Suburbanites Steve (Craig T. Nelson) and Diane (JoBeth Williams) unexpectedly experience paranormal activity in their home.  What starts off as minor excitement quickly turns into some nasty encounters that eventually result in a traumatic loss, forcing the Freelings to bring parapsychologists into their home for desperately needed help. This classic horror film was co-produced and co-written by Steven Spielberg, directed by Tobe Hooper with a luminous score by Jerry Goldsmith and features Oscar Nominated Visual Effects by Richard Edlund, Michael Wood and Bruce Nicholson.

Ten years ago, when I first got excited about the DVD format and discovered that Poltergeist was one of the early released DVDs, I searched for DVD reviews of the film. DVDFile.com was one of the few sites to review it with some intelligent writing, and thus began my affiliation with this website first as a user. Peter M. Bracke did a solid review back in 1998 (click here to read it), and since then they just can’t get rid of me.

When I was a kid, my best friend, Steve, said that we had to see Poltergeist. The title sounded like a game show to me; I didn’t have a clue what it was about. It was playing only at a grand old theater called The National in downtown Eugene, Oregon (which has since turned into an athletic club, which I frequent like an addict). Downtown Eugene was a notoriously depressed, drug-filled place at the time, not to mention the country was in a serious recession in `82, so my father demanded to escort us little kids to the door of the theater. After getting used to the smell of rotten popcorn, the film utterly swept me away and I left flabbergasted. For many, their life changed with Star Wars. Go ahead and laugh, because for me it was Poltergeist.

My parents were going through a chaotic divorce at the time, memories from which still haunt me. So I guess to see this hopeful, flawed and funny Americanized Freeling family valiantly pull together against complex evil forces trying to tear them apart hit me in the heart; I wished my family could have held it together, too. So on an unconscious level, Steven Speilberg played me like a song.

While it seems that Tobe Hooper is the noted director, gossip has all but grown out of control that he was just a proxy for writer and producer Steven Spielberg. However, much of the gossip seems to be somewhat warranted based on interviews with the actors, including a recently recorded telephone interview with JoBeth Williams. But whoever directed this film hit the jackpot blending style, comedy, fine actors, California suburbia, mysterious spirituality and increasingly aggressive phenomena which are sacrilegiously accounted for at the film’s end.

Jaws’ score may go down in film history as the most memorable music score or maybe 2001: A Space Odyssey, but Jerry Goldsmith’s attentive and cathartic score for Poltergeist is unmatched as far as I’m concerned. I’ll admit that the Star Wars’ illustrious score is more titanic and grand, but Poltergeist remains my favorite as it carefully and liberally tailors every orchestrated melody to the moments of threat, tenderness, horror, mystery, wonder and ferocity with cinematic spirit.

The easy-going first 30 minutes does take a while to set up the film, but the payoff is sensational and worth it. If this is the first time you see the film or you are revisiting it after years gone by, this is one to crank up the home theater, dim the lights, shut off the cell phones, sit back and soak it up. Make it an event.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic video.  Noted for being “digitally restored and remastered” the end product shows appreciable improvement over prior releases and is definitely the number one reason to upgrade to this DVD. Many know that the opening credits over the suburban Cuesta Verde Estates was littered with dirt and other artifacts. Most of that is significantly cleaned up here for a smoother presentation, but it certainly isn’t pristine. Also skin tones and color restoration has significantly improved. There have been debates about the scene around 23:49 with the TV ghost and Carol Ann; many complained that prior DVDs release are oversaturated with a blue tinge. The complainers appear to be correct if this new release maintains better accuracy to the restored elements. I’ve included two of the exact same screen shots; notice the clarity of this 2007 print vs. the gauzy-blue and slightly softer 2000 print (previous DVD top, new DVD bottom).





