The Spielberg-produced haunted house horror POLTERGEIST is one of those perennial favourites, one of those classic 1980s films that survives down the years, my appreciation growing as each decade passes. It's one of those films I saw and loved as a kid, although I found it very frightening; THAT bathroom scene has to go down in history as one of the most purely disgusting ever put on screen. It's highly stylised, and Hollywoodised with it; if you're looking for something more realistic and disturbing, go check out THE ENTITY instead. This one's all about the spectacle, a fairground ghost train ride put on film.
Elsewise, POLTERGEIST works very efficiency. There's the slow, creepy build-up, kept realistic and almost-believable, especially the effective stuff with the sliding chairs; intrigue builds upon intrigue, with some nice comic relief inbetween, and then everything lets rip for the pyrotechnic shriek-show in the second half. This latter stage is a masterwork of special effects technology, from miniatures to superimposed imagery and prosthetic effects work; I don't usually care for films that rely on FX too heavily but I'll make an exception for this one.
And what a cast, too! Heather O'Rourke must be the epitome of the innocent young American girl caught up in a world of evil, and both Nelson and Williams excel as the exasperated parents who gradually become more deranged as the tale progresses. Of course, Zela Rubenstein's scene-stealing medium is remembered for a reason, and there's a nice little cameo for RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD's James Karen, too. Come the ending, with those graves popping out of the ground, well just wow: this truly is a great little film, that stands proud among the rest of the classics of the '80s.
Elsewise, POLTERGEIST works very efficiency. There's the slow, creepy build-up, kept realistic and almost-believable, especially the effective stuff with the sliding chairs; intrigue builds upon intrigue, with some nice comic relief inbetween, and then everything lets rip for the pyrotechnic shriek-show in the second half. This latter stage is a masterwork of special effects technology, from miniatures to superimposed imagery and prosthetic effects work; I don't usually care for films that rely on FX too heavily but I'll make an exception for this one.
And what a cast, too! Heather O'Rourke must be the epitome of the innocent young American girl caught up in a world of evil, and both Nelson and Williams excel as the exasperated parents who gradually become more deranged as the tale progresses. Of course, Zela Rubenstein's scene-stealing medium is remembered for a reason, and there's a nice little cameo for RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD's James Karen, too. Come the ending, with those graves popping out of the ground, well just wow: this truly is a great little film, that stands proud among the rest of the classics of the '80s.