- Director
- Tobe Hooper
- Year
- 1982
- Country
- USA
- Runtime
- 110 min
Also released as
- Juegos Diabolicos
- 鬼哭神號
- Полтергейст
- Poltergeist (1982)
- Poltergeist : La vengeance des fantômes
- 吵闹鬼
Filed under
Poltergeist
Poltergeist is a 1982 American haunted house film directed by Tobe Hooper.
A suburban family, a television, and a chair-stacking sequence that has never stopped being copied.
goreledger editorial rating: 8/10 · Read the review
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A Californian tract house built on a cemetery that was moved without the bodies. The youngest daughter goes into the television.
The direction is credited to Tobe Hooper and the question of how much Spielberg, who produced and wrote, actually directed has been argued for forty years by people who were there.
What is not disputed is the craft. The kitchen-chairs shot, done as one continuous camera move with a hidden cut, is a perfect piece of staging. So is the clown, the tree and the closet.
It is PG-rated, which is astonishing now, and contributed directly to the creation of PG-13.
The swimming pool sequence used real skeletons, purchased because they were cheaper than props, which the cast were not told at the time. JoBeth Williams found out afterwards.
It is a film about the American suburb eating itself, and the last shot with the motel television is the joke that lands it.
Goreledger editorial rating
8 / 10
A suburban tract house eating itself, with the kitchen-chairs shot, the clown and the closet all perfectly staged. PG-rated and astonishingly effective for it. Who actually directed it is still argued over, and the craft is not in dispute.
Our opinion, not an average. How we rate
Goreledger editorial profile
Describes the film, not its quality: high gore means very gory.
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Trailer
The sleeves
The same film, sold as a different film in each territory. Click any of them.
Where to watch
Australia
Canada
Germany
Finland
UK
USA
Legal sources only. Availability data from JustWatch via TMDB.
Checked 9 Aug 2026
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