Poltergeist

Cast: Craig T Nelson, Jobeth Williams, Beatrice Straight and Heather O'Rourke

Director: Tobe Hooper

Release Date: 1982

Running Time: 1hr 54 minutes

Genre: Horror

Rating: PG

Format: DVD

Synopsis: 

A young family are haunted by what they believe to be are several ghosts, at first they seem quite friendly, only moving objects around, bending things, to the amusement of others, however it quickly takes a turn for the worse when their youngest daughter is kidnapped and they begin to terrorize the family.

Poltergeist is directed by Tobe Hooper who also brought us the likes of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Invaders from Mars" safe to say I think the man enjoys directing horror movies. It's sad to know that despite it being one of Heather O'Rourke's first movies, it was also one of her last too, as she very sadly died at age 12 from cardiac arrest. Rumor has it that the movie is cursed, as several actors have died in strange ways since the making of the movie, but let's face it, think that's just Hollywood having a bit of fun. Heather O Rourke delivers a very good performance for a child actor, the acting as a whole really isn't too bad, they did very well for the material that they were given at the time. The chemistry between Diane and Robbie is very convincing, they clearly love their family a lot and will do anything to get their little girl back. Tangina is absolutely fantastic, Zelda has put a lot of work into making her character really quirky and enthusiastic, her character is educated and strong willed, Zelda delivers a very funny and convincing performance.

The pace of the film really isn't too bad, your left hanging for a short while, however as a member of the audience your aren't left bored, there's plenty of spooky things that happen before the real action gets going, when it does it flows very nicely and gets straight to the point very quickly. It certainly gets much darker in the second chapter of the film, it becomes apparent what is going on and why Carol Anne has been taken, there is a bit of history behind the home itself and the town as well, and what it's built on. It's really not too bad for a horror film, although the rating does shock me somewhat, considering some of the footage that is used, definitely not for the faint hearted, there are some really gruesome moments. Speaking of gruesome, Hooper didn't rely too much on jump scares to frighten his audience, but more on visual aspects of the characters and the circumstances in which they are thrust upon.

The special effects really aren't too bad, yes they do look a little bit dated, however it works beautifully to the tone of the film too, as much as this is a horror, it's almost a classic cult film now and is probably know for it's awful special effects, there are however some pretty awesome moments involving a few skeletons, and graves near the end of the film, that look absolutely brilliant, the production department definitely went all out in making the skeletons look very authentic, rumor has it, that some of them were actually real to appear more real in the movie, if that doesn't scare you to your wits end, then I don't know what will!

The score is really good and adds to the tone of the film very well, you can almost feel the score telling the story just on it's own, it starts off very uplifting, you've got a very happy family going about their everyday lives when suddenly their daughter is kidnapped into the after life, the score takes a real dark turn, it speaks volumes, alongside the actors and the emotion that they portray through their characters. The MGM Studio Orchestra have done a really fantastic job with the film, without the soundtrack, it wouldn't be much of a horror film.

Scary and thrilling!

5/5 stars