In Tobe Hooper’s “Poltergeist,” five-year-old Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke), the youngest in the Freeling family, points at the television static and participates in an inexplicable conversation with the screen.
Carol Anne repeats this ritual the next night and ominously declares, “They’re he-e-e-re” — this proclamation marks the beginning of the end for the Freelings, who are targeted and torn apart by the supernatural chaos that grips their home.
The poltergeist activity that the Freelings endure ranges from benign to macabre, where things start off with bent or broken kitchenware and escalate to a sentient tree attempting to devour one or more family members.From the perspective of spirit lore, poltergeists are known to be raucous entities who enjoy messing with furniture or pulling off mischievous pranks to annoy homeowners.
In “Poltergeist,” Hooper imbues these spirits with deeply malicious intent, where they prey on pure life forces and ambush innocents when they least expect it.
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