Poltergeist

Film: Poltergeist
Genre: Horror
Director: Tobe Hooper
Year: 1982
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Beatrice Straight, & JoBeth Williams





Spielberg does more than direct movies about an action seeking-archeologist, and a small lumpy alien who has a taste for Reese's Pieces. He also produces a truckload of other films, he has production credits on more than twice as many films that contain his label as a director. Poltergeist is one of those films; it's director is Tobe Hooper of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame, but it is also believed that Spielberg did ghost direct parts of the movie.

Californian suburbia seems to be the mainstay of American normality in the eighties, but something uneasy lurks in the Freeling house. During the last week, the family's youngest member, Carol Anne has been getting out of bed in the middle of the night, and speaking to the television. While the patriarch of the household Steven(Nelson) is at work selling houses in the neighborhood his wife Diane (Williams) stays at home when great occurrences of strange happenings are afoot. Though the occurrences start small (like objects moving across the kitchen floor), leading to the taking of Carol Anne to the "other side" where the spirits are emerging from. The family then enlists the help of Dr. Lesh (Straight) and her colleagues in an attempt to solve the mystery.

This film is considered to be a classic in the horror genre, and credit were credits due, it's pretty fantastic. Nothing particularly scary happens in the first forty minutes of the film, but it finds a way of setting the tone of the film, without losing the audience's interest. While watching you get a feel for the characters, and start to identify yourself with them, so when the crazy starts to happen, you really worry for those involved.

Unlike the majority of horror films made today, this one does not rely on blood, and torture scenes to send shivers down your spine. The only part that features any kind of blood is in the famous scene where one of the scientist looks in the mirror and his face falls off. Even then, it is downplayed, and there are only a few drops of blood seen splashing in the water. Instead, this movie uses a seemingly "visual unknown" to try and scare you. The effects focus on making household items move under the own power, as to make you give a second thought as to what you might have seen out of the corner of your eye while you are trying to go to sleep, and that makes it pretty damn cool.

Memorable moments:
• As noted above, the famous scene with the face that just seems to fall apart at the slightest touch.

• The monologue given by Tangina, a clairvoyant to attempts to cleanse the house. In her speech she gives an explanation as to what is happening to Carol Anne, and despite the fact that it's a movie, you honestly believe what she is saying.