Woah.
4/4 stars

'Poltergeist' is one of the most frightening ghost films I have ever seen, it's far ahead of it's time when it comes to special effects and the film never slows down, constantly hitting us with more and more terror as the film moves on. Director Tobe Hooper works together with producer/writer Steven Spielberg, whom seems to get more credit on the film then Hooper does, but that really doesnt matter because overall, 'Poltergeist' is one fantastic film. Though now that I'm older, the film isnt as scary as it used to be, but it works with using technology to create the horror, specifically television. We live in a world where everyone watches TV everyday, it's even lead to loss of vision and complete paranoia. The ghosts are introduced through the television set, specifically one channel where the tv is just covered in static, they communicate with their daughter through this channel and much more.

While living an an average family house in a pleasant neighborhood, the youngest daughter of the Freeling family, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke), seems to be connecting with the supernatural through a dead channel on the televison. It is not for long when the mysterious beings enter the house's walls. At first seeming like harmless ghosts, they play tricks and amuse the family, but they take a nasty turn- they horrify the family to death with angry trees and murderous dolls, and finally abduct Carol Anne into her bedroom closet, which seems like the entrance to the other side.

One thing that director Tobe Hooper works with right off the bat with this movie is visual fear. Within the children's bedroom, there is a window where outside of it, a giant tree was planted. It's an old tree, but one of the first nights the family stays there, their son Robbie becomes scared of the storm. But everytime the lightining flashes, it causes a silhouette of the tree to be seen through the window, this kicks off most of the films suspense and terror. It's a freaky scene involving a toy clown which is sitting in a rocking chair. In horror film, it's most effective to use kid's toys to bring real terror, such as dolls or even pictures they have. This clown plays a bigger role in the end, but it is used to create some good terror. After this scene, most of the real horror is focused on these ghosts that have captured Carol Anne.

Tobe Hooper knows horror, one of his first major film releases was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 1974. He has created many fine horror films, but I think that both TCM and Poltergeist are two of his finest works. In collaboration with Spielberg, I think this film got out quicker with Spielberg's name on it, since he is known for working with or making good movies. One thing that makes 'Poltergeist' stand out as a 1982 horror film is the special effects, which look absoulutely amazing for the time. A lot of the movie deals around "the light", in which dead souls look for to go to heaven. Many portals are opened through the children's closet and there is a lot of talk about ghouls and the afterlife, so we start right away with the crazy tree attack scene. The tree I talked about earlier which sits right outside the children's bedroom window actually attacks Robbie.

From that moment on, all the major special effects scenes begin coming out, most of these dealing with dead souls walking around or even coming out of the tv. One of the most famous scenes in the movie deals with Carol Anne waking up and going to the tv, quoting "theyre here". The whole entire movie also works with a major amount of suspense, which is drawn out well enough to have me glued to my television screen, dying to know whats going to happen next in the film. Watching the 25th Anniversary Edition DVD was quite a surprise, it's cleaned up well and the movie both looks and sounds great, better then I expected.

Craig Nelson stars as Steve Freeling, the father of the family. After this series of crazy events, he kind of changes in a way, now that his daughter lives with spirits. He cares about his family, but he seems utterly calm about the whole thing going on. I liked his performance, a little strange, but it fit the character with the events well. JoBeth Williams as Diane was one of my favorite performances in the movie, she is so good when it comes to emotions. She has a very emotional role, and we both see and feel it. She is determined to saving her family and I just really loved watching her on screen. I really liked Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne, she is a very cute little girl, who puts on a very unsettling performance here. She became famous after this role, some of her scenes in the movie are unforgettable.

'Poltergeist' is an amazing horror movie, there is nothing I can complain about at all. The ending is exciting and scary, the rest of the movie is built up on natural terror and it all is worth the watch.

Review by Chiggles