You see the famous lion roar gracefully. Then you hear The Star Spangled Banner and immediately you start to have doubts about whether or not you just rented a horror movie. You know you got in the Horror section, but today’s genre standards at video stores are often quite dodgy.

But then you get an up close and personal glimpse at the television and as we pull away from the television and get a glimpse of our current location, the dark  living room, as it is being  attacked by the frantic flickering light.  You start to realize that there’s something kind of creepy about this, and already you are starting to realize that there is something special about this movie. If a movie can make the light radiating from a television seem eerie already in the first two minutes, then it has already beaten the expectations of most assembly line horror movies these days.

The television is the first crucial element we meet in the film. We get to meet the second as we wonder around the house with the faithful golden retriever, E-Buzz, who is aimlessly scavenging for things to eat. E-Buzz is the vessel we use to discover, one by one, the Freelings, our surrogate
family for the next couple of hours, as they are far along in their nightly slumber. The first one to wake up is little Carol Anne Freeling, who we follow back to the television we saw moments ago. She begins striking up aloud conversation with the tv static, waking up the various family members, who get up and watch this strange event.

Now that we have met the family and have gotten a general overview of the house’s geography, it’s time to meet the suburban neighborhood, Cueste Verde. We follow an unnamed character as he transports beer on his bicycle. Some pesky kids sitting on the curve decide to gang up on the man and sabotage his mission via two remote cars, which pass in front of him, causing him to crash on his bike. The man grabs what’s left of the beer and runs inside the Freelings’ household where Steve Freeling and some friends are watching a football game.

Once again, in a lesser film, we’d establish the characters through a down to earth style. We’d probably meet them at the table eating breakfast, a scene we’ll get later after we’ve already met and got to know the Freelings. But instead, the filmmakers treat the simple, early, non-horror sequences with excitement and humor, giving you the proud feeling that you are watching something fresh and not the run of the mill horror gorefest. It’s also noteworthy that we meet the Freelings years after they’ve settled into their home, which is in the middle of the ever-so-safe suburbs.

Wait a minute! Shouldn’t we be meeting the characters as they are just now purchasing the house, which is normally a spiderweb-infested scary place with loose nails, and human shaped chalk markings galore? I guess that old, victorian house was plowed over years ago to make way for new, super duper shopping center, so the Freelings had to settle for a normal, every day home. Sorry, Dr. Fankenstein, your house is now a Wal-Mart!

Right from the get-go, we get the feeling that this whole mundane setting is sort of smiling through it’s teeth, and that in all actuality, something is wrong. Carol Anne’s pet bird Tweetie (yes, it’s a yellow bird) has just died and we get to see a tender little funeral for Tweetie. As this occurs, we are introduced to the next antagonist, an old tree, which accepts the part as one of little Robbie Freeling’s two arch nemesises. In daylight, Robbie is not afraid to climb it, but in a nightly storm, Robbie practically soils his pants at the sight of it. With that tree, the storm, and his toy clown, we get the sense that Robbie Freeling  would jump at the sign of his own shadow.  But we soon learn that Robbie has a reason to fear those things.

The children end up sleeping in their parents’ bed, where we are yet again treated to the closing anthem of a daily programming’s end. This time, when the white noise pops up, we hear faint, whispering voices. Carol Anne approaches the television once again. This time, a ghostly arm creeps out of the television and shoots towards the wall causing the ground to quake, waking up the parents, to whom Carol Anne announces “They’re Here!” The next morning,  Diane Freeling asks Carol Anne to clarify that statement. She tells us that it’s “the TV People” who are “here.”

When she experiences the ghouls’ antic first hand, Diane actually turns an open mind to the situation and has a bit of fun with it, before letting her husband, Steve, in on it. Steve is a bit bewildered and cautious towards the idea of chairs and little blonde girls sliding across the kitchen floor. He orders Diane not to let anybody in the kitchen for a while, but it’s too late. Another storm rolls in, and the scary tree smashes through the window, grabbing Robbie and dragging him outside. His parents rush out to save him from being digested by the wicked tree while a huge tornado is rolling past them. We soon discover that the tree is a diversion so “the TV People” can snatch Carol Anne for their own purposes. Carol Anne, along with the contents of her room,  is sucked into the closet as Robbie is pulled out the tree just in time as it is sucked into the eye of the tornado, which now dissipates. The family realizes that Carol Anne is gone. While the family is searching throughout the house, it’s Robbie that soon discovers that Carol Anne is far beyond their grasp, as he hears her voice echoing from within the television! Now we realize that we are dealing with more than just our average “peek-a-BOO!”  ghosts. If these guys can make trees eat you and kidnap you away to the unknown, then we are in seriously deep trouble!

