This is a Horror Movie Review of One of the Greatest Ghost Movies of All Time, POLTERGEIST. Steven Speilberg and Tobe Hooper dorected this Classic in 1982. I’m sure most of us Maniacs of Horror have grown up knowing this so well they can quote most of the movie with lines like “They’re here.” “Go towards the light, All are welcome.” and “This house is Clean.” No Need Preaching this Great one up any more, Lets get to it.
The movie starts with realtor Steve Freeling, played by Craig T. Nelson, movieng his family into a newly built suburban neighborhood with his wife Diane, played by JoBeth Williams. Everything seems normal unti; one night their daughter Carol Anne, played by Heather O’Rourke, starts conversing with a signed off television. The next night Carol Anne while sleeping with her parnets again notices something try to talk to her through the tv. This time many spirits can be seen flowing out of the television and into the wall as the whole house shakes like a mild earthquake. The parents are shaken awake as Carol Anne exclaims “They’re here.”
Mild paranormal activity contiues to happen for the enxt few days with chairs being randomly staked and a certain place on the kitchen floor that drags things from one area to another. The family isn’t frightened at first, but the activity intinsifies.
One night Carol Anne’s Brother Robbie, played by Oliver Robins, is continuely frightened by a gnarled tree outside his window. The tree gets possessed by an evil spirit and actually becomes animated as it breaks through the window trying to devour the young boy. The entire family is woken up from the camossion and rushes to Robbie’s rescue. Unfortunately this is all a deversion to kidnap Carol Anne and transport her to another dimension through a portal in her closet. The family finds this out when they come back in and find her missing, but hear her voice crying out from the television.
The family becomes distraught by the abduction of Carol Anne and send un a team of parapsychologists lead by Dr. Lesh, played by Beatrice Straight, to help them. After a little investigation they find out that the family isn’t plagued by one ghost but a whole bunch of them. Steve finds out from his boss that their home was built where an old cemetary used to be located. The team of parapsychologists suggest that the remianing children Robbie and Dana, played by Dominique Dunne, should be sent away for their own safety. They then suggest that spiritual medium Tangina Barrons, played by Zelda Rubinstein, should be brought in to retrieve Carol Anne. They have never witnessed anything of this magnitude.
Tangina tells the family that the spirits seen around the house are souls trapped between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead and they must pass through the light to reach the other side. She tells them there’s someone else there with Carol Anne, a demon under the guise of a child, known to us as the beast. He uses Carol Anne to confuse the other spirits and keep them trapped between realms.
Tangina decides the only way the will be able to retrieve Carol Anne is to actually enter this other realm and grab her. She locates the entrance to the portal in the children’s closet and the exit of the portal is on the ceiling of the living room. They throw a rope through the holes and strap Diane on to it to enter the realm and get Carol Anne.
Steve holds one end of the rope to bring the both of them back, but the beast frightens him and causes him to let go. Miraculously Diane and Carol Anne fall through the exit on the ceiling in the living room unconscious but still alive. Tangina say all the spirits have left the house, they passed to the other side. She then gives the Timeless Line “this house is clean.”
The family goes back to living their normal lives the way they did before all the paranormal activity occured. Except now they plan to move to a new home. On their last night Diane is home alone with Robbie and Carol Anne.
The Beast makes one last attempt to capture Carol Anne. Diane eventually rescues the children, but corpses and coffins fly up from the ground as they try to escape the house. Steve returns home to help them and realizes that his company only moved the tombstones not the graves or bodies when they relocated it. He gathers his family and leaves just as the house implodes on itself. They then go to the nearest hotel, walk in and toss out the television as the movie ends.
There isn’t much I can say about this Perfect Horror Classic that hasn’t already been said or would do the film justice. I can only suggest that you make it a point to watch this in your near future. Wether you have seen it a thousand times or just now, you will love it.
maniacsofhorror 