Poltergeist
114 minutes,
USA (1982), 15
Average user rating 
(4.4 / 19 votes)
(4.4 / 19 votes)
An average American family experience far from everyday phenomena when they more into a new home. Horror thriller directed by Tobe Hooper and produced and co-written by Steven Speilberg
Director:
Poltergeist Review
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An average American family experience far from everyday phenomena when they more into a new home. Horror thriller directed by Tobe Hooper and produced and co-written by Steven Speilberg
Steven Spielberg claimed he handed over this project to buddy Tobe Hooper (still best known for his 1974 debut The Texas Chain Saw Massacre), who is officially credited as director, but rumours persist that it was Spielberg who called the shots on set.
Poltergeist certainly feels more like a Steven Spielberg than a Tobe Hooper movie - those quintessentially American suburban settings (all wide streets and dusty backlots; like the settings of the contemporaneous E.T. they closely resemble the environments of the Spielberg's Arizona youth), the gently comic touches and the rather whimsical nature of all the spectres on display.
The story - co-written by 'El Spielbergo' - concerns an average family (mom, dad, three kids) whose house comes under siege from supernatural forces. At first this takes the form of your classic poltergeist activity (moved furniture, that kind of thing), but it becomes weirder.
The most iconic image is perhaps that of cute young daughter Carole Anne (the late Heather O'Rourke) communing with something in the TV static ("They're here"). Eventually, the family is terrorised and Carole Anne is kidnapped by the mysterious forces and held captive in their dimension. The shift from playful to nasty could be read as indicative of the comflicting influences of Hooper and Spielberg.
Poltergeist certainly feels more like a Steven Spielberg than a Tobe Hooper movie - those quintessentially American suburban settings (all wide streets and dusty backlots; like the settings of the contemporaneous E.T. they closely resemble the environments of the Spielberg's Arizona youth), the gently comic touches and the rather whimsical nature of all the spectres on display.
The story - co-written by 'El Spielbergo' - concerns an average family (mom, dad, three kids) whose house comes under siege from supernatural forces. At first this takes the form of your classic poltergeist activity (moved furniture, that kind of thing), but it becomes weirder.
The most iconic image is perhaps that of cute young daughter Carole Anne (the late Heather O'Rourke) communing with something in the TV static ("They're here"). Eventually, the family is terrorised and Carole Anne is kidnapped by the mysterious forces and held captive in their dimension. The shift from playful to nasty could be read as indicative of the comflicting influences of Hooper and Spielberg.
Verdict
Simon Pegg really rates Poltergeist and who are we to disagree with him?
Simon Pegg really rates Poltergeist and who are we to disagree with him?
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