Children of the Corn (1984)

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Doc

The next film in the EYG Halloween Horror Bingefest is the 1984 cult classic, Children of the Corn, from Stephen King. Like many other films that reach cult film classic level, this film is not very good. However, I have to say that I enjoyed watching it this morning despite its many (many) flaws. I just do not think that I enjoyed this in the manner that they had intended.

Newly minted doctor Burt (Peter Horton) and his girlfriend Vicky (Linda Hamilton) are driving to their new lives when a young boy appeared in the road before them. The boy is struck by the car and dies, but Dr. Burt discovered that the boy’s throat had already been slit.

The couple drives into the small town of Gatlin to try to call for help, only to discover that the adults of the town were missing and that the town had been overtaken by a crazed religious cult of the children, lead by the weird sounding Isaac (John Franklin).

The cult was beginning their latest sacrifice to their lord and they wanted to add the “Outlanders” to the bill.

Though the beginning of the film started out well, the last half or so really stretched credibility and descended into silliness and campy behavior. Honestly, I am not sure what was happening at the end as monsters began appearing, despite very little groundwork being laid for this result. Characters and their choices felt inconsistent and seemed to change whenever the plot needed it to.

The acting was, at best, poor. The problem with having such a large cast of children involved is that you risk the danger of bringing wooden performances and, sadly, that is what happened here. I don’t fault them, because they are clearly trying their best, but there are not any standout future stars among the child actors here.

Linda Hamilton is here, bringing her own reputation to the film, but her character is not much more than a female stereotype of the time. She was a woman in need of rescue and even the young kid Job (Robby Kiger, who would play Patrick in the Monster Squad) got to be more heroic. It was a definite sign of the times.

There were some interesting ideas that were barely touched upon, such as Job’s sister Sarah (Anne Marie McEvoy) and her ability to see the future by drawing it. This power was just touched upon and was not important in the finale at all.

Still, I was entertained by the silliness. It feels like a B movie that is not to be taken seriously and in that vein, this works. If you are really looking for good character work or a comprehensive and understandable story, this does not work.

The Clovehitch Killer (2018)

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Doc

The next film in the EYG Halloween Horror Bingefest is a film that I just found out about today. After watching Charlie Plummer in Spontaneous, I found this one on his IMDB page and it sounded fascinating. I have always had an interest in serial killers, and yes, I know that sounds weird. Yet, they intrigue me and the synopsis of this movie fell right into place. Tyler Burnside (Charlie Plummer) is a normal teen whose life seems too perfect. He is a Boy Scout and his father Don (Dylan McDermott) is the Scoutmaster. In order to impress his girlfriend, Tyler “borrowed” his dad’s new truck, but, when his girlfriend discovered a weird bondage pic in the truck, Tyler gained a reputation as the pervert. Tyler did not understand how that picture got in the truck, so he did a little investigating on his own. During this time, he uncovered evidence that suggested that his father was the infamous Cloverhitch Killer, a serial killer from years ago that was inactive. Tyler teamed up with another girl, Kassi (Madisen Beaty), who had been known to be looking into the Clovehitch case. The tension in this movie is high level and it builds slowly as the film progresses. You think you know what is happening, but there is always a kernel of doubt in your mind. What if Tyler is wrong and he is misinterpreting the evidence? The film does a solid job of keeping the audience on its toes as the suspense builds. Dylan McDermott and Charlie Plummer are fantastic in these roles that take a truly challenging subject and place these characters square in the center. This relationship needed to work for this story to be effective and the connection between father and son is clear here. The imagery of the film is done well and creates an unsettling mood that carries through the movie. There are some claustrophobic feelings here as the truth begins to come to the surface. The third act changes the format some as we flashback to see Tyler and Kassi’s movements over a time period that we had already seen. This technique has been used very effectively over the years, and this works here too. The conclusion of the film is controversial and I can see where some viewers may not have enjoyed it. I do not want to spoil it, but the conclusion could be divisive. It did seem to be out of character and made me worry for the future of said character. This is a quiet little movie that deals with some strong character work with some talented actors. The film does a great job in unnerving the audience and keeps you just uncertain enough to make you question what you know.

3.9 stars

Creepshow (1982)

Posted on October 10, 2020 by Doc

The EYG Horror Halloween Bingefest resumed this week with a horror/comedy anthology movie called Creepshow, directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King.