Carol Anne’s disappearance establishes a new theme in the film. Earlier on, we got our taste of fear and how the spirits will use that against us. Now we will see how they can take something important away from us, and leave us almost powerless to do anything about it. In a way, this particular act is a kidnapping story. Carol Anne has been abducted by these spirits, and her family has no idea how to get her back. Now take away the supernatural aspects and ponder on the subject matter for a moment. If you have a younger brother or sister or even children of your own, it’s not hard to imagine how terrified you would be if they were to disappear. It’s a chilling thought to even bring up, but the subject matter is what makes this particular story compelling.

Steve Freeling goes to see three parapsychologists, led by Dr. Lesh, who looks more like your loving aunt than she does a ghostbuster. Her comrades are Ryan, a slight optimist with the tech-knowledge, and Marty, who seemingly has the worse luck with ghosts. During their initiation with the Freeling’s household guests, they encounter bedrooms filled with floating memorabilia, encounter Carol Anne’s ambient voice in the living room, are introduced to the invisible entity that is holding her captive, and poor Marty gets bitten when he goes to check on the kids’ bedroom. Not to mention, random objects rain down from the ceiling. What’s going on here?

Later that night, Ryan and Marty speculate that the empty channels on the television is free to pick up roaming signals, including Carol Anne’s voice coming from “inner space” (a.k.a the other side) and that there is a ”bi-location” point (entrance and exit portals to the other side) inside their house. As the Freelings are camping out in their living room, Dr. Lesh tells Diane and Robbie about a light that you are supposed to go through when you die and that some ghosts don’t realize they are dead and find themselves lost.

While the others are sleeping, Marty go searching for food and encounters a living steak. When he shines a light on it, it tears itself from the inside. Marty then drops his half-eaten chicken leg on the kitchen floor and sees worms all over it. Marty runs into the kitchen and starts tearing the skin off of his face. Suddenly the ordeal is over, and turns out to be one big hallucination.

Meanwhile, in the living room, the camera starts moving on its own and aims its sights on the main staircase, where ghostly apparitions hover down
the staircase as the everybody watches the spectacle in complete awe. It is a beautiful and fascinating sight that quickly ends. Everybody gathers around the moniters and watches the playback and we get a good look at several spirits wondering down the staircase.

The next day, Steve Freeling goes for a walk with his boss, Mr. Teague, up on the hillside above Cueste Verde. Mr. Teague attempts to sell Steve the idea of full partnership as if he’s selling him a toaster oven. Steven kind of chuckles over Teague’s offer and we notice that the picket fence they are walking next to is actually the boundaries of a local cemetery. Teague adds that they are moving to “Phase 5″ and that they already have plans to move the cemetery five miles down the road. Steve questions the morality of moving it, and Teague adds that they’ve done it before to make way for the Cueste Verde estates. It is here where we start to get a good picture of what’s going on.

Back at the house, Dr. Lesh has returned with Tangina Barrons, a psychic woman who might be able to help them. After displaying her talent, she tells them all that Carol Anne is “alive and in this house.” She then educates them that there is actually no death at all, but a transition into another plain of existence and the evil entity, called “The Beast”, is confusing Carol Anne and using her control the other spirits and that the entrance point is up in the kid’s bedroom. They move up to the upstairs hallway and Tangina instructs Steve to call out to Carol Anne and use threats of punishment to reach out to Carol Anne psychologically to get her to respond, and it works. Diane is instructed to tell her run towards the light, which hurts Diane to say. Afterall, our instincts and logic are telling us that Carol Anne should not go into to light, but notice how Tangina told her to say “run towards the light” not to “go into the light.” Her plan is to not only make it easier to grab Carol Anne but to guide the lost entities into the light by having them following her towards it.

She then instructs everybody to clear their minds as the Beast knows our deepest and darkest fears and won’t hesitate to use them against us, as we’ve seen earlier in the film. With their minds clear, Tangina is able to open the room without floating record players and horse-galloping Hulksters, and we are treated to an excellent display of bright lights. They carry with them two balls, numbered 1 and 2, and a rope. Ryan is told to go downstairs and wait, and Diane is told to instruct Carol Anne to stop and stay where she is. And to give the audience a clear understanding of whats about to happen, Tangina performs a visual test by throwing the tennis ball into the bright light in the closet. The ball then shoots out of the exit point on the ceiling of the downstairs living room where Ryan catches it. The ball is now covered in pink ooze, known as ectoplasm.

