Poltergeist

Rating:
Summary: Poltergeist (1982)
Review: In 1982, director Tobe Hooper and producer-director Steven Spielberg brought us the one horror movie we'll never forget. That movie, ladies & gentlemen, is POLTERGEIST.

The Freelings: Steven Freeling (played by Craig T. Nelson), Diane Freeling (played by JoBeth Williams), Dana Freeling (played by Dominique Dunne), Robbie Freeling (played by Oliver Robbins), and the adorable 5-year-old Carol Anne Freeling (played by Heather O'Rourke), are living in the most beautiful house in the suburbs, just outside of what appears to be Arizona. For two straight nights, Carol Anne wakes up to the static reception of the Freeling's television set. She seems to be talking to the static channel. Seems as though, Carol Anne is receiving communications from ghosts, located in another dimension, where Carol Anne claims to her parents that, "They're here". The next morning, the furniture is being moved around by an unseen force. Now, you would think this particular scene is rather hilarious and you have every to think that it is historically funny. But that night, while in the midst of a storm, an old tree, sitting next to the house, horrifyingly comes to life and grabs Robbie, shattering his bedroom window. Steven and Diane run out to the backyard, desperately trying to save their 8-year-old son. What slipped Steven and Diane's minds is that they left Carol Anne in the bedroom alone. Her bedroom closet opens on its own, where an unseen force takes Carol Anne into the closet. Luckily enough, Steven has rescued his son from the horrifying tree, which is taken away by a mild tornado. Steven and Diane rush back inside to check on Carol Anne. They check the whole house, but cannot find Carole Anne anywhere. Robbie stands in his parents' bedroom, relieved and still very frightened until he hears the voice of his little sister. He looks around and finds that her callings are coming from...the television set.

Steven and Diane have decided to get their help from three parapsychologists: Dr. Lesh (played by Beatrice Straight), Marty (played by Martin Casella), & Ryan (played by Richard Lawson). That night, Steven and Diane try calling out Carol Anne's name, whilst the three psychologists watch. Diane calls until she hears Carol Anne's pleasant little voice. They realize that Carol Anne is inside the house, but through another dimension. Everything goes well as Carol Anne tries talking to her family, until something evil begins chasing her, causing her to lose contact with her family. Dr. Lesh and her assistants spend the night for more activity. One specific occurrence during the night is when Marty decides to get himself a midnight snack. Grabbing a stake from the fridge, Marty consciously watches the stake move across the counter and begin ripping itself apart. Scaring the hell out of him, Marty runs to the bathroom to wash his face. As he washes his face, the light becomes brighter than the sun, scourging Marty's face, where he then rips the flesh right off his face in a bloody mess. But he comes to realization that he was only hallucinating. Moments later, the cameras are turned on and pointed towards Robbie and Carol Anne's room, where something is seen floating down the stairs. Everyone looks up in fright, as the apparition disappears. They roll back the film and watch what the camera had picked up. They find the spirits of poorly deceased people. Seems as though the Poltergeists are the ghosts of people who are not at rest.

Dr. Lesh has brought in some extra help. The extra help comes from that of Tangina Barrons (played by Zelda Rubinstein). She explains to the Steven and Diane about the ghosts they had seen and why they are in need of Carol Anne's existence. The deceased need Carol Anne to help them cross over to the light into Heaven. But Tangina then goes into the evil portion of this whole nightmarish ordeal. There is an evil presence in this dimension with her. This evil being is only a child to Carol Anne, but to the adults, the evil being is The Beast.

Grabbing rope and entering the kids' bedroom, Tangina, Steve, and Diane desperately try to save their little daughter, while Dr. Lesh and Ryan pull on the rope from downstairs. Diane goes in after Carol Anne, where Steven is horrifyingly frightened by what Tangina had spoken of: The Beast. He drops the rope, as Diane and Carol Anne fall through the downstairs ceiling. Diane and Carol Anne have survived and are doing fine, where the family decides that they're packing up their belongings and moving on out of that house.

