RETRO REVIEW: ‘Poltergeist’ still frightens 30 years afters its release

Poltergeist, Tobe Hooper’s excellent horror film from 1982, is still an eerie cinematic affair some 30 years after its initial release. The story of a family’s plight against ghostly invaders in a suburban development holds up well, and much of the creepiness hasn’t faded.

Every time I hear the words “Carol Anne” or “They’re here,” the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. No wonder this seminal film spawned two sequels.

Everyone knows the story by heart: The Freeling family is your typical American family. Mom and Dad work hard, love their children and smoke pot when the kids aren’t looking. Everything seems to be minivans, soccer practices and breakfasts-on-the-go in the Freeling household.

And then the TV starts acting up…

Carol Anne (the late Heather O’Rourke) is an innocent, porcelain doll of a child. When she gets sucked into the television and unleashes an ungodly spirit on the house, all hell begins to break loose. Chairs start flying across the kitchen floor. Electricity buzzes around inanimate objects. And there’s something mysterious in the closet upstairs.

For the most part, Poltergeist tracks the reluctance of Steve Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) and Diane Freeling (JoBeth Williams) to accept the fact that something is awry. They are unwilling to believe that their house and children are in peril. It takes Carol Anne’s disappearance into another world for them to kick their worry into high gear.

We come to learn that the entire development where the family lives was built on an old Indian burial ground. These spirits are out for revenge, and it’s up to Carol Anne and a medium called Tangina (the late Zelda Rubinstein) to “clear this house” of its ghosts.

The acting is enjoyable. I particularly like Williams as the mother. She’s not that stereotypical “Where’s my child” mommy who screams and cries in the corner (although she does both). She carves out a sexy, independent woman who cares for her family and is not above falling into a mud pit in the backyard.

Nelson is also quite good, and who doesn’t love Rubinstein’s strange southern-twanged line delivery and O’Rourke’s big-eyed stares into the darkness?

Hooper, who shot to fame after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, handles the special effects with an expert’s eye. He stages much of the action like Steven Spielberg’s E.T. — everything is from the level of the family and there are few scenes outside the house. This makes for a claustrophobic feeling that the world is somehow coming to an end in the Freeling abode.

Hooper’s film should feel like a Spielberg movie because the legendary director of Jaws and Jurassic Park actually wrote the screenplay with Michael Grais and Mark Victor. The Freelings feel like a Spielberg cinematic family: The only way they are going to overcome adversity is to band together and rely on their shared love (we’ve seen this theme repeated time and time again).

Poltergeist still impresses visually, and because of Hooper’s effective direction, the scares are still frightening.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Poltergeist

• 1982

• Directed by Tobe Hooper

• Written by Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais and Mark Victor; based on a story by Spielberg

• Starring JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Heather O’Rourke and Zelda Rubinstein

• Running time: 114 minutes

• Rated PG

• Rating: