Reviews: Poltergeist (1982) Movie Review
Subgenres: Mystery, Possession, Cursed, Dangerous Exploration, Dysfunctional Family, Haunted House - Investigation
Horror fans will enjoy our review of Poltergeist (1982), where we cover its story, scares, and how it ranks among modern horror classics.
Poltergeist (1982) is an American supernatural thriller horror movie I have watched over 15 times. Director Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), Salem’s Lot (1979)) did an incredible job executing Steven Spielberg’s screenplay. Poltergeist (1982) is the most successful entry in the Poltergeist film series. Poltergeist (1982) was named the 20th scariest film made by the Chicago Film Critic Association and ranked #80 on Bravo’s 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Several people believed that the Poltergeist set was cursed because many individuals who worked on the Poltergeist franchise prematurely died for various reasons. The movie contains moving trees, moving furniture, and real skeletons on set during filming.
Poltergeist revolves around malevolent ghosts abducting Freeling’s youngest daughter in Orange County, California. Steven Freeling (Craig T. Nelson - The Incredibles (2004), Coach (1989), The Proposal (2009)) and his wife Diane (JoBeth Williams) live in the Cuesta Verde community. Steven was a successful real estate developer on-site while Cuesta Verde was built. Diane takes care of their children Dana (Dominique Dunne), Robbie (Oliver Robins), and Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke). It did not take long to see the paranormal activities in this movie. I was glued to the TV every time I watched this movie, although I knew exactly what would happen. Carol Anne woke up one night and freakishly began talking with the TV transmitting static waves. Things went seriously wrong after Carol Anne did the same thing the night after, and an apparition comes out of the TV. Soon after, there was an earthquake, and Carol Anne said in the creepiest voice ever, "They’re here."
Bizarre paranormal activities start taking place in the Freeling’s home. The most horrifying one is when Carol Anne gets sucked into a portal in her closet while her brother is rescued from a haunted moving tree in their backyard. The family called a group of parapsychologists to investigate the matter and discovered that they had more than one apparition/ghost to deal with. Steven soon found out that their home was built on an old cemetery, and the corpse was not taken care of as planned. Spiritual medium Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein - Anguish (1987), Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986), Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)) was called into the Freeling’s home. She told them that the ghost was not stable/not resting because they had their home taken away. A demon (actually a malevolent spirit of a man--trying not to spoil this) known as the "Beast" has taken hostage of Carol Anne to gain control of the spirits/ghost. There is so much more to the movie, but I will not spoil the rest of the film. It is one of the best horror movies I grew up with and watch from time to time - at least once a year.
I did not find anything wrong with this movie. The movie was an excellent watch for me in the 1980-the 1990s and still is a perfect watch today. I did not find any plot holes or blemishes in this movie. The actors all did a phenomenal job with their roles. The music was eerie, making it compelling for me not to take my eyes off the screen. The cinematography was awesomely done, and the sets were spectacular.
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Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Poltergeist Rating Scores
- Our Score: 10/10
- Overall Score: 8.70/10
- IMDB: 7.3/10
- MetaCritic: 7.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 8.8/10
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