Tobe Hooper
Poltergeist - Demoniache presenze

There are films that DO NOT withstand the test of time. This is definitely one that has lost! Now the challenge will be to explain this to these two categories of people: Spielberg fans and nostalgic late '80s folks. I'll try, even though it will be tough.

Poltergeist is an IDIOTIC film, a completely IDIOTIC film, where it definitively kicks off the trend of stupid American families, culturally and socially clueless, dealing with paranormal stuff concerning ghosts, faith, religion, American Catholic heroism, and other star-spangled NONSENSE. One of those films to rewatch to realize how STUPID we could be at the time (and to think we're even worse today! My God!).

The movie starts immediately with a brutal American scene, a family mother tries to flush a parakeet's corpse down the toilet. Here we are, the typical DEMENTED family made in the U.S.A. Once you've overcome the horrific initial impact, you expect anything! Horrors of all kinds, unheard-of social wickedness, you expect the rawness and crudeness typical of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." But since it's a SPIELBERG film, the canary scene will be the only atrocity we see (they probably shot it in secret). I must say that Spielberg's touch in this work... is just terrible! There's all the sugar of his films disguised as salt, there are the dazzling lights of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," an ending like "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the vertigo effect used in "Jaws" (here used for the hallway scene), characters to whom nothing really bad ever happens, there's all that saccharine spielberghian political correctness diarrhea. Poor Hooper (a friendly participation) was left with only the chance for an excellent splatter scene and some minor social critiques immediately subdued by sugar Steven.

The film proceeds throughout its duration with a series of abysmal nonsense, a disgracefully '80s performance (example: a demonic hurricane devastates the house after a tree tried to swallow the son alive. Next shot, AS IF NOTHING HAD HAPPENED. Typical reactions from those who a few hours before had NOT seen a hurricane and had NOT seen their son regurgitated by a tree trunk).

Dialogues on the verge of "what the hell are they saying!". Example: A blinding light emanated from the dimensional rift connecting the room of the house to the world of entities. The mother wants to enter the light, the Oscar-worthy dialogue kicks off; the medium yells at her "YOU CAN'T GO IN, YOU'RE NOT PREPARED, I HAVE TO GO, - the mother replies "I'M THE MOTHER, I WANT TO GO" - The medium, stopping yelling, replies "Okay, it's right, you go!" Rightfully!!!

And then again: "Tell your daughter to follow the light," "tell your daughter to stay away from the light" – "tell your daughter to follow the light," – "NOOO not the light, tell her to stay away from the light." For at least 12 minutes of the film. In the end, Gigi D'Alessio came out of the light.

This is Poltergeist.

The mother passes by the swimming pool, quite distant, so she DOESN'T slip in, then what does she do? the shot goes to her feet taking two steps back to SLIP IN. Mel Brooks? And then always these Catholic explanations, always this faith to be rediscovered, these desecrated dead, these unconsecrated souls, this MASS sung in every film of this genre (I'm writing this review a few hours after also watching "Signs" by M. Night Shyamalan, maybe that's why I'm pissed off! Excuse me!).

What remains good about this idiotic film?

It's the forefather of a genre, an absolute cult that has set the standard and still does today (Crap like "Insidious" and others).

A film with several high-impact aesthetic choices, and some special effects that made cinema history. The scene of the mother rolling up the walls and ceiling predates Craven's Nightmare by two years, the final part has some stunning visual ideas. The Clown, unforgettable. The mother opening a room's door, demons scream at her and she closes the door apologizing. I jumped out of my seat back then!!!*

(*Spielberg was not on set that day).

FINAL NOTE: It would have been nice to see the father sucked into an acid ectoplasm in the scene where he reads Reagan’s book. What a delight. What a pity.

Next time I'll review a film by Tobe Hooper.