Houses in movies are often the scenes of scary stories and domestic horrors but recently it has also been the space for supernatural nightmares. Well when I say recently, I mean since THE EXORCIST burst, pee soup over our faces. This lead to a series of shocking, thriller, intimate location films that would scare the pants of anyone watching! After some time the genre waned but a film that revived it early in the next decade was that ‘at home horror’ vibe classic, 1981 offering POLTERGEIST. So maybe for this Halloween, maybe take a look at it for a shock fest bit of fun!
2 – POLTERGEIST and POLTERGEIST II (WB)
WHATS IT ABOUT?
A family living the American dream are about to be rudely awakened to the ill treatment of the land they live on and the former residents that occupied it! With spirits angry at their mistreatment setting out to avenge all evils. When their youngest daughter is kidnapped and taken to the spirit world, a battle of good and evil will ensue!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eZgEKjYJqA
WHY SHOULD WE WATCH IT FOR HALLOWEEN?
I have deliberately suggested the first and second part of the series. The first is possibly directed by Steven Spielberg, but has a lot of the masterful Tobe Hooper in it. It also has a lot of familiar troupes and conventions of the modern era, that you will noddingly recognise. It has some great backstories and legends surrounding it https://www.timeout.com/newyork/movies/11-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-original-poltergeist-movie (alongside the tragic death of its lead actress after the Third film) and finally, it is actually quite scary.
WHAT SHOULD WE LOOK OUT FOR?
Right the discs are just barren of content but I would probably advise that viewers move onto the lesser film, POLTERGEIST III as a comparison. It might be a lot of things (mostly dull and dreary) but it tops the series off and you can see how quality, artistry and skill can still effect a rather good film.
https://store.hmv.com/store/film-tv/blu-ray/poltergeist-collection
