Movie-A-Day #95: Poltergeist

[Evil Ash]

Well I figured that I had to go into my favorite genre of movies. Although, I haven't been scared by a movie since the age of 10 (not joking), I still find myself drawn to go see horror films and still find them somewhat entertaining. Unfortunately this usually falls into the category of that they are so bad that they are funny.

Since Alfred Hitchcock passed away, the horror movies that have come out have been either hit or miss (mostly miss IMO) and there seems to be no middle ground. I just hope that there is someway to fix this genre ... and soon!

Well enough of my ranting! Lets get back to the subject at hand...

From Rottentomatoes.com:

Frisky poltergeists put a little excitement into the daily routine of the Freeling family's humdrum lives by moving furniture and communicating with their youngest daughter, Carol Anne, through the television set. Unfortunately, harmless pranks quickly turn nasty and the previously friendly ghosts kidnap Carol Anne, trapping her in the spirit world. To win the child back, the family calls in a team of parapsychologists and a midget psychic who conduct an elaborate exorcism.

This is the way that horror movies should be done IMO. Keep a simple storyline and then throw a few twists that you don't expect. Steven Spielberg (the unofficial director, co-writer, and producer) and Tobe Hopper (the official director) I think did a very good job of this.

There was plenty of good build up suspense-wise, the acting was pretty good (for a horror movie that's about all a director can ask for), and had solid special effects (i.e the kids braces atttacking him and pinning him to the wall). In short just a solid scary movie that used different ways to scare instead of the current Hollywood trend of "lets throw a whole bunch of gore into the movie and that should scare them".

Also I have to admit that I also liked the sequels. Unfortunately its sad to think about the reason that they were forced to stop making them.

Favorite Line (rather obvious for this one): "They're Here!"

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Up Next: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

 

[mdamien13]

I think it's unfair to say that Spielberg unofficially directed this. That's been a very sore spot with Tobe Hooper, and Spielberg will vehemently deny this rumors as well. Touches of Spielberg can be found in the film, yes, but he was also the producer and not many movies escape production without a producer's fingerprints on them somewhere.

That said, I dig the hell out of this movie. The clown attack scared me half to death when I was a kid (and was lampooned pretty well in Scary Movie 2).

One of my all-time faves, and definitely the most intense PG-13 movie I've ever seen. Sequels weren't too bad, either.

 

[Evil Ash]

Originally posted by mdamien13
I think it's unfair to say that Spielberg unofficially directed this. That's been a very sore spot with Tobe Hooper, and Spielberg will vehemently deny this rumors as well. Touches of Spielberg can be found in the film, yes, but he was also the producer and not many movies escape production without a producer's fingerprints on them somewhere.

Good point! In truth I'm just going by what many sites have said as to directed it (there are still plenty of places that claim Speilberg to be the director ... fair or not). In some ways I don't care who directed it (other than telling them they did one hell of a job)... I just love this movie!

 

[Chaplin]

All Spielberg-produced stuff, from Poltergeist to Casper to Twister to Back to the Future 2, has a lot of his touch too it--mostly a fantastical, fantasy-like quality. Poltergeist is no different and proves that there is a magical aspect to Spielberg--I don't know if it's just his name, but there is a "feeling" with all his movies, whether he directed them or not, since Close Encounters.

 

[mdamien13]

Originally posted by Evil Ash
Since Alfred Hitchcock passed away, the horror movies that have come out have been either hit or miss (mostly miss IMO) and there seems to be no middle ground. I just hope that there is someway to fix this genre ... and soon!

Interesting take, considering I would hardly consider Hitchcock a horror director. I could only manage to argue two of his films as horror - Psycho and The Birds (a case could be made for Rebecca, too). Mostly he'd have to be considered a suspense maestro, although those suspenseful films can fall into a variety of categories (I think mystery being the dominant genre).

Unfortunately, the same people who should be considered pioneers of the horror genre are still around but most have failed to live up their early successes (George Romero, Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven, John Carpenter)

 

[Chaplin]

Re: Re: Movie-A-Day #95: Poltergeist

Originally posted by mdamien13
Interesting take, considering I would hardly consider Hitchcock a horror director. I could only manage to argue two of his films as horror - Psycho and The Birds (a case could be made for Rebecca, too). Mostly he'd have to be considered a suspense maestro, although those suspenseful films can fall into a variety of categories (I think mystery being the dominant genre).

Unfortunately, the same people who should be considered pioneers of the horror genre are still around but most have failed to live up their early successes (George Romero, Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven, John Carpenter)

That's pretty much because the horror genre itself has been pretty much driven into the ground by Scream. Now, Scream is a great movie, but it ushered in the "new" brand of horror movie, that, frankly, just isn't that good.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I remember seeing this movie for the first time when I was just a kid. It scared the hell out of me and to this day I still hate Clowns!

 

[Evil Ash]

Originally posted by MadCardDisease
I remember seeing this movie for the first time when I was just a kid. It scared the hell out of me and to this day I still hate Clowns!

Even Ouchie?