1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- Poltergeist

#708- Poltergeist (1982)
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Heather O'Rourke
Directed by: Tobe Hooper


Plot Summary: The Freeling family is enjoying their quiet, suburban lifestyle until one night when their youngest daughter Carol Anne begins talking to "the TV people." Soon after, they begin noticing strange occurrences in the house, culminating with Carol Anne being sucked through her closet into another dimension. Now it is up to the Freeling family, with the help of parapsychologists, to rescue Carol Anne from this strange dimension and flee from their house before they encounter more paranormal interactions.


Here's another Tobe Hooper horror classic to look at. Poltergeist is directed by Hooper and is produced by Steven Spielberg. If you're familiar with Spielberg's filmmaking style, then I'm sure you'll be able to pick out specific examples in Poltergeist, a much more domesticated film environment than Hooper's other famous horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. With Spielberg's name attached, it almost breaks the conventions that the horror genre established, including a cult following and not trying to be a commercial success. Because of that, Poltergeist blurs the lines of what it is marketed at, a Spielberg-like family blockbuster, or a true horror film. While the tones appear to be a bit disjointed, there are some good things to look at in the film.

The film follows the Freeling family, including parents Steven and Diane, played by JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson. For the most part, Williams and Nelson play very concerned and frightened characters about what is going on in their house and around their children. Because of this, the characters appear empathetic, an important factor in getting your audience to like the main characters. But then there are some strange scenes where Steven and Diane are laughing hard, and one scene specifically where they are depicted smoking marijuana. Why? I don't know. Is it ever brought up again? No. Does this moment of character exposition stick out like a sore thumb when looking at the overall film? Absolutely.

Their children are Dana, Robbie, and Carol Anne, played by Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins and Heather O'Rourke respectively. The kids all do well in what they offer and all have distinct roles for me. Carol Anne is the poster child for the film, with most of the plot centered on rescuing her. Robbie is featured in the film's scariest and memorable moments (which I'll get into in the next paragraph), making him a more memorable victim out of the Freeling family. Dana is the...older one. While I said Dunne did well in what was given to her, I will say that a big critique I have is that she isn't given a lot of screen time to actually leave an impact (outside of Dunne's tragic murder). Think about it, she is the ONLY Freeling family member in the film to not have an iconic scene with one of the spirits, such a shame.

The Freeling family isn't what the people came to see though. If you're going to watch a film called Poltergeist, you should be expecting to experience a house filled with spirits haunting everything around the Freeling family. Don't expect to see floating ghosts with the appearance of a white bed sheet, as these ghosts possess numerous objects to create a different kind of ghost story that the audience had never seen before, executed through Spielberg's synonymous use of top notch special effects. From a giant tree, to a clown doll, to a scene that will make you want to NEVER eat chicken or steak again, to even early scenes where the activity is whimsical and enchanting, the ghosts can offer experiences that range from the spiritual to the paranormal (there is a difference, look it up).

There's an infamous behind the scenes myth that is centered on a scene near the end of the film, involving the use of skeletons. Supposedly, real skeletons were used instead of replicas in an attempt to cut costs on props. Because of this, many have placed that scene as the cause for the Poltergeist curse, which is derived from the fact that four cast members died between the filming of Poltergeist and its sequels, including Dunne only a few months after the release of the first film, and O'Rourke at the age of 12 during the filming of Poltergeist III. Whether the curse is real or merely coincidental, many were spooked enough to believe that Poltergeist would never be remade. However, a remake has been scheduled for a 2015 release and all I can say to the cast and crew is USE PROPS.


Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Poltergeist is a film that I refer to as a "spot fest," meaning that there are some well done and memorable scenes in the film, but it requires sitting through some drawn out scenes as well. The effects and cultural impact it had is enough for me to recommend that it be seen by all horror fans at least once, but probably as a rental.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review

Poltergeist and movie images are copyrighted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros.