Poltergeist (1982)

Sorry for the longggggggggg delay, everyone ... many life changes, much less free time, more hobbies, less sitting still, etc. etc. etc. I'm now way behind "schedule," so I hope to post a lot in the next few days. I'm also going to start a new blog about single malt scotches, may do some cross linking from here to there, etc. 

So, coming back with a one of the big boys of horror - Poltergeist (1982), which is nominally directed by Tobe Hooper of Texas Chainsaw Massacre "fame," but produced by Steven Spielberg. 

It FEELS like Spielberg, honestly. We have the unaware/useless parents, the active imperiled children, the supernatural or unexplainable entity which challenges the family to adapt and grow... just on this template alone we have Close Encounters, E.T., Jaws, Temple of Doom (sort of), Empire of the Sun, Hook, Jurassic Park, A.I., War of the Worlds... maybe more.

I've read numerous articles about who "really" directed this movie, and it apparently it WAS Tobe Hooper... but I swear, this movie has the look and feel of a Spielberg, and that's my final offer. It has nothing or less than nothing in common with other Tobe Hooper films - it has everything in common with other Spielbergs. 

The film itself is masterful - one of the great horror movies of all time. The plot is deceptively simple - a family of five (father, mother, son, two daughters) moves into a new house... but quickly discover something is off about the new house - there is a poltergeist (duh). 

The dad is played by Craig T. Nelson, and the mom is played by JoBeth Williams, and they are amazing. In turns bewildered, brave, scared, they run the full range of emotion and are one of the most convincing screen couples in horror movie history. Hell, maybe movie history. They look and feel like a real married couple. 

The kids are also very good, especially the girls - the late Dominique Dunne as the older sister Dana and precocious Heather O'Rourke as the most famous of the family, Carol Ann. Carol Ann is the one who is responsible for The Moment That Everyone Knows, where she reaches out to the TV ... and the TV reaches back. "They're heeeeeeeeere," she says...

The special effects are mind-blowingly amazing... both audio (underrated) and visual. The creepy delay effect they apply to voices from The Other Side is unforgettable. The living tree... the vortex in the kids room ... the seance... the spirits on film... the maggots on the steak... I mean, across the board the movie is frightening as hell. 

It's scary not just in a What The Hell Was That kind of way, which any movie can do, but in a deep, unsettling, disturbing kind of way. In a This Family Is Very Vulnerable kind of way. You feel fairly certain that this could happen in YOUR life. You feel fairly sure that the lines between the living and the dead are very, very blurred.

I had the privilege and pleasure of viewing this movie on the big screen at the AFI during an '80s revival festival a few years back, and it was ten times scarier and more powerful than normally. The soundtrack and audio track especially stood out - I'll never forget the creepy little audio details I caught. 

The movie, of course, was a HUGE smash hit. Made for roughly ten million, it brought back $120,000,000+ and spawned a legion of drastically inferior sequels. The sequels will have to be dealt with at some future date, but I just don't have it in me so soon after returning. 

I also want to give a nod to the magnificent Zelda Rubinstein, who plays the medium Tangina Barrons and is maybe the most identifiable character in the movie outside the family. She has most of the movie's best lines and moments, and people who haven't even seen the film can quote her dialog ... "Go into the light!" This is her apogee, and I'm glad the film is worthy of her.