Poltergeist (1982) - Movie Review

POLTERGEIST (1982)

INTRODUCTION

Poltergeist is a horror film that was released in 1982, directed by Tobe Hooper and produced by Steven Spielberg.  It tells the story of a family who discovers their house is haunted.  As they discover the haunting, they don't realise the spirits are hostile until they take their daughter into another dimension and they hire paranormal investigators to help get her back.  Poltergeist received massive critical acclaim, and was a major box office success, earning $121.7 million on a budget of $10.7 million, making it the 8th highest grossing film of 1982.  The film was also nominated for 3 Academy Awards at the 55th Annual Academy Awards ceremony in 1983 for Best Original Score, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects.  So let's take a trip back to 1982 to review this true horror classic.

THE GOOD

Poltergeist is a wonderful example of great storytelling both through dialogue and visuals.  The visuals are great!  It's no wonder why this movie got an Oscar nomination for visuals, they enhance the horror, they are insanely creative and you can tell so much time and effort was put into them.  The movie's tone and atmosphere is very unique, it combines a very Spielbergian tone similiar to something like E.T. or Gremlins and a strong dark horror tone, the sense of terror is always present when it needs to be.  The performances are fantastic, every actor (even the child actors) sell every emotion they have to show, especially fear, especially the boy and the mom.  Seriously, when you nearly get eaten by a tree or fall in a pool and see a bunch of caskets with skeletons randomly coming out of the ground, I am pretty sure you would be freaked the fuck out too.  For a PG movie this movie is pretty intense too!  There is some intense imagery, like the scene where this guy hallucinates peeling off his face, and it's super bloody and gory and you see most of his skull, and the skeletons coming out of the pool, and the whole final act in fact is pretty intense for a PG movie.  Apparently this was originally rated R but somehow Spielberg and Hooper managed to convince the MPAA to change it to a PG.  This movie's musical score is phenomenal, it's peaceful and whimsical when it needs to be and it's intense and extremely haunting when it needs to be. Lastly, the cinematography!  This movie has some of the best cinematography I have ever seen in a horror film.  

THE BAD

I don't have any problems with this movie whatsoever.  Maybe if you're like 12-13 years old, you might think this movie looks cheesy.

CONCLUSION

Poltergeist to me is the greatest haunted house movie of all time.  It hits all the notes a horror movie like this should hit perfectly!  The special effects are fantastic for a movie from 1982, the tone has perfect balance and it has great performances.  This is yet another essential film for any horror lover or people wanting to get into horror films.

Stay tuned for my upcoming reviews for Friday the 13th Part 2 and Fatal Attraction.

10/10  -  MASTERPIECE

Pros:

- Perfect balance of tone and atmosphere

- Special effects

- Great intensity for a PG movie

- Jerry Goldsmith's musical score

- Performances

- Cinematography 

Cons:

- None

FILM DETAILS

MPAA rating:  PG (Reason N/A)

Release date:  June 4th, 1982

Run time:  114 min

Studio:  Warner Bros. Entertainment (Current distributor), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures

SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltergeist_(1982_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/55th_Academy_Awards