Creepshow is a compilation of five short stories brought together with the framing technique of stories from a horror comic owned by a young boy (Joe King) that had been thrown out by his loud and obnoxious father (Tom Atkins).

From there we move around to the different stories that feature a plethora of big time stars. The cast included Hal Holbrook, Leslie Nielson, Ted Danson, Ed Harris, Adrienne Barbeau, Stephen King, E.G. Marshall, Fritz Weaver, Don Keefer among others.

The movie was a serious slice of 1980s. There is no doubt which decade this film was created in. Watching it now gave me a huge feeling of nostalgia and that helped the presentation of the stories. The dark humor was funny as well, with a lot of irony cutting through the darkness.

My personal favorites of the anthology were “Something to Tide You Over” with Leslie Nielson looking to exact some revenge on Ted Danson, and “The Crate” where a certain monstrous creature arrives in a crate and goes about killing several people. Both of these were a hoot to watch.

The film was uneven, as some of the moments of Creepshow were not up to par as some others, but it was a lot of fun to watch. I especially enjoyed the comic book motif that was scattered throughout the film.

Certainly a horror/comedy classic and you may never look at a cockroach the same way again.

The Lie

Posted on October 10, 2020 by Doc

The second movie from Blumhouse released on Amazon Prime this October is a huge step down from the first one that I watched. In fact, i would go as far as to say that The Lie is a truly gross movie.

Jay (Peter Sarsgaard) has to take his daughter Kayla (Joey King) to a dance camp in place of his ex-wife Rebecca (Mireille Enos). Along the way, they pick up one of Kayla’s friends Britney (Devery Jacobs) who was also heading to the dance camp. However, this moment lead to a terrible circumstance that would change the balance of their relationship forever.

I really did not like this movie. The situation was just ripe with nothing more than melodrama and ridiculous choices. When Jay and Rebecca began covering up for their daughter, the levels of plausibility just went through the roof and you could see that they were doing things that no right thinking person would do. There is better decision making on soap operas.

Jay and Rebecca did not seem to worry too much about their daughter and the fact that she appeared to be quite sociopathic at worst and manipulative at best. When Rebecca’s father (Cas Anvar) showed up, the film took an even worse route with Jay and Rebecca doing some of the most horrific things.

As if that was not enough, the film tossed in a little police racism, with one of the investigating officers, Detective Barnes (Nicholas Lea), asking about his nationality.

Then, there was a twist ending that totally came out of nowhere and that made zero sense. In fact, the way this film ended gave us even more proof that Kayla was sociopathic. She needs immediate and repetitive therapy.

The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018, but had not been released until this month. There is an obvious reason why the movie had this long of a wait to be released. It was just a repulsive film with some of the most obnoxious characters as lead roles you have seen in a long time. Performances were okay, at best, but honestly, some of the shrieks were so over the top I did not believe any of them were real. Motivations were muddled and choices were brazen. Watch Black Box instead.

1.6 stars

Black Box

Posted on October 10, 2020 by Doc

A debut for writer-director Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, Black Box is one of the new Blumhouse films on Amazon Prime for October and I found this just exceptional.

After surviving a car wreck that cost him his wife and his memory, Nolan (Mamoudou Athie) agrees to enlist in an experimental treatment from Dr. Lillian Brooks (Phylicia Rashad) to help recover those deep seeded memories. However, during the process, Nolan encountered a malevolent presence in his mind that seemed to be attempting to prevent him from remembering.

This was a horror/thriller film that truly put me on edge and made me think about the potential moral dilemma behind the use of science and the manipulation of technology for personal reasons. When the twist came in the film, and I realized what had happened, I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. I usually do not have that kind of an emotional reaction to a film like this, so it is clearly doing its job.

The film boasted some great performances too. Not only was Phylicia Rashad and Mamoudou Athie excellent, but the young actress who played Nolan’s daughter Ava (Amanda Christine) brought a strength to this performance. There was some great chemistry between Nolan and Ava and I bought every second of them as father and daughter who had suffered a terrible loss.

Phylicia Rashad was as menacing as I have ever seen her in this role. She does a fantastic job of making you believe in her motives here and you believed that she would do whatever it took.

Once the twist happened, the film was fairly predictable, but that does not make it bad. It simply meant that it provided the proper finale that you had been waiting for. Yes, they may have telegraphed a few plot points, but that is a minor gripe in an overall outstanding psychological thriller.

