Poltergeist (1982)

Director: Tobe Hooper

Starring: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Heather O’Rourke, Zelda Rubenstein

A family’s home is haunted by a host of ghosts.

This is a true classic. The haunting starts innocently and is initially seen as ‘fun’ by some of the family members, but then soon turns dangerous and scary. This is a very effective set-up that prepares us for what is to come. The characters a very likable, especially Craig T. Nelson as the cool and collected Dad; and Heather O’Rourke was equally good as the film’s main victim. The visual effects were really good. The film did get quite weird towards the end, but it was all good and well within the film’s theme.

‘Poltergeist’ received numerous award nominations, including 4 Oscar nominations. The film was a huge box office success, earning nearly $122 million on a $10 budget.