'31 Nights of Horror' Day 22: Poltergeist (1982)

They're Here: Revisiting the Timeless Haunt of Poltergeist

Hey, ghouls! 31 Nights of Horror is here, serving up daily scares with reviews of classic and new horror films. Watch for chilling lists and other spine-tingling pieces. Keep your lights on… the terror begins now

Also, apologies for missing a couple of nights! It's been a crazy few days, but we're back and ready to dive back in.

"They're heeere!"

Every time I hear that eerie little voice from Poltergeist, I can't help but think back to my childhood days of battling static on the TV. You know, the good old days when adjusting the antenna felt like a mission to summon signals from the other side. And when Poltergeist came on? Oh, I’d wonder if something really was hiding in that static… turns out, it wasn’t a ghost, just the start of a lifelong obsession with movies.

Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist is an essential haunted house flick that still holds up, even if it doesn’t hit you with the jump-scares modern horror fans might crave. It's the kind of film where less is more—a slow-burn classic that crawls under your skin, taking its sweet time before flipping your world upside down.

We meet the Freelings, your everyday suburban family, living the American Dream (until it quickly turns into the American Nightmare, of course). Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams play the parents, with Heather O'Rourke as their sweet daughter Carol Anne—the one who gets pulled into the TV by a not-so-friendly spirit. At first, things are more “oddly amusing” than terrifying—furniture moving around on its own, kids talking to static-filled TVs—but when trees start attacking, and earthquakes shake their house without any logical explanation, you realize that cute factor is gone. Fast.

Part of what makes Poltergeist linger in your mind long after the credits roll is its slow, suspenseful pacing. It doesn’t rush to scare you—it lets the dread build, layer by layer. The Freelings feel like a real family, one you could imagine living next door. They’re thrown into a nightmare where their cozy home becomes a battleground between the living and the supernatural. And when Carol Anne goes missing, the heart of the story kicks into gear: how far will you go to save your family?

Helping them out is the unforgettable Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein), a clairvoyant who delivers lines with such confidence that you believe in the unseen forces messing with the Freelings' world. And let’s be honest, she steals the show whenever she’s on-screen.

Rewatching it as an adult, it might not have the in-your-face scares of modern horror, but the mix of Steven Spielberg’s emotional storytelling and Hooper’s direction gives it a unique charm. The suburban setting feels safe, yet the terror lurking inside the walls makes you question how “safe” we really are. Special effects were solid for the time, but it’s the characters and story that make this film unforgettable.

There’s something hauntingly poetic about hearing Carol Anne’s tiny voice through the TV—it’s creepy, sure, but it also tugs at your heart. The horror here isn’t just about ghosts and bumps in the night—it’s about a family fighting to hold onto each other in the face of unimaginable terror.

In the end, Poltergeist might not be the scariest film out there, but it’s a beautifully weird and wonderfully unsettling piece of supernatural cinema. It’s the kind of movie that stays with you, like static on a TV you can’t quite turn off.