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Poltergeist (1982)
~Review by Grawlix (October 2024)
Given the regularity with which he produces big-budget Oscar bait, it can be easy to forget that Steven Spielberg has always kept one foot in pulpy genre filmmaking. Particularly in the early going, movies like Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and even E.T., to say nothing of the Indiana Jones franchise are, at their cores, high concept treatments of some fairly lowbrow ideas: Rampaging beasts, alien invasions, adventure serial-style derring-do. But even with all that considered, Poltergeist occupies a fairly unique position in his oeuvre as his only full-fledged horror movie. …Sort of.
See, Spielberg is credited as writer and producer, but due to contractual language in E.T., which was in production at the same time (The two films would be released a mere week apart), he wasn’t able to officially direct another movie simultaneously. As such, the official credited director is Tobe Hooper. Now, Tobe Hooper would be a solid choice to direct a movie like Poltergeist, having burst onto the scene with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre several years before. Indeed, there are several surprisingly graphic scenes in Poltergeist that would be comfortably in his wheelhouse. But it’s worthwhile to remember that Spielberg has never really shied away from graphic violence either. From Jaws to Jurassic Park to Indiana Jones to Saving Private Ryan, he’ll go for it if he feels it’s warranted. Interviews and accounts from the period paint a conflicted picture: apparently Hooper wasn’t a particularly forceful presence on set, possibly due to certain chemical impairments, and Spielberg was definitely hands-on, as some producers are wont to do. Personally, I think it just feels more like a Spielberg picture. In the end, the film’s true provenance is left as an open question – Wikipedia, as of this writing, credits both as co-directors.
With that out of the way, the film’s story can be boiled down to a fairly traditional haunted house. Steven Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) is a real estate agent who got first dibs on a new development and has been making a name for himself selling the rest of a units therein. Things seem idyllic and happy until his house begins to experience paranormal disturbances. Seemingly benign at first, they quickly turn sinister when his children’s room becomes a focal point, and his youngest daughter (Heather O’Rourke) is pulled into a portal and left trapped between worlds. After paranormal researchers from the local college provide only limited assistance, a psychic specializing in spiritual cleansing is called in and everyone must work together to guide the living and the dead back to where they belong.
As with many haunted house stories, it’s pretty straightforward from the top level, but Poltergeist expertly manages to keep things both fantastic and relatable. On the relatable front, we have the cast. Spielberg (or I don’t know, maybe it was Hooper, but we’re just going to go with Spielberg) made it a point to cast relative unknowns as the main family and even today Poltergeist stands as the high-water mark of many of their careers (frankly, the same could also be said for Hooper). Craig T. Nelson has gotten steady work over the years but probably found his greatest success as the lead on TV’s Coach, though much later on he did voice Mr. Incredible in Pixar’s The Incredibles. Ditto for JoBeth Williams, who plays Steven’s wife, Diane. Of all the cast, Williams probably has the heaviest lift with the material, but absolutely crushes all of her scenes as the increasingly despondent mother resolutely mastering her fear of the madness surrounding her, because her daughter needs her. Despite all this, she also mostly retreated to the small screen and stage after Poltergeist.
There are two breakout performances in the film. One is that of six-year-old Heather O’Rourke, who plays the Freelings’ youngest daughter, Carol Anne. I don’t know if Spielberg had the Midas Touch when it came to casting child actors or was just unusually good at directing them but between O’Rourke, Drew Barrymore & Henry Thomas in E.T., and Ke Huy Quan as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, he repeatedly struck gold with new talent in the early 80s. Though she’s off screen for a good amount of the film, O’Rourke is magnetic whenever she’s the focus, showing impressive range despite her young age. Sure, she does fear convincingly, but there’s also subtlety to the mirth she displays during her initial interactions with the spirits, and she also has a thousand-yard stare that she breaks out once or twice that is truly unnerving. She also gets to deliver the film’s enduring signature line, “They’re here”. Unfortunately, that line and her performance have to largely stand as her legacy as her life was tragically cut short at the young age of 12 due to an initially misdiagnosed case of intestinal stenosis.
The other noteworthy performance is that of Zelda Rubinstein. Standing 4 foot 3, and with a voice like a cross between Jennifer Tilly and Shirley Temple after a carton of cigarettes (so… adult Shirly Temple, basically), Rubinstein was one of those character actresses that everyone recognized even if not everyone could name. Here she plays Tangina, a psychic and something of a supernatural troubleshooter. It’s a brief role, but she gives a commanding performance as probably the only person with the experience and perspective to guide the family to recovering their daughter from the malevolent forces that confine her. Rubinstein, who left her previous career as a medical tech to try acting at age 45, would go on to build a solid film resume of mostly supporting roles, never straying far from the horror and thriller genres.
Many horror movies have to work within a strict budget when it comes to special effects, but Poltergeist seemingly had no such limitations with the mighty Industrial Light and Magic called in for the job. From subtle animations and the aforementioned gruesome makeup, to some wild lighting (including some strobing, so those who are susceptible, be warned) and some positively impressive (and impressively sized) animatronics, not to mention the famous ending sequence, there appears to have been little that was off limits from an imagineering standpoint. Not everything has aged flawlessly, but more than you might think still has the ability to shock and surprise.
The soundtrack was likewise a top shelf affair from the always reliable Jerry Goldsmith. Though I felt some of the music cues were initially a bit against type for the material, it all comes together by the closing credits. Both the score and the visual effects were nominated for Academy Awards, both losing to the unstoppable freight train that was E.T.
Interest in parapsychology and the paranormal saw something of an upswing in the 70s and 80s. A surprising number of universities had paranormal research departments (some more official than others), so that element of the film has more basis in fact than one might imagine when viewing today. Also, The Amityville Horror, the film, the book, and the supposedly true events on which both were based, had captured no small amount of publicity, and the engine of our old friend the Satanic Panic was just beginning to rev into high gear. While it’s true that Poltergeist began its life as a more UFO-centric film, indeed as something of a sequel to Close Encounters, there has always been a firm dovetail between paranormal and extraterrestrial belief. In this sense, Poltergeist is very much representative of the mainstream cultural zeitgeist of its time, which might go far in explaining the studio’s confidence in it, and its consequent mainstream appeal (fleeting, though it was, considering the underperformance of its sequels).
One can easily see Poltergeist as something of a midpoint between The Exorcist and Ghostbusters. It’s undeniably a horror movie, but it’s a horror movie with a lot of gloss and polish, moments of genuine humor, and a mostly optimistic ending. Its very lack of grit and exploitation elements might turn off purists, but it still delivers plenty of frights with a compelling story that doesn’t sit still and not a single weak performance from any of the actors.
Final Grade: A
Don’t let its accessibility fool you, Poltergeist is a classic of the genre for a reason. It’s a genuine horror film that delivers genuine scares. Yes, it may have been a big studio project, with one of the most meddlesome producers in the history of film, but just this once it all worked out in favor of the end product.