Poltergeist

Starring: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
1982

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: In suburbia, a family's life is turned upside down when their daughter mysteriously vanishes in their home and a poltergeist wrecks havoc on their house.

Review:

Tim: This is perhaps the greatest ghost story ever filmed. Make no mistake about it, this is one of the scariest movies of all time. It dukes it out with The Exorcist for greatest horror movie ever. Part of the terror comes from the fact that these supernatural events happen to an ordinary suburban family. Plus, it begins with no warning, and for no apparent reason. Hey, this could happen to your family, you never know.

In addition, the film has a number of truly frightening moments. The tree scene, the specters of light (and the subsequent revelation on film), the bite marks, and obviously the climactic scene are all memorable and very scary. The disappearance of the little girl and her attempts to communicate are quite freaky as well. I still get chills when I think about her running toward the light (and what she's running from). Craig T. Nelson's revelation near the end is great, too.

Poltergeist is a classic horror film that does everything right. The special effects are a bit weak by today's standards, but this doesn't take too much away from the chilling quality of the movie. Horror films don't get much scarier than this. Poltergeist is a classic that you undoubtedly need to see (if for no other reason, do it for the memorable "This house, is clean." line.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 9



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Exorcist, E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial, The Sixth Sense