Poltergeist (1982)

 

Poltergeist (1982)

Director: Tobe Hooper

Stars: JoBeth Williams, Heather O’Rourke, Craig T. Nelson

Short Review, no spoilers

Incredibly, this 1982 haunted house thriller came about when the director of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the director of ET united to make a film not quite as scary as it could have been but an icon of the genre nevertheless, and worth watching for a strange combination of talents at work together.

Full Review (spoilers)

Although taking role of producer on this one, evidence of Steven Spielberg’s family-orientated influence is more present than Tobe Hooper’s, whose contributions are most likely behind the darker aspects of the film (a man hallucinating clawing his own face off, hints at ghost rape). There’s the naturalistic, Spielbergian approach to family life with a scatty and angular but devoted mother, and signposts to the film’s contemporary context – Star Wars, Reagan. In fact, the dope-smoking parents reading books on the recently elected president seems like a reference to hangover hippies, holding on to the liberal pleasures of the past while embarking on the yuppie dream of the future – in this case, rampant and irresponsible real estate development.

Otherwise, it’s debatable how original and significant Poltergeist actually is – The Exorcist and The Shining had already covered creepy children and possessed bedroom gymnastics pretty well, and are far superior films generally. There are some decent scares here however – a swim with skeletons, and a nasty encounter with a creepy clown toy.