The Freeling’s are your average all American family living in suburbia; Mom, Dad, three well adjusted kids and the family dog. Their lives are relatively boring. Steve, played by Craig T Nelson, is a salesperson for the housing development and Diane, played by JoBeth Williams, is a stay-at-home mom raising the children. The most they have to concern themselves with is their youngest daughter, Carol Anne’s, tendency to sleepwalk and speak to television sets after the station sign’s off for the night. Not much happens in Cuesta Verde aside from the occasional neighborly dispute. Kids play in the yards, adults gather for football games and life goes on as normal. That is until one night when Carol Anne witnesses an apparition appear from the television set and vanish into the bedroom wall eliciting a violent earthquake that wakes up the whole household.
From this moment on strange occurrences happen in the home. Chairs rearrange themselves in the kitchen. Objects move seemingly by themselves and utensils bend at odd angles. As each new occurrence happens, the Freeling’s are excited and a little leery about what it all means. It becomes almost like a game until one evening when the harmless incidents turn nearly deadly and Carol Anne disappears.
I remember watching this when it was first released and being awed at the special effects the movie contained. Co-written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, Poltergeist was nominated for three Academy Awards (losing to Spielberg’s own E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) and won three Saturn Awards plus one BAFTA Award.
Though there is only one fatality in the entire movie (Tweety) Poltergeist still ranks as one of the best horror movies of all times. What I love most about this film is that the movie isn’t restricted to adults. Though I wouldn’t recommend the film for the youngest of children, it is a movie that the majority of families can watch together and enjoy. Even though it has been over a decade since I saw this last, the movie still brings back memories of my own childhood fear of closets and what may be lurking under the bed. If you haven’t seen this movie in a while I suggest revisiting it. And, if you have somehow missed growing up watching this, I recommend renting it and sharing with your own family one cold October evening before Halloween…
The countdown continues with only 11 more days until Halloween...Get your popcorn prepared and turn your lights down low as you tune in with me tomorrow for yet another horror movie in our 31 Days of Horror countdown…
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