Easily withstanding the test of time, Poltergeist has what it takes to stand up and be counted as one of the greats in the horror film genre. Director Tobe Hooper weaves an excellent cast, eerie effects, and a chilling plot into a gripping film. The plot unfolds in a very rapid series of events, and if you look away, you’ll miss something crucial.
Basic Plot:
The movie focuses on the Freeling family, Steve, a real estate broker for a development known as Cuesta Verde, very well played by a pre- Coach Craig T. Nelson, his wife Lorraine, in a shining performance by JoBeth Williams, their son Robbie, (I forget the actor’s name; sorry) and daughter Carol Anne eerily and precociously played by Heather O’Rourke. Oops;I forgot the family dog, E.Buzz. Two sequels followed this movie; both are gripping and very well done, but neither have the power of the first.
It seems Carol Anne is able to talk to ’’TV People’’ she hears in the white noise of an off-broadcast television station. On a dark and stormy night (heh-heh) the TV people enter the Freeling home and open a hole into another dimension inhabited by lost souls of the dead....and Carol Anne is sucked in with them, and one other very sinister inhabitant, known only as ’’The Beast’’.
A team of university parapsychologists arrive to document a maelstrom of poltergeist activity in the Freeling home, in hopes of finding a way to get Carol Anne back home safely. Tanjina, a powerful psychic and medium, is eventually enlisted to help bridge the gap between worlds and bring Carol Anne home.
The Freeling home is wild with activity...ghosts manifest themselves strolling down the stairs, objects fly all over Carol Anne’s bedroom, A Monsterous creature appears in a closet, objects materialize out of thin air, and in a senses-shattering climax, the earth opens up and spews coffins from a old graveyard all over the house. It would appear Cuesta Verde was built on the site of a former graveyard, and the developers moved the headstones to a new location, but left the bodies behind. Oops...just a small error....NOT!
The special effects were state of the art for the early 80s, when this film was released, and they are outstanding. The sequences of shimmering ghosts are both beautiful and eerie, and a scene where a university student literally peels his own face off is gruesome but riveting.
Craig T. Nelson gives an outstanding performance as Steve Freeling, overcome by the horror of what is happening and deaperatly trying to hold his family together. Likewise, JoBeth Williams hits the right notes of terror, frantic rage, and warmth superbly well. Heather O’Rourke was just eerie... and suited her role excellently. Her performance began to fade in the two sequels, and she never equaled her original brilliance. Not bad for a seven-year-old at all.
Poltergeist chills, mesmerizes, and is full odf suspense and shocks. Maybe even too much shock for one sitting. Still, it grabs and holds your attention. It’s definitely worth seeing multuiple times.