Poltergeist (1982)

As a family moves into their new home, they notice strange events that mostly affect their young daughter.

Director:

Tobe Hooper

Writers:

Steven Spielberg (screenplay), Michael Grais (screenplay),

Stars:

JoBeth Williams, Heather O'Rourke, Craig T. Nelson

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Craig T. Nelson	...	Steve Freeling
JoBeth Williams	...	Diane Freeling (as Jobeth Williams)
Beatrice Straight	...	Dr. Lesh
Dominique Dunne	...	Dana Freeling
Oliver Robins	...	Robbie Freeling
Heather O'Rourke	...	Carol Anne Freeling
Michael McManus	...	Ben Tuthill
Virginia Kiser	...	Mrs. Tuthill
Martin Casella	...	Marty
Richard Lawson	...	Ryan
Zelda Rubinstein	...	Tangina
James Karen	...	Mr. Teague
Lou Perryman	...	Pugsley (as Lou Perry)
Clair E. Leucart	...	Bulldozer Driver (as Clair Leucart)
Dirk Blocker	...	Jeff Shaw

Storyline

A young family are visited by ghosts in their home. At first the ghosts appear friendly, moving objects around the house to the amusement of everyone, then they turn nasty and start to terrorise the family before they "kidnap" the youngest daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

ghost | television | chair | moving | paranormal investigator | 

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Taglines:

From a dimension beyond the living, a terror to scare you to death.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

-16

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 October 1982 (France)

Also Known As:

Poltergeist

Filming Locations:

4267 Roxbury Street, Forest Hills, Simi Valley, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,700,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,896,612 (USA) (4 June 1982)

Gross:

$76,600,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), SLM Production Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 120 min (original cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) (as Dolby Stereo) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The most commercially successful film of the Poltergeist trilogy.

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Goofs

During the initial investigation, when the ghost comes down the staircase, nothing appears on the monitor, but when reviewed, the tape does appear to have captured the incident. This is part of ghost lore.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Carol Anne: Hello? What do you look like? Talk louder, I can't hear you! Hey, hello! Hello, I can't hear you! Five. Yes. Yes. I don't know. I don't know.

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Crazy Credits

The initial end credits has the closing shot of the Holiday Inn as a backdrop.

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Connections

Referenced in E! True Hollywood Story: Curse of Poltergeist (2002)

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Soundtracks

The Star-Spangled Banner
(1814) (uncredited)
Music based on "The Anacreontic Song" by John Stafford Smith
Arranged by Arturo Toscanini
[Played as TV sign-off music several times]

User Reviews

Steven Spielberg's ghost story

"Poltergeist" is Steven Spielberg's vision of a ghost story, and a great one at that. This is an outstanding movie in every way possible. It has terrific acting, a good story to tell, a nice sense of humor, and astonishing special effects. Plus when I first saw this film, it was pretty scary.

"Poltergeist" tells the story of a suburban family living in a small town in California who's home is abruptly invaded by supernatural forces who are anything but friendly, and proceed to terrorize the entire clan. This is a movie that plays like a roller-coaster ride, and once it gets going it never stops.

Tobe Hooper, who directed the original 1974 cult classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", was picked by Spielberg to direct "Poltergeist". He does a fine job of creating scares and tension, even though rumors were floating around that writer/producer Spielberg actually stepped in and directed some of the film (Spielberg went on to say that Hooper was the director of "Poltergeist" even though Spielberg was very much involved with this film from start to finish). To me, it doesn't matter who directed it. This is still an excellent horror movie. Spielberg did a great job as writer/producer, and even if he had directed the whole movie it would still be as good. JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson are wonderful as the head of the Freeling family, with Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, and Heather O'Rourke equally good as their kids. The late Oscar-winning actress Beatrice Straight ("Network") scores points as a parapsycologist investigating the hauntings, and Zelda Rubinstein steals scenes as the mysterious clairvoyant brought in to "clean house". The acting is great, but it's the Oscar-nominated special effects that dominate. Wow! This horror film is a must-see!

***** (out of five)