They then switch the balls out for the rope, tossing it into the portal. Holding the rope on both sides are Steve at the top end and Ryan at the bottom. Diane raps the rope around her waste and shares a romantic moment with Steve before going off into the unknown. Tangina uses her psychic abilities
to call upon the spirits, designating them to go into the light with idea that there is peace and serenity in the light. Thinking that she is directing Diane and Carol Anne into the light, Steve starts reeling them back in. Tangina breaks comminication and shouts “Steven, not yet!” Steve pulls out a large, ghastly face! The frightened Steve drops the rope accidently. Luckily, Diane falls out the other end, unconscious, covered in ectoplasm, and holding Carol Anne. They rush them into the bathroom and rinse them off and in a tender, tearjerking moment, both Carol Anne and Diane awaken. It’s another good sign of a good horror movie when you actually care about the characters and hold an emotional investment, which makes the story a bit more compelling than the “hack n’ slash” chaos of Friday the 13th. Dr. Lesh shuts the door, and Tangina announces that “the house is clean.” All is seemingly well.

The next day, the Freelings are packing up and getting ready to leave the house and the events that transpired there far behind them.  Later that night, Robbie wakes up to  finds that his clown doll is missing. Robbie starts looking for it, but the clown doll finds him first. As Robbie is struggling with it, lights starts shining through the closet.

In the parents’ bedroom, Diane is attacked and dragged up the walls by an unseen force. She is able to escape the vengeful spirit and makes a break to hallway. The Beast then reveals itself. Once again, the theme of not being able help the ones you love re-appears. The vengeful presence is trying so hard to prevent her from saving her children. She tumbles down the stairs! She tries to run back up to her children, but she is immediately shocked by electricity. Back in the bedroom, the closet starts morphing into what appears to an enormous throat. Carol Anne is left sitting there in shock, chanting “No more.” Luckily, by now Robbie was able to get his revenge on that horrid clown.

Diane runs outside, calling for help, and stumbles into the dig-site for their pool. When she surfaces from the water, she is immediately terrified by rising skeletons. She is pulled out by their neighbors, who are then shocked by the scary sounds coming from within the house. Diane asks them to help, but they hesitate. She runs in the house alone and is finally able to pull the kids out of the dangerous bedroom.

Steven arrives at the house and runs inside.  Coffins and cadavers have started  to rise from the floor. He runs to Mr Teague and starts shouting at him. The full picture has come into spectrum. “You moved the headstones but you didn’t move the bodies!” Steve shouts. Diane and the kids run out of the house. The Freelings get in the car and drive away. They never looked back.

Their neighbors watch in awe as the house sucks itself through the portal from the inside out and completely vanishes. Mr.Teague is left in tears. The Freelings check into the Holiday Inn, kicking the television to the curb. The credits start to roll, with not one single casualty depicted in the film, only one scene of gore, and a whole lot of fantasy, making Poltergeist one of the most exciting films that you can find in the horror genre.

Special thanks to Phil and Marcus for their kind help in the formation of this site!

Scenes: Storm clouds approach Cueste Verde and a tornado attacks the Freeling residence.

How They Were Done: A “cloud tank” was used for some of the effects shots. A 7×5 tank was built with 2 1/2in thick glass, which is half-filled with salt water with a peice of plastic rolled onto the surface, which is then covered with  fresh water, filling the entire tank. The plastic is then removed, creating a soft, flat layer. Paint is then squirted into the tank and softly flows into the water. A device sometimes called “the atomic arm” is used to manipulate the paint into cloud shapes. The effect was used for several other films, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Child’s Play, in the pre-CGI era.

For the shot of  Robbie watching the clouds approach the suburbs, a composite shot of cloud tank footage and a matte painting of Cueste Verde was used.  The clouds were designed by Gary Platek and Garry Walker. Platek had previously generated cloud effects for Raiders of the Lost Ark, from which two of these shots were lifted for sky plates in the tornado sequence. Platek and Walker created the shots in two weeks, using blue and orange colored shots. Some touch ups, such as the base of the cloud and the shadows on the hillside, had to be made to shot via matte painting to make the shots blend better.

For the establishing view of the tornado, the tank was once again used, but this time with a sock , with air bubble, via a high speed impeller and bubble generator used to give the vortex its form. Gary Platek talked about the effect in Cinefex Magazine (#10): “What we finally decided upon was a rotor impeller that we placed in the  bottom of the tank, with a drive shaft linkage that connected to a one-horsepower motor. Interestingly, there’s a pulley you can stick into a breaker that stirs itself and is known to make a vortex. So we copied that and made our own vortex, which at full force measured about two feet high.”

But that wasn’t enough. The effect was too smooth and was clearly made up of water, so a bubble wand (a device that uses compressed air to create hundreds of tiny bubbles) was attached to “the atomic arm” to make the funnel more convincing. Each shot had to be done quickly, as the process had a would eventually  fogging up the whole tank as a result.

For the shot in which we get a glimpse of the tornado’s innards as the tree is sucked into the funnel, a spinning cotton cone was formed and mirrors were used to photograph the proper angle. The miniature tree, shot against blue screen using motion control technology, was then composited into the shot.

In the screenplay, the sequence where the Freelings and the paranormal psychologists witness the spirits at the staircase is a bit different. Instead of a floating spirit, the screenplay describes the spiritual display as “something ectoplasmic and blue-green” and later, “a crawling mass” that  ”resembles a giant hand with long, searching fingers, flowing down the stairs.“

There is a brief exchange of dialogue between Ryan and Marty, who the screenplay refers to as Tak.

RYAN: It’s manifesting! It’s manifesting! Look at the scope!

TAK:  Watch the trip wires! Temperature’s dropping.

RYAN: Racial!!

TAK: Can you breathe?

RYAN: Can you run? I’m workin’ on it.

The script then describes “another tentacle,” that is compared to a snake, that studies the Ryan’s video equipment. “Ectoplasmic mist” then enters the living room, where Diane, Steve, Robbie, and Dr. Lesh are resting.

DR. LESH: Have you experienced this before?

DIANE: First time!

DR. LESH: Me too.

All the lights turn on and blares in everyones’ eyes. A loud noise is soon followed by a “flash” before everything in the room returns to normality.

As in the film, everyone goes to watch the tape, where they see the shapes manifest into ghostly human figures. Then, they see the creepy eyes of what appears to be a deranged, old man. The following exchange actually appeared in the trailer:

DIANE: That thing is in there with my baby! That thing! That thing!

DR. LESH: My God! There are hundreds.

Lesh then takes out the tapes and puts them in a briefcase.

In 1988, we got the third and final Poltergeist movie. This time around, most of the cast and filmmakers decided to jump ship before it completely sank, and the only people returning are Heather O’ Rourke and Zelda Rubinstein, returning as Carol Anne and Tangina. Neither writers Michael Grais and Mark Victor returned with Steve Freke, Gary Sherman(also serving as director) and Brian Taggert taking over writing duties . Nor did composer Jerry Goldsmith, with John Renzetti replacing him as composer. Goldsmith was unhappy with how Poltergeist II turned out, so he wasn’t willing to return.

Carol Anne is now living with her aunt and uncle in a skyrise apartment building in Chicago. This time around, she’s not with such a loving family, and it’s apparent right from the start that Henry Kane is still after her. Strange things start happening in the building. Mirrors are breaking and the building is getting quite chilly. And Kane is constantly following characters around on reflections of mirrors and glass. Kane eventually makes his move, capturing several characters and replacing them with evil doubles. It is up to the aunt and uncle to overcome Kane.

The production value is much smaller this time around. All the magic of Poltergeist is now gone, as are the effects. Henry Kane is back, but he no longer takes the shape of monsterous creatures. In fact, all he really does is linger in mirrors, the gimmick this time around, and follow Carol Anne around. Except, this time around he drives a frozen car and tries to run over a couple of the main characters in a scene that defines the entire film’s made for video horror quality. In the scene, one of the characters shouts “What do you want?” In which, Kane replies back, in a very cheesy way, “You!”

Apparently, somewhere between this film and the last, the Freelings decided to dump their beloved daughter, Carol Anne, with her aunt and uncle in Chicago. It’s such an unsettling thought that the Freelings, the loving family who did all they could to save and protect their daughter, who they obviously loved, decided to just toss her out like garbage. Honestly, I just don’t believe it. Not one bit. She is now with her aunt, uncle, and cousin played by Tom Skerrit, Nancy Allen, and Lara Flynn Boyle. Aunt Pat and cousin Donna don’t seem to care too much about Carol Anne. They are nice to her face, but turn around and say
nasty things about her when she isn’t around. Donna does so on a lesser scale, but Pat just comes off as so unlikeable and it’s hard to forgive her when she says “lets dump the brat.”

