Poltergeist – 25th
Anniversary Edition (1982/Warner Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: D
Film: B-
Tobe
Hooper’s 1982 film Poltergeist is a
film that personally I never felt really worked or maybe I should say, was
uneven at best. Part of the problem (or
maybe the entire problem) is that the film feels like a cross between a true
horror director (Hooper) being slightly overshadowed by writer/producer Steven
Spielberg. The result feels like The Exorcist clashed with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T., which does make sense when you
think about this partnership and accounts for the unevenness. I suppose what this really boils down to is a
film that has been pared down from its suspense/thriller developments and turned
into a PG-rated watered down Spielberg production that over the course of time
has aged in some odd ways.
There are
so many elements that make this film feel more Spielberg than Hooper and the
end-result, especially viewing the film now on Blu-ray, is that it suffers more
than most might expect. Even little
things, like how the kids’ bedrooms are littered with Star Wars junk? E.T. also
featured kids’ bedrooms chock full of Star
Wars junk. This, among many other
things, constrains the film from being unique.
Looking back on the film now, it’s far more prominent in just how much
influence that Spielberg had on the film, again making it feel more like one of
his films. Because the film is PG there
are times when the film seems more family friendly and when the ghosts first
arrive, everything is ‘safe’. We never
really get a true sense of horror even when things turn for the worse because
the feel of the film at this point is still safe. This doesn’t mean that a film rated PG can’t
be scary, it can and can be suspenseful and all those things, Alfred Hitchcock
proved that if nothing else, but here the entire tone of the film and it’s
production still feels like E.T.
land and we are never pulled into the films darker side.
Of course
the film was still a hit and has been knocked off and parodied many times,
infamous lines like “They’re Here”
have been echoed time and time again. It
would also spawn three years later Poltergeist
II: The Other Side, and three years after that with Poltergeist III, which would be the last film of young Heather
O’Rourke’s life, she died tragically at the age of 12. Needless to say she will always be remembered
for these films, by default the first film is still the best in the series,
despite having some problems of it’s own.
The film
involves a family living in their newly developed home, where their youngest
daughter starts to have a strange connection to their televisions ‘dead
channels’. Shortly after stranger things
begin happening and it would seem that ghosts are occupying the house and
moving objects strangely through the home.
At first, the ghosts seem friendly and even amusing, but before long
they become dangerous and even lead to kidnapping the youngest daughter. The family must fight to survive and find a
way to defeat these ghosts in order to save their daughters life.
Warner
has issued the film to Blu-ray with a 2.40 X 1 framed transfer presented in
1080p high definition with a highly pleasing transfer, even the optical special
effects hold up well over 25 years later.
Compared to both the DVD released of the film about a year ago, as well
as other films of this age and caliber it’s definitely one of the better
transfers of it’s kind and that will certainly make fans happy. There are a few moments where the transfer
becomes softer and even occasionally loses some of it’s sharpness, but overall
is nothing drastic and is still a fine presentation. You can also check out our review for Close Encounters of the Third Kind
here:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6197/Close+Encounters+Of+The+Third+Kind
The Dolby
TrueHD 5.1 mix is quite good with most of the effects coming from the front
soundstage, Jerry Goldsmith’s score is memorable as well. Bass is very deep and prominent when needed
to be, overall fidelity is solid for a film of this age. I was highly impressed with the mix on Close Encounters, this is a notch below
that, but still passable for sure.
The film
comes in a DigiPak with some cool information and photos; there is also a
supplement that features ‘real’ ghost hunters that is not only a bizarre extra,
but a rather lame one at that. Overall a
disappointment in this regard, but the technical specs are an improvement over
all previous home video releases and will be the version fans will want to own.
- Nate Goss
