Poltergeist

MGM/UA Entertainment Company | Release Date: June 4, 1982

8.2	USER SCORE Universal acclaim based on 193 Ratings

USER RATING DISTRIBUTION

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Review this movie

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.

Check box if your review contains spoilers

0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User score By date Most helpful

raporgiMar 16, 2016

not scary more of a really really noisy movie. dont see what all the fuss was/is about. couldnt get into it even back in the day when it came out originally. the kids are frickin annoying. the investigators include a token black dude andnot scary more of a really really noisy movie. dont see what all the fuss was/is about. couldnt get into it even back in the day when it came out originally. the kids are frickin annoying. the investigators include a token black dude and serve just a a device to dump an @$$load of info on the viewer's head. there's no creep factor and subtlety to this just heavy handed effects by Tobe Hooper and Spielberg.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

All this user's reviews

moviemaniacsMar 6, 2016

Given the talents, Poltergeist is an annoying film because it could have been so much better. Certainly, the subject is interesting, a persistent parapsychological phenomenon that defies scientific explanation, yet refuses to go away.

ButGiven the talents, Poltergeist is an annoying film because it could have been so much better. Certainly, the subject is interesting, a persistent parapsychological phenomenon that defies scientific explanation, yet refuses to go away.

But producer Steven Spielberg and the director Tobe Hooper, don’t really care. They’re fully content to demonstrate how well they can create the physical manifestations, plus a lot of standard sideshow horrors.

But the story is truly stupid, though well-acted. Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams are the parents, living almost wall-to-wall with their neighbors in a suburban development. But when the furniture starts to fly around the room and the big tree in the yard gets hungry for the kids nobody ever seems to notice. Here you have a house in the middle of the street going berserk in Dolby Stereo and nobody calls the cops. But Williams is terrific as the mother, at first amused by the strange goings-on in her kitchen and later terrified when cute little Heather O’Rourke disappears into the walls. And Zelda Rubinstein walks off with the film as the miniature lady who comes to cleanse the house.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

All this user's reviews

amheretojudgeSep 1, 2019

It is more to be discussed than experienced, if only it had the sassiness that it was building towards.

Poltergeist Hooper is a messy filmmaker. He makes messy films. Full on. Widen your imagination as much as you can and he has got thatIt is more to be discussed than experienced, if only it had the sassiness that it was building towards.

Poltergeist

Hooper is a messy filmmaker. He makes messy films. Full on. Widen your imagination as much as you can and he has got that too. Blood baths, annoying amount of screeching and screaming and more cringe worthy images than probably necessary. All of this comes under his recipe to make a fine horror film; a classic to be honest. The director Tobe Hooper has Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais and Mark Victor as writers in his backroom and there are no regrets. And Spielberg is going all the way in on his signature emotionally cheap family drama dose that works, as always, all the time in the film.

In fact, that is the only thing binding this unholy spirited house with one single thread. For daft performance, cheesy visual effects and dogmatic opinionated characters are pushing the film out of the window whenever they get the opportunity. And adding to those teary sketchy scenes is the mythology weaved as a narrative. And even though it's rigid and arrogant in its views, there is enough room for you to rest comfortably.

Just the whole portal and the other dimension and the way it functions, every bit of that aspect of the storytelling is squeezed properly for a satisfying experience. The horror, the humor and the drama, it checks off this list boldly whenever it faces its demons. It also concerns for the generation gap, property investment, gullibility, misuse of resources and taking it all for granted, into account to ground the film with deeper resonant themes. The supporting characters are also saving this illegal activity surprisingly and smartly. I mean, the guests entering this haunted house are more comfortable than the ghosts, the Poltergeist, demanding not equal, but all the rights to the land that they supposedly own- talk about a bad investment and a bad day.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews