Derek Acorah would be shitting himself.

#30 Poltergeist - 1982

"I got beat up once by three kids. They took my lunch money. Maybe they got hit by a truck, and they're upstairs right now."
-- Robbie

Ah 1982, what a year it was! Most noteable for this film, 'Blade Runner', 'Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan' and of course, my birth.

But really, 'Poltergeist' holds up mightily well, particularly these days. Giving an insight into Regan's America. Where people prospered and everyone was moving into huge homes in the Suburbs, even if said Houses were built on Ancient Indian Burial grounds. Ah those pesky Indians.

The Freeling's are the quintessential all American family. A loving husband and wife with 3 children. They have it all. They're also being haunted, which kind of puts a bummer on things.

Mention here should go to the cast who were all more or less unknown at the time. By not using big stars it kind of helps the whole 'Average American Family' vibe they were aiming for. Of course, Craig T Nelson went on to voice Mr Incredible in 'The Incredibles', but to me he'll always be the bad guy in 'Action Jackson'. This film also has an honour I cannot bestow to any others on this list, in that no one actually dies. Quite an achievement for something commonly classed as a Horror film. So again there's no Death, but there's scares. Chairs stacked on top of each other (In a neat one-shot trick), vengeful Trees and creepy clowns and Kids and Parents scared senseless that Summer.

The film is also funny. Like genuinely funny, rather than unintentional. It was something that was lost on me when watching it as a kid but now I've got to see it again it all becomes clear. There's a sly running joke that the oldest Daughter (Dominique Dunne, sadly strangled into Brain Death not long after working on the film) is pregnant. Visual clues such as her eating constantly fill out the picture for us, though it's never actually mentioned. There's a sweet scene with the otherwise responsible Parents getting stoned that helps flesh out their characters. It's easy to have the folks be stoic upstanding Citizens but it's nice to see that get skewed a little. Also reinforcing that idea is how useless the Men are in the film. Steven in particular doesn't do that much, instead it's left up to Mom to get everything done. I mean, even the one task Steven is giving (Feeding rope through a portal) is fucked up by him.

I'll be honest and say that the film drags ever so slightly in the middle before the finale goes completely crazy. However the first third is pitch perfect and works incredibly well, so it's a little much to expect the rest of the film to match that. It's no coincidence that it coincides with Zelda Rubinstein's appearance as the all knowing Dwarf. It's not that she's bad, because she isn't. But she is ineffectual. I mean at one point she tells them "It's all clear" before a giant fucking...thing appears out of some interdimensional doorway in the Closet. Way to go Bitch.

This also has Stephen Spielberg's fingerprints all over it. He wrote the script and hired 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Director Tobe Hooper to Direct (Hooper proving that it's possible to Direct a good film by Accident). Story is however that Hooper was barely there seeing as he was coked out of his mind the whole time. So Spielberg took over the whole production before starting on 'ET' just weeks after shooting on this ended. In fact both films were made in the same Neighborhood. The film was also notable for receiving an R rating at the time, before Spielberg got it reduced to a PG rating. Seems that even back in '82 The Beard had some clout.

Well that's almost it for now, tomorrow will be the last film and then over the weekend I'm going to do a little roundup of my thoughts on this last Month (And will be making many excuses for my writing).