While Steven works for just a few more hours on the night of their departure, as Dana has dinner with friends, Diane is home with Robbie and Carol Anne. While taking a bath, Robbie is suddenly pulled under his bed by his horrifyingly toy clown. Diane finishes drying her hair, until she hears Robbie and Carol Anne scream. She tries to rush out to them, but she is pulled up onto the ceiling by an unseen force. Seems as though Tangina only cleared out the good spirits, but had seemed to have accidentally left the evil in the house. She makes it out of her bedroom and reaches the children's bedroom, but the beast appears at the door, throwing Diane down the stairs and out of the house. While in the backyard, screaming for help, Diane slips into their empty swimming pool, where the bodies of the deceased suddenly appear from the ground. The Freeling's house was, indeed, built overtop a cemetery. Steven's boss had moved the headstones, but had left the bodies where they were. Diane escapes the corpse-filled pool and enters the house. She makes to the kids bedroom and saves Robbie and Carol Anne as their closet breaks away and becomes the entrance to Hell. As they rush through the house, trying to get to the front door, more coffins pop up, revealing more dead bodies. Steven arrives and freaks, grabbing his boss and screaming at him for the horrible mistake he made. He meets up with Diane and the kids, as they jump into the car. Just then, Dana pulls up and finds the horrifying mess. She takes one look and jumps into the car with her family, while screaming in fear. As they drive off, they house is broken away into the light and all is left is an empty space, where that beautiful house once stood.

Can you survive the most terrifying poltergeists stirred up by Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg? The only you can find out is by watching POLTERGEIST. But be careful, he knows what scares you.

Rating:
Summary: A Horror Movie - Spielberg Style!
Review: Every since "Poltergeist" was released there has been debate about who influenced the final result more, Director Tobe Hooper or Producer Steven Spielberg. I personally think the answer can be discovered by comparing Poltergeist to their previous works: I ask you, is it closer in style to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "Raiders of the Lost Ark"?

All that aside, "Poltergeist" is a rippin' good ghost story. Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams play the parents of a family that unfortunately lives in one wicked suburbia haunted house. The movie develops slowly, giving us time to care about this family. Mr. Nelson and Ms. Williams are dream parents - cool, funny, smart and devoted to the family and each other.

The kids are pretty typical movie kids and their performances don't detract.

Initially, there are just a few unusual and creepy goings-on. Chairs move by themselves. The youngest daughter, played by young Heather O'Rourke, makes out voices that come through the television late at night after everyone else has gone to sleep.

At about the midway point of the film the owners of the "voices" start some serious shenanigans in the house and in the confusion, take little Carol Anne hostage. You're on the edge of your seat the rest of the movie.

Some academic ghost-buster types move in and set up cameras and recorders. Next thing you know, weird things are happening to them as well.

Made before the CGI age, "Poltergeist" nonetheless has some impressive special effects. The story tries to get under your skin. It doesn't just pick one thing to be scared of. There is no 25 foot shark or machete-wielding madman. Instead it succeeds over and over again at creeping you out at everyday objects. The old oak tree in the back yard becomes a menace. Toys in the kid's room turn sinister. The kitchen becomes a fright-hall.

When everyday objects are suddenly turning against you, what can you do? These are the things the family and the ghostbusters have to deal with while they try to figure out if they can get Carol Anne back.

My first experience with "Poltergeist" wasn't watching the movie. I was in a multiplex, next door watching something else, but through the walls WE were listening to the audience watching "Poltergeist" next door shrieking and screaming. I know I wasn't the only person thinking "What in the WORLD are they WATCHING next door?" We stepped out of our movie at the end to see the overhead sign. We knew this was something we HAD to go see.

We weren't disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Simplicity
Review: To everyone writing a review...Please know your information before you begin to write. The scene where carol-anne says , "They're here" is NOT in the begining. It happens after the earthquake, and she is at the foot of her parents bed. The family's name is the Freelings, not feeling or furlings. And, last but not least, the people who bought their movie from amazon should have gotten off their lazy (explicative)'s and went to best-buy and got it for $9.99.

Rating:
Summary: Alright...This Isn't Rated R
Review: I'm not here to write a review on Poltergeist, although it was a fantastic film, but just to tell you that this IS NOT rated R. I bought it at a store around here, and it's PG. That's right. PG. Amazon obviously got the rating wrong. I'm wondering if I got a cut version or something. Maybe this is different? Post if you can tell me what happened!

Rating:
Summary: Semi descent movie
Review: For the 80's this was a pretty good movie with some cool special effects for its time. Also it was one of the first ghost movies that was scary and interesting. But now its 2004... and unless you're a kid under 12, I really can't see anything about this movie thats gonna truely scare you. The movie has some suspenseful moments and eerieness to it. However the movie has such a fictional feel to it that I cant picture anyone aside from a child losing any sleep or feeling disturbed or frightened. I cant understand why this movie got an R rating. All in all a good scary movie for kids 12 and under.

Rating:
Summary: First class horror film
Review: This film still holds up as being one of the most scariest and coolest films of all time. Sure, the special effects are dated, but they still hold up well.

The story, acting, and characters are all exciting and interesting. The scary scenes are, well, scary. There's never a moment where I'm not interested in what I'm seeing on the screen. So I give it 5 stars.