Poltergeist (1982) Review

Poltergeist (1982) Review

 

Poltergeist was one of those movies I watched as a kid like The Exorcist or The Ring that I skeptically said as I was going into it: “OK, let’s see what’s so scary about this one” only to be totally freaked out after it was over. Well, maybe not totally freaked out in this case, but it definitely stuck with me. I’ve never really liked horror movies about ghosts that much, but Poltergeist is an exception, because it’s far beyond just a typical haunted house movie.

Right from the very beginning things get creepy. While the whole Freeling family is asleep one night, the youngest family member, Carol Anne, gets up from bed, walks downstairs to the TV, nothing on the screen but static, and starts talking to…something inside the television set. After that, we get to spend some time with the family before anything weird happens again, but at first the disturbances are fairly innocuous, if inexplicable. Then, they get really disturbing, and it results in the disappearance of Carol Anne, who becomes trapped in another ghostly dimension, and only paranormal experts can help the family try to get her back from the evil spirits plaguing their home. 

Poltergeist is remembered best for its big scary moments, the first of which is when Carol Anne is sucked into her bedroom closet along with everything else in the room, but I actually find the event that happens parallel to that even scarier: her brother Robbie is snatched out the window by the ugly old tree in the yard outside and eaten by the tree! Robbie gets traumatized the worst in this film, for even more reasons than this, but I won’t spoil them all, except to say one of the scariest events involves a creepy clown toy toward the end. Before Pennywise terrified everyone in IT the Poltergeist clown was the scariest clown in a horror movie, and it was featured prominently in the marketing for the unnecessary remake. I remember being really annoyed that the remake existed at all and never watched it, but I also didn’t realize at the time that two equally unnecessary sequels had been made to the original, plus a loosely connected TV series from the 90’s called Poltergeist: The Legacy.

What I find the most timeless about Poltergeist as an 80’s horror film are the simpler scary aspects and the family dynamic. This is one of those bright-light scary movies, where many of the scariest parts don’t happen in the dark or in a gloomy locale, they happen in regular rooms fully lit by the house’s lighting and yet are still undeniably scary without hiding anything. I do find some of the special effects are a bit dated and the very end goes so over-the-top it lacks the same impact as the simpler scares from earlier, but my main issue is the middle of the movie, when the parapsychologist comes in to investigate and talks to the family. It gets a bit tedious, but then they bring in the spiritual medium and it builds to an exciting climax—only, it’s not the end, and you kind of have a sense that the horror isn’t over, but Poltergeist’s “fourth act” is up there as one of the scariest conclusions to a movie like this. Most of the effects, though, are in-camera and very well done.

The family is believable and relatable, thanks to the great cast, and you feel sympathy for them as the strangeness begins. Carol Anne is such a sweet yet macabre little girl, who clearly knows more about whatever spirits are invisibly moving things around the house than anyone else, but she doesn’t give us any info, and then when she is abducted by said spirits, the way the family reacts feels so real you are hooked for the rest of the movie to see how or if they can get her back. They don’t go to the cops because they know that won’t help, but you buy into their decision making every step of the way, and their desperation to save their youngest kid and protect the other two is quite compelling. The reveal of why the spirits are in their house is cliché to be sure, but the rules surrounding the supernatural are clear enough while still allowing for creative surprises. Poltergeist is not overly explicit, save for a couple moments, such as one involving skeletons (which, allegedly, were real) and another involving a guy peeling his face off, which doesn’t look all that convincing, but is still gross just in concept. Originally, the MPAA wanted to slap the movie with an R-rating, but somehow Spielberg’s influence got it down to a PG! This is one of the movies cited as the reason for PG-13’s creation—yet another Spielberg movie, at that, with others from around the same time being Temple of Doom and Gremlins. 

There’s been a lot of dispute about whether or not Tobe Hooper actually directed the movie or if producer/writer Steven Spielberg actually did, but I’ve done a lot of digging on this issue and feel it was a collaborative effort when I watch it now. The hallmarks of both directors are present; many of the visuals are reminiscent of 1979’s Salem’s Lot and the concepts are classic Spielberg. Whatever the case, I think it matters about as much as the other claims that it’s a “cursed” film, a reputation earned after actress Dominique Dunne who played oldest daughter Dana was murdered by her ex-boyfriend and Heather O’Rourke who played Carol Anne passed away at age 12.

Poltergeist scared me when I was a kid, but it didn’t traumatize me in the same way other notorious horror films did mainly because of some dated special effects, which is why I recommend it to anyone regardless of age or level of horror tolerance. The strong family dynamic mixed with the supernatural scares makes for a story that hits home and is entertaining, riding a fine line of safe frightfulness and uncomfortable terror that few other films I’ve seen have been able to do so effectively.