Amazon Films has been on quite the roll recently.

4.4 stars

Spontaneous

Posted on October 10, 2020 by Doc

Spontaneous blends together any number of genres, from horror to coming of age to comedy, and it does it with an effectiveness that you might not have expected.

Shocking events begin to happen at Covington High School when students begin to literally explode in a massive bloody blast. Mara (Katherine Langford) was one of the seniors who seemed to be infected with this bizarre “disease”. Dylan (Charlie Plummer), who had had a crush on Mara for years, decided that there was no time like the present to tell her about his feelings. Mara and Dylan’s burgeoning relationship continued to grow as their classmates continued to spontaneously combust.

When I saw this trailer last night, I immediately went to find this movie. The trailer was extremely funny and felt more satiric than the movie turned out to be. The movie had those comedic beats, but there was more of a darkness to it than I thought. It makes sense because it deals with grief, in particular survivor’s grief, and the perils faced by young people today. The pain of watching people that you know die in front of you is a traumatic event but this shows the resiliency of youth.

I found the relationship between Mara and Dylan to be sweet and entertaining, but there was a cloud over it as I was scared of seeing one of them, most likely Dylan, explode. Every minute they were together felt of vital importance.

Katherine Langford and Charlie Plummer were charming and brought a realness to the outlandish and strange story. The “E.T./Eliot” scene in the film was just about as wonderful as you are going to get. This couple had a rooting for quality that some times are missing from these teenager movies.

I was not as connected to the relationship between Mara and her best friend Tess (Hayley Law). They seemed to be an added on relationship to give Mara more to her character. Hayley Law was an interesting actor though and I did like watching her when she was on the screen. Law was on Riverdale and she is a future star.

As I mentioned, the trailer was funny, but, as the film progressed, the exploding kids became less funny and more unnerving. I found myself cringing every time it happened, and the scene where the class ran from the building as classmates exploded felt reminiscent of a school shooting situation. It was very difficult to watch at times.

Spontaneous mixed a lot of genres together and worked very well. There were moments of comedy that were extremely funny, but also plenty of heart-touching scenes that tugged at the emotions. Spontaneous was a very solid film.

4 stars

The Wolf of Snow Hollow

Posted on October 10, 2020 by Doc

This was quite an unexpected film. When I read the synopsis of The Wolf of Snow Hollow, I was intrigued enough to purchase it on Vudu. After watching it, this movie was very odd.

The small town of Snow Hollow was enthralled by terror as a young woman was brutally murdered and carved up in an attack during a full moon. This was just the first murder and the anger and fear from the citizens were directed at the police.

Officer John Marshall (Jim Cummings) was at the heart of the investigation, but he was struggling already. With an alcohol problem, a failed marriage, an estranged daughter (Chloe East), a father (Robert Forster) who was the sheriff but suffered from health issues that he refused to cop to, and a police force that had little respect or ability, the stresses of these brutal murders took its toll on him.

It was strange too that, as our protagonist, John Marshall was very difficult to like. He had distinct anger issues and was constantly screaming at people around him. He was distant from his daughter and the scenes of him with his ex-wife were hard to watch. Still, Jim Cummings pulls off this character with a deft touch where many other actors might have fallen into parody.

There were a ton of details and specifics that felt added on as if they were intended to be red herrings. Some of the details just are not important to the story and are there to throw the viewers off. To be fair, the mystery aspect of this film was one of the weaker aspects of it. It all kind of wrapped up suddenly and without much explanation.

There is a quirkiness to the film that kept me engaged throughout. I have to admit that there were a couple of moments where I felt as if I was ready to turn on the film, but there was just something about it that kept me watching.

The film felt to me like Fargo and Twin Peaks took on the werewolf movie. The Twin Peaks feel might come from the appearance of the late Robert Forster, who seemed to be playing the same character he played in the third extended season of Twin Peaks (Sheriff Truman) right down to the same white hat.

The oddball characters and offbeat situations gives the viewer something different and original in The Wolf of Snow Hollow. Surprisingly emotional, the battle of Officer Marshall to solve this case while traversing his troubled life is compelling and the messages are loud and clear.

3.5 stars

Blade (1998)

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Doc

The next film in the EYG Halloween Horror Bingefest is one of the early comic book movies that helped start the current trend in Blade, starring Westley Snipes as the Daywalker.

