Review #414: 'Poltergeist' (1982)

Successful realtor Steven Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) and his wife Diane (JoBeth Williams) live peacefully in their suburban community with their two daughters and son. Falling asleep in his chair one night, Steven wakens to find his youngest daughter Carol-Anne (Heather O'Rourke) talking to the static TV screen. She does the same thing the next night, only to announce to her parents that "they're heeerre!". Strange things start to happen around the house, until one night Carol-Anne is sucked into her closet which seems to be the conduit for the 'white light'; a light that the dead must walk into if they are to achieve peace. With their daughter missing, Steven and Diane call in a team of paranormal investigators, along with a creepy old woman called Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein).

Although it says 'directed by Tobe Hooper' in the credits, it has long been debated who in fact directed Poltergeist. All of Hooper's usual traits of screaming women, a masked or disfigured killer, grisly deaths, lots of blood, all with a Grindhouse feel, are noticeably absent. Instead, the film feels something much more Speilbergian, with the industry's most famous Jew listed in the credits with production and writing duties. Spielberg was heavily involved in the production, working on it almost back-to-back with E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial (1982), and it does have the same atmosphere as his family-friendly alien blockbuster. This works both for and against the film.

During this era, Spielberg was arguably at his best, and was one of the finest craftsmen of blockbusters and sheer entertainment perhaps ever. One of the key attributes to his 70's/80's films was his realistic portrayals of often broken families, and the characters of Steven and Diane are fully-realised, and more importantly wholly believable. The characterisation here is better than most horror films care to give, and these joint-smoking liberal parents are funny and real, and give a much-needed heart to the story.

Yet when Spielberg (sorry, Hooper!) gets over-excited and insistent on giving the audience something spectacular, I felt the film failed. Flying household objects and static tentacles I can deal with, but giant tree-arms, demon heads and a computer-generated monster take it many steps too far, and crushes any real feeling of atmosphere. The film is just too ridiculous to be remotely scary. Perhaps a more low-key approach would have been more effective, and as entertaining as the film was throughout (although it does have a climax too many), the theatrical effects make the film look dated and suffocate any chance of real scares. A clean, enjoyable horror, but hardly a memorable one.


Directed by: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Heather O'Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie