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"They're here..."

When Steven Spielberg enlisted visionary Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Salem's Lot director Tobe Hooper to helm this 1982 horror film, both ended up crafting one of the most surreal and terrifying suburban nightmares ever filmed. We all know the story of Poltergeist by now, so I won't go into it, but what I will tell you is the film has aged gracefully, and it proves you don't need to shed a single drop of blood and it can still be truly scary. The DVD itself is pretty much bare bones wise in terms of extras besides offering a great looking picture and a trailer, so hopefully someday MGM will release a Special Edition version of the film that fans have been looking forward to for some time. Still, Poltergeist is still scary even to this day, and fans can only hope for a future Special Edition release.

Haunting.

Steven Spielberg doesn't just make great family films and moving dramas. He also can help make a great horror movie. Of course, he had some help from famed horror director Tobe Hooper. However, make no doubt the hand of Spielberg is all over POLTERGEIST and the movie wouldn't be the classic it is without his guiding vision.

The movie is about the Freeling family, a typical suburban family living in an above average suburbs. Everything about the Freeling's life seems normal. That is until the youngest daughter, Carol-Anne. (Heather O'Rourke) starts hearing voices late at night from the television. She wakens the family late one night to announce that, "They're heeere." From there the Freeling's lives are slowly turned upside down as small ghostly pranks such as moving chairs and breaking glass snowball into more and more frightening incidents until young Carol-Anne is kidnapped into the neatherworld by forces from beyond.

JoBeth Williams pulls off a wonderful performances as the distraught mother and Craig T. Nelson is a joy to watch as the family's patriarch.

POLTERGEIST is a horror movie that is remininscent of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, but with an extra heaping of Spielbergian special effects. The movie is full of suspense, yet actually contains very little violence, hardly any foul language, and no sex. If the film wasn't so frightening, it could be a family film.

An astounding 114 minutes of entertainment!

Poltergeist is without a doubt one of the most astounding cinematic features of all time, both visually and conceptually. Brought to the screen by Steven Spielberg and horror veteran Tobe Hooper ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"), this classic ghost story will long be remembered in the film community for its unique and entertaining blend of humor, drama, and raw horror. It is a true masterpiece in its own right, and I urge all interested in the art of cinema to view it at least once. Though once the center of much controversy (many believe Spielberg to be the creative force behind it, as opposed to the credited Hooper) this film combines (at the time of 1982) state-of-the-art special FX from the wizardry of "Industrial Light And Magic," humor and warmth from producer Steven Spielberg, and pure terror from horror master Tobe Hooper.The story concerns the Freeling family. Living in a tract home in the fictional California town of Cuesta Verde, the Freelings are a happy, close-knit family. But when they begin to experience psychic disturbances (furniture moving by themselves, forks bending mysteriously) their lives change forever. It appears that a group of ghosts called "poltergeists" have moved into their home, and although the poltergeists at first seem friendly, they soon become evil. 5 year old Carol Anne Freeling is abducted by the ghosts and taken to an other-worldly dimension, and the Freelings desperately hire 4 psychic investigators to exorcise the house of the evil spirits and bring back the innocent Carol Anne. When Carol Anne is finally rescued in a visually stunning sequence, the Freelings are ready to pack up their belongings and move out--but will the ghosts let them??This film is a must-see for horror fans alike. It features wonderful editing by Michael Khan, beautiful acting, electric photography by Matthew Leonetti, and a breathtaking original score by Jerry Goldsmith (the classic sound track has evolved into an international hit).More importantly, this film is a solid reminder of the fine acting talents of the late Heather O'Rookey and Dominique Dunne, who both died at an early age.If you're looking for a genuinely "good" horror film that doesn't simply rely on gore and bloody make-up, than rent "Poltergeist"--you won't forget it!10/10 **********

Wildly Overrated and Not That Scary

Love the cast, love the ideas, but this movie never scared me over twenty years ago when it came out and it definitely doesn't now. It felt more like an amusement park ride than a horror film.
There were rumors at the time of its release that Tobe Hooper had been fired or barely showed up, giving control of the film to Steven Spielberg. I've never heard any follow up to that, but it's obvious that this movie is more of a Spielberg film (cute kids, harmless thrills, constant tracking shots, etc.) than a Tobe Hooper film (think of the dark, mischevious cynicism of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE). I don't know.

All the whispering scenes drove me nuts. Did they think the ghosts wouldn't hear them?
The "experts" in the story didn't seem afraid of anything and made the supernatural sound fun and fulfilling. How can you feel any dread when Beatrice Straight and that crazy little psychic are all giddy?

THE EXORCIST makes POLTERGEIST look like an afterschool special on Nick at Nite.

One of my favorite horror-classics!

Though perhaps not as scary anymore compared to how I used to react when seeing "Poltergeist" when I was younger -times surely have changed, I mean; today we have asian-horror-masterpieces like "The Ring" and "The Grudge" (and many, many more of those), and imagination surely knows no limit -we're in 2005 and horror-movies are only getting creepier and creepier, but not many of the later horror-movies can be compared to the style and charm of "Poltergeist" -the story here does far more than just making people scared, we really get to "know" the characters -and the acting from the entire cast(!) is amazing. The chemistry between the members of the family "Poltergeist" is indeed there -and this way the movie and story is presented in a way as superb as was "Jaws" (though of course very different also). The highlights of the movie are many, so many legendary scenes like the pool, the toy-clown, the "they're here"-scene and so on and on.


"Poltergeist" is in other words famous for a reason, and highly recommended for horro-fans the world over!

A Work of Art....MASTERPIECE

This is one of the greatest movies ive ever seen. Everything about it is perfection. A masterpiece must, first of all, have a masterpiece of a score, and Jerry Goldsmith has done it. The special effects( by George Lucas' ILM) are perfect, but are no way the best part of this epic. The acting is at its best at all times(no big names then, just super talent).The Story(by steven Speilburg) is extremely original, imaginative, and extremely well done. Although everyone says how scary this movie is(which it is, i guess, but its a million times more than a "ghost story" or "horror movie"), but the great part of this movie is how flawlessly made and presented it is. Be prepared to be entertained, scared, and ENTERTAINED AGAIN!!!One of the greatest feats of this movie is the Sound Effects. If u don't believe me, just crank up the volume when the skeletons come out of the water in the pool scene....AWESOME. This film is Fun as hell and will have u glued to your seat the entire time. Plus, when u think the movie is over and ur about to give it a 3 and a half star rating, it takes you on an unforgettable **** journey of perfection the rest of the way. And to add genius to greatness, the final scene (i will not give it away) as the camera pans out and the great theme starts playing leaves u with a "can a movie really be this perfect" feeling. If u havent seen it, its probably Steven's best, at least technically. this is a MUST SEE-MUST SEE-MUST SEE-MUST SEE type of film. i have no more words to praise it. Congratulations Steven, youve proven your my favorite filmmaker of all time all over again!!! GO SEE IT ON DVD!!!1000000000000 out of 10

The ultimate screen ghost story. Chilling, disturbing & fun!

A young suburban family's home is taken over by otherworldy visitors who in an act of absolute vengeance, kidnap the youngest daughter. The best of all screen ghost movies, POLTERGEIST delivers non stop action & spectacular special effect that still manage to look good & spooky even after 20 years. The film is able to capture every childhood fear and torture not only the children & parents IN THE MOVIE but the audience as well. The fear of water, the fear of CLOWNS, the fear of that menacing tree infront of your bedroom window and the fear of monsters in the closet are all displayed here in the most frightening manner. These MEAN GHOSTIES don't just say "BOO!!", they roar, they laugh, THEY BITE and that's just a prelude because the last 10 minutes if this film has got to be the most thrilling, dazzling and frightening 10 minutes ever captured on film.

Aside from the Oscar-Nominated Special Effects, another of the films notable factors is the excellent ensemble cast who does an incredible job in capturing the warmth & love of a close-knit family. The lovely JoBeth Williams is specially delightful and her performance here is Oscar worthy (I'm surprised she wasn't nominated. Shame on the judges). And no review would be complete without mentioning the late, angelic Heather O'Rourke. Her innocent beauty is so astonishingly haunting that it might just burn into your subconscience an everlasting image of incorruptibility and innocence. Her unblemished radiance counteracts the visual grotesqueness & vileness of the film. Kind of like BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. It's a shame this talented little actress died at such a young age. Her fans miss her terribly.

POLTERGEIST was oringally slapped with an "R" rating. The films producer Steven Spielburg (a very smart man who knew very well that an "R" rating might hinder the films success at the box office) fought against it claiming that POLTERGEIST had no sex, no nudity & no excess violence- to which he had a point and the censors backed down. At the time, "PG-13" did not exist so the film's rating was dropped to "PG" to the dismay of many people- mostly parents who all thought the film was far too graphic & far too disturbing to be given such a MILD rating. Either way, POLTERGEIST remains a visually stunning film which combines grade-A special effects with a human element that most horror movies lack.

Superior in all aspects POLTERGEIST is a classic tour-de-force of the highest level. It's an unnerving but remarkable horror tale of things that go BUMP in the night. Highly recommended.

"This House is Clean" I don't think so!

[CONTAINS SPOILERS] In a small suburb of Cuesta Verde, lived a family known as the Freelings. There's Steven and Diane. Children: Dana, Robbie and Carol Anne. Life was going along pretty good for them, but what they didn't count on was evil spirits within the house. They communicate through the TV and the only one who understands them is youngest daughter, Carol Anne.
One afternoon, Steven and his friends were watching football, but the channel kept changing to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. I like this scene! But it was the fault of Steven's neighbor, who's TV was close to his, so his remote changed them both. It happens.
But one night, there was a terrible storm. The old tree in the backyard grabbed middle child Robbie, while Carol Anne was sucked into the closet and disappeared. But the tree let Robbie go and disappeared. But the family couldn't find Carol Anne. Had she really been sucked into the house? They call in professionals: Dr. Lesh, and crew Marty and Ryan. They monitor activity around the house. The kids' bedroom was full of objects flying around! They were unsure if this was a haunting or a poltergeist. It's obviously a poltergeist, because that's the name of the movie.
But for a while, there was no progress. So they called in Tangina Barron, the best house cleaner in the land. She came up withthe plan of one of them going into the other dimension and bringing Carol Anne out. Diane did and came out successful. Tangina smiled and declared, "this house is clean."
I don't think so, for that night, more evil spirits attacked Diane and the kids when they were getting ready to move out. Steven to the rescue. They jump in the family car and escape just as the house disappears into thin air. What had happened was: Steven' company relocated the cemetary, only they moved the headstones. They left the bodies and that's what was attacking them: decomposing zombies. The Freelings arrived at the Holiday Inn and checked into their room. A minute later, the door opened and Steven shoved the TV set outside.
A pretty good movie. It has it's moments, and one of them is very grotesque. It's where Marty, or was it Ryan, one of them is looking in the mirror and pulling his face apart. Geez! I gotta turn away when that scene comes on. Gross!
Look carefully and you'll notice alot of Star Wars things allover the kids' bedroom. Because George Lucas worked on this movie a little too. I'm sorry to say that three cast members are no longer with us: Dominique Dunne (Dana) was killed in 1982 by a creep that should've got life in prison, but only got two years. I also hear the hospital just let her die. Very sad; Heather O'Rourke (Carol Anne) died in 1988 of some strange disease. It is very sad when children die. They shouldn't have to. They should live full productive lives. Beatrice Straight died in 2001, but she died of old age. So in conclusion, this movie is pretty good. It's got Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, and Zelda Rubinstein, who would return for II and III. Poltergeist III was the worst motion picture in the history of anything. I recommend Poltergeist! And we'll miss poor Dominique Dunne and Heather O'Rourke.
By the way, Happy 20th Anniversary, Poltergeist! Twenty years ago, we, er you (I wasn't born yet) walked into the theatre and saw this fabulous Spielberg film. Directed by Tobe "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" Hooper and Steven "Jaws" Spielberg. I recommend Poltergeist!!-

Good classic scary movie

This is an all around good scary movie. It scared me as a kid and I still like watching it.

Thin and empty chiller, though raising the occasional parapsychological shiver.

Many believe that the films hype is its only saving grace. Its pedestrian pace slows the film down although it has enough memorable scenes to justify its running time. The `happy, happy family' prospect of the film is a used idea and comes off as being lacklustre. It's a shame they didn't use more popular actors, as the leads are a serious case of, `where are they now'. One good thing about the movie was that it didn't need any hi-tech visual effects to come across as chilling. Spielberg's directing was excellent and brings a tremendous atmosphere to the film. On the whole I enjoyed Poltergeist. It has its flaws and various scenes of unnecessary, gratuitous nonsense. But hence the old saying, `the ends justify the means'. 8.2 out of 10.

Monsters in the Closet and Under the Bed

**SPOILERS POSSIBLE**What is a poltergeist? It is a ghost, which announces its presence with loud noises and the creation of disorder. But the poltergeists in this movie go far beyond that. Directed by Tobe Hooper and produced by Steven Speilberg, "Poltergeist" is (in my opinion) one of the scariest movies of all time. The plotline is very original (written by Speilberg), on how nasty ghosts invade a family home, kidnap the 5-year-old daughter and bring her to the other side, and her parents must battle the ghosts to get her back. Although filmed in 1982, the special effects in "Poltergeist" are very astounding and are done very well (my favorite being the beast esophagus, which manifests grusomely in the children's bedroom closet). Some people who have seen the movie still have nightmares about it two decades later, esspecially the incidents with the malevolent clown doll, and the swimming pool. "Poltergeist" is definately worth watching, for those in neat of excitement.10 Stars.

Still The Best

When this film came out in '82, my mom saw it and said I couldn't see it. I was 8 and my mom had always let me watch PG films, but not this one. I now wanted to see this so bad. Anyway, I went to my dad's that weekend and he asked if I wanted to see it. I said yes, of course, but he said I had to call my mom and ask if it was o.k. with her. I never called her, of course, and told him she said yes. Off we went to what would become the only movie that almost made me pass out.
I was so hyped about this movie and excited, once it began I was sucked in, mesmerized and horrified. Once it got to the scene where the scientist tears his face off, I began to hyperventilate like I was on a roller coaster ride, I was so into the movie. My dad elbowed me and I snapped out of it and came back to reality. I looked around me and everyone was laughing at me. It was GREAT!

The film is exceptionally well acted and directed(whomever directed it-Spielberg or Hooper-is still to this day in question). Excellent special effects for '82 and they still hold up. A great musical score by the late great Jerry Goldsmith, just top notch all the way. The sequels didn't fare as well, they got worse and worse, however, the original is still to this day, the best haunted house/ghost story EVER. Check this film out and have a blast.

Poltergeist

in this movie a group of seemingly benign ghosts begin communicating with five-year-old Carol Anne Freeling in her parents' suburban California home via static on the television. Eventually they use the TV as their path into the house itself. They kidnap Carol Anne, and most of the film involves the family's efforts to rescue her. Eventually they do, but then the spirits, led by a demon known only as The Beast, go on a total rampage. Michael Grais and Mark Victor co-wrote with Spielberg and the movie starred Craig T. Nelson, Steven "Steve. This movie is one of the scariest movies ever made. Although there were three made, the first one my far is the best one.

Now THIS is a horror movie!!

There are two types of "horror" films:There are the scary ones, which is what the word "horror" means in the first place,and then there is the bloody,gory kind.Perhaps the latter kind should be categorized under another name.At any rate,Poltergeist is a good horror film.It goes beyond the idea of typical ghosts in sheets jumping out of nowhere and saying "boo!".Most of the adventure takes place in their world rather than ours,although we cannot see what is going on there.This is a very thrilling movie.It has great special effects and all of the scare elements that make a horror film what it is supposed to be.The clown in the chair at the foot of the boy's bed was a particularly tense moment for me.This is the only movie I went to see 4 times at the theater,partly to watch others' reactions.I have often heard that the film,and it's two sequels,were the victim of some type of curse,as after each film was released,a member of the cast passed away,including Heather O'Rourke,who played Carol Anne, after the 3rd film.She was only 10.Curse? Coincidence? Who knows? I guess anything is possible.All in all,this is one of the best films ever for the horror genre.

AN INSTANT CLASSIC!

Poltergiest is a special effects-laden shocker that plays off of one of our worst fears: the unknown. It's a chilling movie with top-notch acting, and is by far a visual masterpiece! Directed by Tobbe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and produced by Steven Spielberg (E.T.), this movie will keep you biting your nails until the credits are finished rolling. The story opens up in the suburbs, somewhere in California. In this seemingly ideal living area, we meet the Freeling family. The Freelings are your typical American family. They're all very normal. But their house isn't. Strange things occur around the house, such as chairs moving by themselves and things becoming mis-placed; and the little girl, Carol Anne, starts talking to the TV when it is turned onto an empty channel... Then it happens: five year-old Carol Anne is kidnapped by something not of this earth...something so powerful, it can only be called The Beast. After Carol Anne's kidnapping by the evil spirits, her voice can be heard calling out from every corner of the house, but she cannot be found! Seeking help, the Freelings turn to a group of psychics; but the demented forces that have young Carol Anne in their grip won't let her go without a fight....Imaginative, frightening, funny, witty, spellbinding...Poltergeist is all of these. It's a one-of-a-kind flick that garnered two blockbuster sequals, and an important place in movie history.

Read em (the dvd specs.) and weep! (and you WILL weep)

Here you go for all the people wondering the EXACT spcifications for this "special edition". 5 Stars for the movie, 5 stars for the E! Documentary shown in Oct. the past few years (I'll be watching IT for sure again), and Negative 666 stars for the extras.


Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with its soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 this 25th Anniversary Edition of Poltergeist also includes the They Are Here: The Real World of Poltergeists Revealed documentary in 2 Parts: Science of the Spirits and Communing with the Dead. Also on the disc is the Theatrical Trailer.

Audio and subtitle options are English (5.1 and 2.0), French, Spanish (both 2.0) and Portuguese (1.0). Chinese subtitles are also included.

a breath-taking edge-of-your-seat thriller!

This movie was absolutely fantastic....incredibly acted, extremely suspenseful,and nail-bitingly scary...the perfect late-night movie...will send shivers down your spine and leave u begging for more...."They're heeeerrrrrrreeeeeeee! " You'll love it!

an imaginative, creative, smart film.

Poltergeist is one of my all time favorite horror/thriller movies of all time. The directing is great along with the cast and the acting. Compared to the special effects of this age, poltergeist's are not that great, but they were top of the line back then. This movie didn't make me jump at any scenes, but the whole idea of it was scary. Actually, there was one scene that made me jump, and it was the clown scene. Its classic. For some reason, the horror movies of this age lack the true horror elements like the ones fifty or so years ago. Every horror movie now is so freaking typical and almost boring at times. This is not the case for Poltergeist. Its extremely original and there is never a dull moment in the movie. Its fast paced and scary if you really think about the concept. What i think is scary about the movie is the concept of the unknown. Unlike slasher movies where you actually see the killer, in Poltergeist things are confusing and it has no boundaries in what it does. It can make a tree attack, chairs stack, a clown attack, a man rip off his face, it can even make a closet try to suck up two kids! With a regular slasher movie, the killer cant do those kind of things. They are very limited in how they kill their victims.Overall, I would highly advise you to see Poltergeist. Its original, imaginative and scary. If your a true horror fan, you should definitely see it. I give it 9/10 A great movie. P.S, sorry for any misspelled words.

Can anyone not be afraid of this movie?

I just saw this movie for the first time last week. I can sit through practically any horror movie, but this was so frightening and horribly vivid in imagery! A must see for any horror fan, this is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. For anyone who hasn't seen Poltergeist before--beware the PG rating, this is not a movie for the faint of heart, and not suitable for young children who scare easily.

Good special effect, but a bad story.

This movie is based on special effects. I know that Steven Spielberg likes those, but he over-used them this time. The story is already bad enough, but with all those special effects, it is just not credible. Horror-movies like "The Sixth Sense" and "The Others", have proven to be very successful. I guess Steven Spielberg hadn't got that in 1982.