by Robert Lucas
If there was something strange in your neighbourhood in the 1980s, then Spielberg probably had a hand in it somewhere. Yes, brandishing Steven’s name unashamedly is Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist. But I suppose the reel question is, will this 80s horror movie be Sinister or a Devils Reject?
I wonder, watching Poltergeist again today, at what point did Hooper know he had something really special? was it when he first read the script? was there a moment of perfection on set? or not until the final cut was on the big screen for the first time? Or perhaps it’s only now looking backwards can he see how influential and important a movie Poltergeist really was.
It’s true that Alien might have made the horror genre, but Poltergeist bought it home. Poltergeist like most great movies, spoke of something much deeper in society than what was being shown. For inside Poltergeist we can see clearly the fear that many parents had (and still do) of losing their kids to TV.
Poltergeist defies conventions throughout the movie. We are introduced to a family who seem normal enough, they have a nice house, 3 children and an ordinary life, but scratch below the surface and we can see these are not good people. The parents get stoned while the kids are asleep, the oldest daughter who’s 16 goes out all hours of the night and comes back covered in love bites, and the oldest son enjoys causing destruction wherever possible. Yet, these are ordinary people and our heroes for the movie. Today that sounds fine, but in the 80’s that was ground breaking.
Poltergeist is ground breaking in so many ways; it toys with the genre, splicing lines of comedy with pure shock and intensity. The horror escalates with mounting terror for the full duration, the haunting begins as playful and quickly turns nasty, and then there is that clown!.
The fact I can say “that clown” and you know the one that I’m talking about is a testament to how important a film Poltergeist was (and still is), it’s true power as a movie is it’s ability to take ordinary household items (like a steak) and turn them into something ghastly.
Poltergeist is a beautiful blend of wonderful directing, clever scripting, and expert special effects. It is a movie that inspired a whole generation of film makers.
Poltergeist is the perfect horror movie, it gave birth to all the modern haunted house films we love now and will be forever a classic.
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