Saturday 11 September 2010

When your chairs start to stack themselves you know something is not right...

Poltergeist

 Released: 
June 4, 1982

Directed by: 
Tobe Hooper

Produced by:
Frank Marshall
Steven Spielberg

Written by:   
Story:
Steven Spielberg

Screenplay:
Steven Spielberg
Michael Grais
Mark Victor
                 
Starring:  
Craig T. Nelson
JoBeth Williams
Beatrice Straight
Dominique Dunne
Oliver Robins
Heather O’Rourke 
Zelda Rubinstein  

Summary: Steve and Diane Freeling, along with their children Dana, Robbie, and Carol Anne, move to a quiet town in California, where their house is haunted by ghosts. At first they seem friendly, but soon they turn vicious and take the youngest daughter, Carol Anne, from her family.

My Favourite Scene: One of the parapsychologists goes into the kitchen to get a snack and finds a piece of meat which begins to move across the table. It then falls on the floor and maggots appear out of it. 

He then runs to the bathroom to be sick and looks in the mirror. Blood begins to run down his face and pieces of flesh start to fall off. Soon, his face is just bone and blood. Then suddenly, he is back to normal. Although this is probably one that many will not remember from the film, I think it is important because it highlights what is real and what is in their minds.

My Favourite Quotes
Tangina: “It lies to her. It tells her things only a child can understand. It's been using her to restrain the others. To her, it simply is another child. To us, it is The Beast.”

 
Diane: (after Carol Anne’s bird dies) “Oh... Oh shit, Tweety, couldn't you have waited until a school day?” 
My Thoughts: Living in the 21st Century, the standard of CGI I am used to in films is so different to this 1982 production. The tree which took Robbie looked like something out of Harry Potter (and not in a good way) and the dead corpses looked completely plastic (even though they were actually real skeletons!). 

 
However, that is not really the scary element to this film. The concept itself that there were spirits in their house which wanted to hurt them is scary. Someone’s home is supposed to protect them, but it did the opposite -  which I think made this film terrifying. 

There is definitely something weird about a little girl talking to someone (or something) that no one else can see. It is not surprising that a little girl is used for this role, as she is so innocent and vulnerable. For me, the really important message from this film was the love that Caro Anne’s parent’s had for her. Diane really fought for her daughter and was prepared to do anything that would save her. 

Something about this film that was really freaky was the clown in Robbie and Carol Anne’s bedroom! I knew when Robbie looked up from his bedcovers and it was not there, that something bad was about to happen. I kept thinking “If you are so scared of the clown, why have you not moved it?” 

I like this film because there is something different about it. It is not knife-wielding maniacs, running around chopping people’s heads off. This is a classic ghost haunting story, and although there were no ‘hide behind a cushion’ moments, it was truly chilling. 
    A

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