Poltergeist Reviews

Spielberg, here credited as producer as co-writer, shows the other (darker) side of suburbia in this horror film, made in the same year as the superior E.T.

Full Review | Original Score: B-

Thanks to Poltergeist, more than a few of us still sleep with the lights on: the world has changed, but our closets haven't.

Full Review | Original Score: A-

A frightening, supernatural horror film that defined a generation.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

The film delivers honest special-effects shocks without forfeiting its good nature.

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One of the all-time great haunted house movies.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5

...a compelling and consistently creepy piece of work...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Spielberg clockwork: great suburbs, great special effects, great abuse of an expositive score, great overuse of the slow push-in, great hot mom, great irrelevant dad, great plucky little kids.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Think of it more as a fun-ride than a horror movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10

Twenty-five years on, the film is still looking remarkably good %u2013 and, I'm betting sales of clown dolls have never quite recovered.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

After a quarter-century, Poltergeist remains one of the most popular movies whose reputation rests almost exclusively on behind-the-scenes diversions.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

It's a highly effective and uncommonly emotional horror film, and in the summer of 1982, I preferred it to Spielberg's more universally admired E.T.

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So darn good it makes me wish Spielberg hadn't given up on the horror genre.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5

At first this takes the form of your classic poltergeist activity (moved furniture, that kind of thing), but it becomes weirder.

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A surprisingly yet successfully restrained lesson in how to haunt a house.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Though the shocks are well conveyed, it's the sweetness that lingers, making this the first cute and cuddly entry in the genre.

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| Original Score: 3/5

It is consistently redeemed by its creator's dazzling sense of craft.

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Pull your face off and wallow in the creepy goodness.

| Original Score: 5/5

Hooper's skill with gore combined with Spielberg's ability to sanitize anything into family-friendliness makes Poltergeist a smash horror hit -- and it's rated PG.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

| Original Score: 4/5