With those cheerful thoughts in mind, let’s take a closer look at Poltergeist. The film opens as a group of ostensibly benevolent ghosts begin communicating with five-year-old Carol Anne Freeling (O’Rourke). The ghosts correspond with Carol Anne through the static on the television set. For some reason, the Freeling family can’t turn off their television sets before going to sleep, which may lead to some aggravation on behalf of the ghosts, who were apparently trying to conserve energy. Through the ever-present television snow, the ghosts eventually make their way into the Freeling home and all manner of strange occurrences begins. Chairs move and are stacked in extraordinary patterns, an earthquake occurs that only the Freeling family feels, a tree eats Robbie (Oliver Robins), and forks bend by themselves.
Eventually after these events spiral out of control, Carol Anne announces to her family that “they’re here” and all hell breaks loose. The ghosts start out by playing harmless tricks which entertain Diane (Williams) and flummox father Steven (Craig T. Nelson). After a while, however, the ghosts get a little tired of it all and grab Carol Anne to take her into the netherworld through the television set. Carol Anne can be heard through the television set crying out for help. The family does what any family does in this situation and calls the local parapsychologists. The group of Ghostbusters arrive and are immediately shocked by what they find, as various incidents shake the crew profoundly. They bring in a spiritual medium (Zelda Rubinstein) to grab Carol Anne from the netherworld in the television set and hope for the best.
Poltergeist is principally appealing because of the inscrutability surrounding the production of the film, but there are some points within the context of the film itself that are worth noting. The first is the allegorical use of television and land development. The TV is always on, making it a gateway to the demonic world of the ghosts. Also, the land on which the Freeling family lives and on which Steven develops homes with the evil real estate developer has apparently not been cleared of bodies from the cemetery that used to be below. Essays have been written about these metaphors in the film, with the most interesting one being Johannes Grenzfurthner’s “Noise and Talk.”
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