Poltergeist

Kind of crazy that I haven’t said anything about this here because this might be my favourite horror movie of all time. Something about the idealized suburbia that Spielberg helped create being ripped to shreds by the man himself is so fascinating to me. The Hooper and Spielberg balancing act is what makes this movie work. It’s not a pure descent into horror, it’s a genuine battle between good and evil. It’s a horrifying idea that our idyllic world is threatened by something evil and unknown, but what’s even scarier is the reality that maybe that evil was there first, and we’re just blindly building on top.  It collapses society, order, the tenants of the American dream, and what’s left is the family unit, an active beating heart that is glaringly absent in many horror movies. The world you live in may fall apart, but the things you made, the love that you perpetuate, nothing can take that from you. I wish this wasn’t simply seen as a “horror classic” and nothing more, because there are very few movies as inventive, thoughtful, and effective as Poltergeist, horror or not. Also Craig T. Nelson looks and acts like my dad when I was young so automatic boost to the score.