginia Kiser as Mrs. Tuthill
- James Karen as Mr. Teague
- Lou Perryman as Pugsley
- Clair E. Leucart as Bulldozer Driver
- Dirk Blocker as Jeff Shaw
- Allan Graf as Neighbor
- Joseph Walsh as Neighbor
- Helen Baron as Woman Buyer
- Noel Conlon as Husband
- Robert Broyles as Pool Worker
- Sonny Landham as Pool Worker
- Frank Welker as Additional Dialogue Replacement (voice)
- William Vail as Implosion Man
- Craig Simmons as Implosion Man
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 178
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 3 | 0 |
| 9 to 12 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 to 16 | 1 | 9 |
| 17 to 20 | 2 | 5 |
| 21 to 24 | 20 | 2 |
| 25 to 28 | 10 | 23 |
| 29 to 32 | 16 | 11 |
| 33 to 36 | 13 | 8 |
| 37 to 40 | 24 | 18 |
| 41 to 44 | 7 | 8 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 5 | 0 |
| 53 to 56 | 4 | 3 |
| 57 to 60 | 2 | 2 |
| 61 to 64 | 10 | 11 |
| 65 to 68 | 27 | 13 |
| 69 to 72 | 22 | 13 |
| 73 to 76 | 15 | 9 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 6 |
| 89 to 92 | 20 | 16 |
| 93 to 96 | 1 | 21 |
| 97 to 100 | 13 | 15 |
| 101 to 104 | 68 | 11 |
| 105 to 108 | 3 | 0 |
| 109 to 112 | 8 | 1 |
| 113 to 116 | 2 | 3 |
| 117 to 120 | 14 | 7 |
| 121 to 124 | 3 | 0 |
| 125 to 128 | 12 | 8 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 0 |
| 133 to 136 | 4 | 3 |
| 137 to 140 | 1 | 0 |
| 141 to 144 | 4 | 1 |
| 145 to 148 | 2 | 0 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 0 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 1 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 0 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 0 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 0 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 0 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 0 |
| 177 to 178 | 0 | 0 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
CAROL ANNE: Tweety--!! DIANE: Oh shit.
DIANE: Robbie!! CAROL ANNE: Can I get a goldfish now?!
DIANE: Honey, you’re overfeeding them. CAROL ANNE: Tweety-two and Tweety-three wants seconds.
DIANE: You’ll be asleep by the time it gets here... if you hurry. Lights out! CAROL ANNE: Closet light! Closet light! DIANE: My fault. My fault.
DIANE: When you said, “They’re here” last night. CAROL ANNE: Can I take my goldfish to school? DANA: Maybe the fault line runs just under our house. Wouldn’t that be a scream?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 60 are women's.
338 lines from women, 228 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
8 women and 16 men in the cast. 8 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 32 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 58% of the words (3,152), men 42% (2,319). Women have 60% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
41
Two men
21
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tobe Hooper (man)
- Written by
- Steven Spielberg (man), Michael Grais (man), Mark Victor (man)
- Story by
- Steven Spielberg (man)
- Produced by
- Frank Marshall (man), Steven Spielberg (man)
- Shot by
- Matthew F. Leonetti (man)
- Edited by
- Michael Kahn (man)
- Music by
- Jerry Goldsmith (man)
- Production design by
- James H. Spencer (man)
- Cast by
- Jane Feinberg (woman), Mike Fenton (man), Marci Liroff (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 3 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 4 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 4 men
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men
-
Art
1 women, 1 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 35 on average. Men: 29 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Heather O'Rourke 6, Dominique Dunne 22, JoBeth Williams 33, Zelda Rubinstein 49, Beatrice Straight 67
Men
Oliver Robins 10, Martin Casella 24, Richard Lawson 35, Michael McManus 36, Craig T. Nelson 38
Exhibit H: the money
It made 11.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $10.7 million
- Box office
- $122 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 178 scenes and 596 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