I have to say, there were more than a few moments of this movie that I was not a fan of on this viewing. While I still enjoyed Blade a lot, I did not love this as much as I did when I first saw it back in 1998.

Born of an infected mother, Blade (Westley Snipes) is the mixed blood between vampires and humans and he is out to kill all of the blood suckers. Working with weapon-maker Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), Blade has been searching for Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), whose plan to bring back the Blood God threatens everyone.

Westley Snipes is a great Blade. He made this role his own and it became iconic because of his portrayal. There were a time or two where I did not like choices that were made by the actor which did not feel like it was Blade, but that is a minor problem. He was much better than not as the Daywalker.

Stephen Dorff is excellent as the villainous Frost. He is slimy and as evil as they come. He is the best villain in the Blade franchise by a mile. There is also the great Donal Logue (Gotham’s Harvey Bullock) is here too as henchman Quinn.

Unfortunately, Kris Kristofferson feels fairly wasted here as Whistler, the cliched older father figure who you knew was destined to die. This archetype is overused in this type of movie.

The action in the movie is tremendous and takes this film to another level. The story or the performances were fine, but it is an action movie and, in that area, Blade really comes through in a stylish and dramatic fashion.

While it may not be as great of a movie as I once thought it was, Blade nails a lot of the genre of vampires and gives us an original, black hero to cheer for and Wesley Snipes is the perfect casting as Blade. I am anxious to see how Mahershala Ali fills the shoes when Blade debuts in the MCU.

Silent Hill (2006)

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Doc

Next in line for the EYG Halloween Horror Bingefest is a film that has inspired several sequels but one that I have never seen. It is director Christophe Gans’ Silent Hill.

Silent Hill is based on a video game, and, after seeing the film, that does not surprise me because the story here is as one dimensional as most video game stories.

Unable to accept that her daughter is dying, Rose (Radha Mitchell) takes her away to a faith healer, looking for answers. However, after passing through a portal in reality, they wind up in a mysterious town called Silent Hill, where the daughter immediately disappears.

From here we get dark, hate-filled characters and ugliness galore, albeit visually impressive. Very little makes any sense and the dialogue is video game level, at best.

I found this to be a total bog to trudge through and I have very little if anything to say positive about this. I found Silent Hill to be an extremely unwelcomed experience and it certainly did not inspire me to watch any of the list of sequels that followed it.

Amazon.com: Silent Hill: Prints: Posters & Prints

Secret Window (2004)

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Doc

Next up on the Halloween Horror Bingefest here at EYG is a film that should be really defined as a “thriller” instead of horror, though it certainly shares some characteristics with the genre, Johnny Depp’s psychological thriller Secret Window.

After finding his wife Amy (Maria Bello) in the bed of another man (Timothy Hutton), author Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) leaves to his lake house in an attempt to isolate from the pain. As this is happening, a strange man named Shooter (John Turturro) arrived claiming that Rainey had stolen the story called Secret Window.

Shooter immediately began to show signs that he was more than just a disgruntled author wannabe and that things could become dangerous.

As with many of these types of thrillers, there are things that are not what they seem going on around the main characters.

Johnny Depp is solid in this role, but honestly, the development of the plot, as it is, is lacking much of a story. It was pretty clear what was going to happen as the movie progressed and, when it does happen, what little momentum the film had built up was lost.

Very little stood out in this movie, even with Depp’s performance. With what we eventually got as a payoff, there needed to be more of a set up. The film approaches it as the central mystery of the film, but it really just kind of moves along until it flips the switch. What was supposed to be a mind blowing twist really turned into a meh moment.

Having said that, the film is not terrible and I have seen considerably more offensive films. This one was basically just there. It is not the worst film to have on when passing time. However, I would not go searching it out.

MEH

Signs (2002)

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Doc

Amazon.com: Pop Culture Graphics Signs 11x17 Movie Poster (2002): Prints: Posters & Prints

Next up on the annual EYG Halloween Horror Bingefest is the M. Night Shyamalan movie, Signs, starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix.

Honestly, when I first saw this movie, I disliked it tremendously. For me, this, along with The Village, was when Shyamalan started his downward spiral after two films that I truly loved (The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable). However, I have heard many people defend the film and so I thought it might be deserving of a rewatch. Perhaps I would feel differently about it now than I did back in the early 2000s.

And I did.

I have to say that I found this considerably more engaging and emotional than the first viewing. I was much more connected to it than I was then and I even found myself tearing up a bit.