Another unforgiveable character is Dr. Seaton, a jerk psychologist who doesn’t believe any of the crazy things going on around him, yet he believes that Carol Anne can hypnotize people with the power of suggestion, you know like randomly glancing at a mirror. He’s a guy who just seems to have it out for Carol Anne.

The film seems to have a harsher tone this time around. The first Poltergeist film did not portray a single death and the only death that Poltergeist II had wasn’t a victim to the spirits’ mayhem, but died of natural causes. Here, we have a couple of casualties.

The film does have an interesting setting, a Chicago skyrise. It’s too bad it wastes its potential. Imagine the crazy things that could have happened in a big city setting. I can just picture seeing spirits over the Chicago skyline. But we don’t see any spirits this time around and nothing exciting happens whatsoever.

Poltergeist III is the complete opposite of the first film. Uninspired, dull, and poorly written.

With Poltergeist being the hit it was, a sequel was unavoidable. In 1986, Poltergeist II:The Other Side was released, giving us a bit of backstory and insight on The Beast. Following the events of the first film, we begin the film with a new character, Taylor, a shaman who travels from a desert in the middle of nowhere to the wasteland that used to be Cueste Verde, which is now a ghost town. He meets up with Tangina who has discovered a tunnel underneath where the Freelings’ pool was going to go. The same place where we saw Diane horded with skeletons. Well, there are more skeletons in the tunnel. It’s pratically a tomb.

We then meet up with Freelings’ who are now living with Diane’s mother and trying to live a normal life. Steve is no longer selling house, but vaccum cleaners instead. Soon, the mother passes away, presumeably from natural causes and it isn’t too long before spirits start appearing. They are after Carol Anne again. The family flees from the house, and are convinced at a diner by both Taylor and the spirit of Diane’s mother that is useless to run. The spirits will follow them wherever they go and they have to fight them and be strong. The family returns to the house with Taylor, who is there to protect Carol Anne. A strange old man named Henry Kane stalks the family and appears at their front porch, asking about Taylor and demanding to be let in. He is denied and eventually leaves, and we soon learn that he was a leader of a cult and that he is, in fact, “The Beast” from the first Poltergeist.

Through a ritual, Taylor attempts to prepare Steve for the fight he has to make and tells him that the entire family has to go back to Cueste Verde and take the spirits head on. After Taylor leaves, things start to go crazy. The family fights their way out of the house and heads back to Cueste Verde and enters the tunnel where they Tangina. Carol Anne and Diane are taken to the other side, and with the help of Tangina, Steve and Robbie are able to go to the other side, which we get to see this time around, and meet up with Diane and Carol Anne and as a family, they work together to fight off Kane, in Beast form.

While Poltergeist II has its moments, a lot of the magic that the first film had just didn’t translate into the second film. The excitement just seems dampered. This time around, Steven Spielberg wasn’t there to guide the picture. Tobe Hooper was gone, as well. So Brian Gibson took the helm with Mark Victor and Michael Grais returning as writers. H.R. Giger did some designs for the film, as well. And as far as effects go, the film certainly delivered. This time we got a hord of spirits approaching their home, a puke monster which starts off as a tiny worm in a beer bottle, and briefly, we get to see what “the other side” looks like.

There is also a strange subplot introduced very early in the film. From Diane’s mother we learn that the women on Diane’s side of the family have psychic abilities, including Diane and Carol Anne. This seems to come out of nowhere, as there is nothing in the first film to suggest that Diane is psychic, other than one brief dialogue exchange (“You haven’t done this before” “Neither have you!”). Ultimately, the only thing that really comes from this subplot is the backstory of Kane. Other than that, the subplot practically drops out of the movie. Oddly enough, Taylor decides to leave, only to randomly pop up in the end without reason.

It is also kind of strange that not once is the eldest daughter, Dana, mentioned. Dominique Dunne was killed after completing the first film, so it is understandable that her character is not there. But it’s also strange that none once does anybody in the family refer to her. Word has it that the movie was cut down from a 130 minute running time and that one of the missing scenes explained that Dana was away in college.

All in all, its the better of the two sequels and has some good effects and a good score from Jerry Goldsmith, but doesn’t quite live up to the Poltergeist name.