Poltergeist (1982)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Tobe Hooper

Writers:

Steven Spielberg (story)
Steven Spielberg (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 June 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

They're here.

Plot:

A family's home is haunted by a host of ghosts.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Television | Indian Burial Ground | Barefoot | Afterlife

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Craig T. Nelson	...	Steve Freeling
JoBeth Williams	...	Diane Freeling (as Jobeth Williams)
Beatrice Straight	...	Dr. Lesh
Dominique Dunne	...	Dana Freeling
Oliver Robins	...	Robbie Freeling
Heather O'Rourke	...	Carol Anne Freeling
Michael McManus	...	Ben Tuthill
Virginia Kiser	...	Mrs. Tuthill
Martin Casella	...	Marty (as Marty Casella)
Richard Lawson	...	Ryan
Zelda Rubinstein	...	Tangina
Lou Perryman	...	Pugsley (as Lou Perry)
Clair E. Leucart	...	Bulldozer Driver (as Clair Leucart)
James Karen	...	Mr. Teague
Dirk Blocker	...	Jeff Shaw

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:16 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:PG (TV rating) | UK:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1982) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:PG (re-rating after appeal) | USA:R (original rating) | West Germany:16 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

4267 Roxbury Street, Forest Hills, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The Rams (then Los Angeles Rams) vs. Saints football game seen near the beginning of the film, is taken from a Monday Night Football game in 1980.

Goofs:

Continuity: At breakfast, the glass that is about to break in Robbie's hand is leaking considerably, but the amount of milk in the glass is unchanging (considering how much milk is leaking and how much is on the table already).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Carol Anne: Hello? What do you look like? Talk louder, I can't hear you! Hey, hello! Hello, I can't hear you! Five. Yes. Yes. I don't know. I don't know.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Death of a Ghost Hunter (2007)

Soundtrack:

The Star-Spangled Banner

Better than a 7.1

Horror films often do not get their do, and the 7.1 rating for Poltergeist shows that this trend will most likely continue. Clearly an influential film by Chainsaw director Tobe Hooper, Poltergeist reached for, and achieved, everything that the earlier Amityville Horror failed to be; namely, scary, credible, and well acted.

Poltergeist, in a nutshell, is a story of suburban California family that discovers the darker side of the American Dream when their youngest daughter, Carol Ann, makes contact with evil spirits through the family television set. "They're here", never fails to send chills down my spine as I recall seeing this film for the first time as a teenager.

Perhaps 10 to 15 more years will finally lend the credibility to this film to finally place it among the classics in modern horror cinema.