What if Steven Spielberg directed a full-blown horror movie? Chances are it would end up looking a hell of a lot like Poltergeist. Indeed, it has long been rumoured that Spielberg - who served as an executive producer on this movie and was frequently seen hanging around the set, offering his expertise - co-directed the thing alongside Texas Chainsaw maestro Tobe Hooper. Poltergeist is classic Spielberg in so many ways, of course; everything, from the suburban setting, the family unit serving as protagonists, and the crisp, clean direction, seems to mark it out as one of his own. And yet Poltergeist possesses a far darker heart than the usual Spielberg fare (presumably the reason why he set Tobe Hooper onto the task) - it's a relentlessly entertaining movie, sure, filled with charm and humour, but several of its most famous sequences are downright terrifying. Who could forget, after all, the old tree smashing through the window, or the clown attack? As a haunted house movie, then, Poltergeist is one of the best, a landmark film, imitated to this very day. And it's also one of very, very few horror movies bold enough to end on a bonafide joke.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
