Poltergeist (1982)

40th Anniversary!

“They’re heeeeere!”  Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper’s nightmarishly fun, ghost-filled spooktacular (produced by Steven Spielberg) is the ultimate suburban nightmare, as an All-American Family, the Freelings, are forced to deal with a haunted house plagued by killer trees, evil clown dolls and a child-snatching TV set!  And don’t even think about using the backyard swimming pool, because it’s already jam-packed with corpses! Where’s a good realtor when you really need one? Released the same summer as E.T., Poltergeist gleefully offers up the frightening flip side to Spielberg’s feel good alien blockbuster, and it remains a wildly entertaining rollercoaster of a horror movie, driven by humor, highly effective scares (built from all the things that scare us the most) and great special effects.   And don’t let the PG rating fool you – Poltergeist traumatized a generation of movie-loving kids and gave audiences of all ages a serious case of the shivers that has never gone away. (Dir. by Tobe Hooper, 1982, USA, 114 mins., Rated PG)