At first, I had to get past Mel Gibson being on screen. After the hateful things that Gibson has said, he is a presence in the film that threatens to overpower everything else. After the beginning of the film, I was able to put those feelings aside and immerse myself in the story.

I found the relationship between Gibson and the two children, played by Abigail Breslin and Rory Culkin, was at the very center of the success of this movie. There was so much pain from these characters from the past events that seeing them struggle with them in the face of the invasion was powerful and very realistic. It grounded the story in emotion in a way that we could relate instead of in a situation that we have not had experience with in our lifetimes.

I was also surprised with how many moments of humor found its way into a movie that was intended to be so intense and suspenseful. Most of the laughs were from small moments or minor details and they worked among the tragic circumstances.

My guess was that, when I saw this the first time, I may not have appreciated the slow pace of the film. Now, much older, I enjoy a good, slow burn, particularly when it develops character, and this is absolutely what happens in Signs. Some of the dialogue here is just excellent and on point. These tendencies may not have appealed to me as much in 2002.

I am still not 100% fond of the ending of the film as it feels a tad contrived, but the emotional moment between Gibson and Culkin at the end was worth putting up with the rest of the final confrontation. The idea that these aliens had a weakness to SPOILERS water and they come to a planet where 75% of the planet is covered with water is a bit silly END OF SPOILER as you would think that if they could travel here in UFOs that they had the ability to understand what the planet is like. Still, I think that is a little nitpicky since the movie is really more about the relationship between Gibson and his family and dealing with his own loss of faith instead of being about an alien invasion.

My opinion has changed on Signs, showing how film can be subjective once again. I brought a different mindset into this viewing than I did 18 years ago and that can lead to a difference in perception. I wonder how many years it will take for me to change my perception of Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender?

The Cabin in the Woods

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Doc

This one is one of my favorite horror movies of all time so it is awesome to include it in this year’s EYG Halloween Horror Bingefest.

The Cabin in the Woods from director Drew Goddard and producer/co-writer Joss Whedon is an amazingly creative and thoroughly entertaining horror film that not only brings thrills and scares, but also deconstructs the tropes and genre-specific moments that all horror movies revel within. It is as clever of a film as you are going to see, and it is just as horrifying and gory as any other film of its ilk.

Five young people head to a family member’s cabin in the woods for a weekend of fun and frivolity, but they, instead, find death and fear. Yes, this sounds like a typical plotline from many horror movies, but this is anythign but typical.

In fact, we discover early in the movie that the entire situation is being manipulated by a group of puppeteers as a sacrifice to some mysterious force. This was not the only sacrifice going down, as we see other examples from around the world (all playing into genre specific horror). These puppeteers are shown to be the reason why characters in horror movies make such a series of inane choices or stupid decisions. Gas, technology and other manipulations lead these subjects into their bad decisions.

Our two main puppeteers (Richard Jenkins & Bradley Whitford) are jovial and confident in their jobs and we see them as if they were in an office working at any normal 9 to 5 job. There was not much normal about this though.

The five kids are made to fit by the puppeteers into five generalized archetypes that you normally see in horror films: the virgin, Dana (Kristen Connolly), the fool Marty (Fran Kranz), the jock Curt (Thor himself Chris Hemsworth), the scholar Holden (Jesse Williams) and the whore Jules (Anna Hutchison). Then we see the five of them slowly killed by the monster that they had unleashed.

There is such a clever twist to this story, one that you have seen for so many different times that The Cabin in the Woods becomes so fresh and funny that you are never sure what is going to happen next. You root for these five young adults despite the fact that it seems that they are destined to be finished off.

There is also an epic cameo at the end of the film, which I will not spoil, but which feels perfectly cast.

This was one of my absolutely favorite movies from 2012 (behind, if I remember correctly only The Avengers). The Cabin in the Woods is such a classic of the genre, and yet seems to exceed it as well. It takes the best bits of the horror genre and of the comedy genre and mix them up into a beautiful amalgam of weirdness. It actually sat on the shelf for years before its eventual release, which is a shame. It truly was worth the wait.

Spiral

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Doc

One of the recent films appearing on Amazon Prime’s Shudder is the horror film called Spiral.

A same-sex couple and their daughter move to a small town where they are hoping to live happily. However, the town is not as idyllic as they thought. One of the couple, Malik (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman), had lived in the town before and had suffered a traumatic event as a young boy.

