Poltergeist

Movie Title--  Poltergeist

Release Year--  1982

Running Time--  1 Hour and 54 Minutes

Director--  Tobe Hooper

Cast--  Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Heather O'Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein

Ghosts haunt a family's home.

Steven (Craig T. Nelson) and Diane Freeling (JoBeth Williams) live in a community called Cuesta Verde in California where Steven also works as a successful real estate developer.  Together they are raising three children, Dana (Dominique Dunne), Robbie (Oliver Robins) and Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke).  One night, Carol Ann wakes from sleep and goes downstairs, then proceeds to carry on a conversation with the static that is on the screen that has followed the nightly sign off announcement.  Her voice gets louder and louder, eventually waking the entire house.

The following night there is a very bad storm and Robbie and Carol Anne end up in bed with their parents because they are afraid of the storm.  In the middle of the night, Carol Anne wakes up and goes to the foot of the bed, sitting and staring at the static on the screen as she had the night before.  Suddenly, an apparition bursts out from the screen and Carol Anne watches as it goes into the wall.  This triggers an earthquake, shaking the bed around violently and when it is all over Carol Anne announces "They're here.".

The next morning while the family is having breakfast Robbie's glass breaks as he is drinking out of it and all the kitchen chairs are pulled out after everyone has left the kitchen.  Frustrated that the chairs are all pulled out, Diane pushes them all in back in, sits Carol Anne on the counter, then turns her back only for a moment and when she turns back around, the chairs are stacked up on top of the kitchen table.  As the day goes on, the phenomenon intensifies and by the time Steven gets home, things are moving around the kitchen in front of their eyes.  That night, a tree crashes into Robbie and Carol Ann's bedroom window, grabbing Robbie out of his bed.  Steven and Diane rush outside to keep Robbie from being swallowed by the possessed tree.  While they are preoccupied, Carol Anne is taken through a portal in the closet and after the family discover she is missing, they hear her voice transmitting through the television set.

A group of parapsychologists come to the house to determine if the family actually has a paranormal presence in the house and discover that there is more than one there.  Steven's boss comes out to check on him since he has been absent from work and as they are walking, Steven learns that the houses in Cuesta Verde were built on the land that an old cemetery had once been on.  

Steven and Diane send Dana and Robbie away and Dr. Lesh (Beatrice Straight) calls a spiritual medium, Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) in to help recover Carol Anne and banish the dark spirits.

Well, I didn't hate this film but it wasn't one of my favorites.  This is one of those films that anyone that likes horror flicks have already seen and anyone that doesn't like horror films has avoided, so really this one is going to be based on how you feel about scary movies.  

The acting is good and the story flows along pretty well, although there are times that it feels a little long and perhaps some of it could have been cut out but overall, it holds up well to today's haunting themed films.

I say, if this is your type of film, turn off the lights, hide under the blankets and hope that when Heather O'Rourke says "They're here.", she isn't talking about your house and Don't Forget the Popcorn!