This release is less “contrasty” with far better shadow detail to give the film improved depth. Blacks are deep and solid and whites are sharp, clean and never bloom. Less black crush is evident. Film grain is slight and small object detail is improved with this transfer. No noticeable edge halos are evident. Finely grained textures are improved and JoBeth’s gentle make up reveals more of a salon-like treatment. In fact, I saw the satellite projected promotion (for this DVD) of this film at a theater in early October of this year. And while they friggin’ cropped this film to fit the nearly 1.78:1 film screen (grrr!!), there was a slight yellow haze in the center and saturation terribly waned, I remembered being able to see more detail with the increased lines of resolution and the cleaned up presentation. And one of the big things I noticed was the detail of the actor’s fine features. This DVD certainly improves upon prior DVD releases and warrants a purchase, but high definition will definitely be a must for Poltergeist fans in the future.

It’s interesting to note that the prior 2000 DVD release was a flipper: anamorphic widescreen was on one side and pan and scan was on the other. This 2007 anamorphic widescreen release is single sided and double layered, which means that this new encoding can relax and use two layers whereas the old DVD had only one layer to work with for each version of the film (probably another reason why the image shows fewer artifacts than the original DVD).

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The disc includes a Dolby Digital 5.1 track “remastered.” Prior releases were fairly reasonable and also in Dolby Digital 5.1. I compared both tracks and the 2000 release exhibits slightly louder decibels running at 384 kbps. The 2007 release runs at 448 kbps. I wish I could say I noticed significant differences in audio details, but I simply couldn’t. Jerry Goldsmith’s score still maintains the widest frequency range. Most of the effects are clear though without a natural buoyancy that many low-budget horror films easily trump these days. Except for the thunder. What is most surprising is the thundering effects before the big tree sequence. The thunder liberally sweeps around the front right, center and left speakers with impressive imaging and makes the film more enveloping before the first crisis hits.

Dialogue has never been great with this film. The VHS made it sound like all were talking through paper towel rolls, the laser disc provided better clarity, and the DVD releases reveal the best quality of vocal exchanges. Despite the improvements in technology down the years, the dialogue has always sounded discernable but dull, narrow and with no body. Surrounds are not discrete in the prior release nor in this release (sadly), though they have a reasonable frequency range and are effective. Low frequency effects properly flow through the subwoofer during the action scenes, but it might be a fair suggestion to turn up a powered subwoofer’s level a tad to give the film a bit more kick.

Other audio tracks include: English Closed Captions, English 2.0 surround, French 2.0 surround, Spanish 2.0 surround, Portuguese 1.0. Subtitles in English, France, Spanish Portuguese and Chinese are also included.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

A new featurette (31 minutes) They Are Here: The Real World of Poltergeists Revealed documentary in two parts: Science of the Spirits  and Communing with the Ghosts (this was also shown after the film at the satellite theatrical showing I went to in early October). Paranormal folks get together and talk about the supernatural and the impact of the film. They discuss new techniques of recording the phenomenon and the fascination with ghosts. The first documentary’s interviews are inter-cut with many scenes from the film. The second part follows a few paranormal investigators in the field rather casually – with great lighting. Personally, I think the field is fascinating, but the production of this featurette is overly sensationalized and, therefore, takes the audience for a fool, despite some of the paranormal investigators’ earnestness. Shows like this are all over cable and the Internet anyway.

What fans have been clamoring for is interviews, behind the scenes footage, the making-of which is on the CAV laserdisc (and, currently, youtube.com). One of the best places to find more information is at super-fan David Furtney’s webpage on Poltergeist, which includes parts of the script, shooting schedule, deleted scenes, press releases, and interviews.

The 114-minute film is organized into 30 chapters (the prior release had 48 chapters).

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.

Final Thoughts

Poltergeist has resonating memories for many others and myself. In fact, I initially found my way to this website years ago via the release of a prior Poltergeist DVD and its DVDFile review. Newer generations might scoff at the film’s slower build up in the first act, but the payoff is thrilling - especially when enjoyed in a great home theater. With this release, the picture quality is strongly improved, making it worthy of an upgrade, and the audio remains well charged. However, just one, silly featurette supplement wont satisfy Poltergeist enthusiasts. The fierce acting, directing, scoring and production of this film is grandly satisfying cinema and certainly an audience pleaser. But it loses much of its cinematic kinetic energy outside of a strong home theater experience. So check this DVD out and make it an event! Just be careful of that clown….