Review: Poltergiest

Many times when watching movies we have a sense that it is mocking our intelligence. We often wonder why characters make certain decisions when it is clearly a dumb one. Other times we scoff at set ups made for a cheap way to have the story move. These two are especially true for the horror genre. If a house is haunted, one character will go alone to the axe collection room for a smoke. Or while trying to run away from something, a character is guaranteed to trip and scramble around. Moments like these make a movie predictable and usually bugs the audience too much to enjoy what is happening. The only way this could be worse would be if these nuisances occurred before the horrific part even starts, which brings me to Poltergeist (1982).

The movie starts out with a simple setup, a family moves into a a haunted house. Then things slowly start happening which catches their attention. Unlike most movies where things start happening which appear to be a coincidence or could be just a figment of the character's imagination, this movies has the characters fully acknowledge the house is haunted almost right away. This happens when the youngest child is being dragged around the kitchen by an unseen force and everyone thinks its hilarious. Instead of being afraid they stay in the house and the ghosts start trying to kill them. And yet they still stay in the house another night even after they managed to escape death a few times. After more short intense scenes, a medium comes and spends the next thirty minutes pouring out exposition. At this point the movie is ending, and they escape the clutches of evil.

Several flaws of the movie simply come from how things are executed. This wins the award for dumbest characters in a horror movie. It is too much to bear and leaves a bad taste which remains throughout. The words "Why don't you leave the house" will ring enough times in your head to give you a headache.

Final Verdict: Green light. Pass on this movie and watch something else.