Common Sense Note
Parents should know that this movie touches on many things that are frightening to kids (and some adults), including scary shadows in the dark, monsters in the closet, and separation from family. A character rips the flesh from his face (though eventually we see he's hallucinating). A young boy is attacked by a ghost-inhabited tree. A girl is taken from her parents and held in a netherworld where she's menaced by a character it's intimated is evil. The parents are seen smoking marijuana, and are apparently regular users.
Families who watch this movie might discuss why it's so scary. Are the effects, the ghosts and other things that you see, what are so frightening? Or is the situations? Did you identify with the little girl who was taken away? What about the little boy attacked by a tree? Did this movie make you think of the times when you were little that you thought there were monsters in the closet or under the bed? Why do people like watching movies that frighten them?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: M. Faust
The story of a family assaulted by ghosts is still compelling. Well-written characters and a strong cast make up for somewhat dated special effects.
"They're here!" Written and produced by Steven Spielberg, POLTERGEIST is one of the all-time great haunted house stories, as a family's "perfect" suburban home becomes the target of a ghostly invasion. Well-written characters played by a strong cast make up for once top-of-the-line special effects that now look a bit cheesy.
Steven and Diane Freeling and their three children are happy in their new home in a California housing development built by the company Steven works for. They don't notice at first that 5-year-old daughter Carol Ann is receiving messages from voices that speak to her through empty channels on the television set.
But Diane soon begins to see more physical evidence of a ghostly presence, one that moves things around the kitchen. The unseen beings grow more malevolent, inhabiting a tree that attacks son Robbie. And when they take Carol Ann away, the Freelings call in a team of experts, including a diminutive psychic who holds the key to the other world.
Poltergeist is in some ways the dark side of E.T., which Steven Spielberg was directing at the same time he was overseeing this movie. Both films feature a placid American setting facing an unexpected confrontation with the unknown. But unlike the gentle creature from outer space, these visitors are distinctly nasty.
The movie takes a while to get off the ground, detailing the Freeling family while gradually introducing an element of unease. Everyone in the family is sympathetic, likable and believable, which helps involve us emotionally in the movie. And the film doesn't abuse the fact that we've come to care about them: We're scared at the ordeal they face, but they all come through OK, saved by their love for each other.
Kids raised on movies of the 90s, with their seemingly limitless digital effects, probably won't be too terrified by the ghosties on display here, which look a little cheesy by comparison. The most frightening parts of the movie arise from our empathy with the characters. Diane listening to her daughter's voice crying out "Mommy, where are you?" will produce a lump in every mother's throat.
The parts of the movie that affectionately satirize suburban life will appeal more to adults than kids. The film's finale, in which the corpses buried under the housing development rise, almost seems to have been gratuitously tacked onto the movie to provide an explanation. It's shocking but not involving enough to be scary.
Other (sometimes) scary movies that parents can enjoy with older kids are Gremlins, Beetlejuice, and Ghostbusters.
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ViolenceA character rips the flesh from his face (though eventually we see he's hallucinating). A young boy is attacked by a ghost-inhabited tree. |
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LanguageMild swearing. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoThe parents are seen smoking marijuana, and are apparently regular users. |
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