Malik had been uneasy about the town, but his husband Aaron (Ari Cohen) told him he was overreacting and that everything was going to be okay.

Unfortunately, it was not going to be okay.

There was some good suspense in Spiral and what exactly was happening was nicely hidden in the uncertainty of the situation. It seemed as if Malik may have been imagining some of it because of his past trauma and it felt like a nightmare scenario.

I have to say though that the ending of the film was shocking and disturbing for sure. The final few scenes were unbelievably creepy.

Lochlyn Munro, Hall Cooper on the TV show Riverdale, plays a superiorly creepy villain and he does a very solid job of it.

Another good watch for this time of year, Spiral has that Get Out feel to it. While it is not at that level, this is a good film for October.

3.5 stars

Fright Night (1985)

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Doc

Fright Night Movie Poster - Terror Time Chopping Mall

Next up on the Halloween Horror Bingfest is a classic 1980s film called Fright Night.

I had seen this as a younger man, but I did not remember that The Princess Bride’s Prince Humperdinck himself, Chris Sarandon, starred as Jerry Dandrige, the main villainous vampire. The only thing I really remembered from the first time was Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent, TV’s “vampire hunter”.

Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) moved in next door to Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale), who immediately spotted the vampire next door biting one of his victims. No one believed Charley, but that did not prevent him from trying to stop him. With help from the vampire hunter Peter Vincent, Charley had to put his life on the line to try and save his girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse) from a fate worse than death.

Fright Night is a cult classic with a healthy dose of camp to it. Yet it does not take the camp factor to a level that is annoying and provides us with a very good time in battling vampires.

Roddy McDowall is great in this movie. He gives one of his greatest performances in any film anywhere. You believe everything in connection to this character, an actor who seems to be washed up, and who really never thought that vampires could be real. McDowall ties everything in the script together into the narrative.

Chris Sarandon is great too. he plays the perfect, slimy villain, here two years before he would don the crown of Prince Humperdinck. The smirk and the knowing façade made him a wonderful foil for the all-American type of Charley.

Fright Night has a distinct B-movie feel to it, and it plays that up throughout the film. Peter Vincent was a host of the old late night TV monster movie shows, this one appropriately titled Fright Night. This provides a back drop for the movie and lets us into the idea of what kind of horror movie this is.

Fright Night is a lot of fun and cheesy.

Poltergeist (1982)

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Doc

Poltergeist Movie Poster | 40x60 Original Vintage Movie Poster

The 2020 EYG Horror/Halloween Bingefest this year continued today with one of the classic haunted house movies of all time. Poltergeist inspired several sequels and filled the minds of the audience with tension and fright.

The Freeling family seemed to be the perfect family, living a wonderful life. However, strange events begin happening in the house. At first, it seemed like harmless fun, but it quickly degenerated into a life and death struggle.

One particularly stormy night lead to several horrifying situations and the abduction of young girl Carole Anne (Heather O’Rourke) from her bedroom. This led Steven (Craig T. Nelson), her father, and Diane (JoBeth Williams), her mother, to struggle to save their entire family.

I have to say, this film unnerved me quite a bit. I had an eerie feel when it ended and it stuck with with for a bit. That is a sign of an effective horror film.

The performances of Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams were fantastic. I really bought them as a happy couple, who loved their life and their family above all else. The strength of the pairing of Nelson and Williams elevated the material dramatically.

Although she was not on screen as much as the other members of the cast, Zelda Rubinstein (who I was originally introduced to on Picket Fences) was utterly brilliant as the psychic Tangina. Her arrival in the movie truly kickstarted the film into another level of intensity. Her voice and her diminutive frame demanded your attention in every scene she appeared in and she dominated the screen.

The special effects really hold up too. For 1982, these were extra special and these effects deserved the praise that was heaped upon them.

Directed by Tobe Hooper, the screenplay was written by, among others, Steven Spielberg, though rumors circulated that Spielberg’s touch on the film was more all-encompassing than just writer. In fact, the vision of Spielberg permeated much of the creative decisions which became Poltergeist.

There are several deft touches of humor in the film as well, something that you would not think would be effective. However, each moment of humor seemed to fit extremely well and helped make you believe this was a real family and real people going through these unreal events. It came across very well.

Jerry Goldsmith’s score was amazing. His music elevated the tension in each scene, highlighting the beauty in each moment.

Poltergeist is a true Halloween must.