MovieChat Forums > Poltergeist (1982) Discussion > I'm surprised this is so well recieved.....

I'm surprised this is so well recieved...

posted 9 years ago by svalinanikola
5 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong, I like this movie, I know the thread title may lead to different conclusions (doesn't help that many threads that have similar titles usually begin like this: "Oh this is awfuuuul, you guys are stupid for liking it!" etc.).

This is one of the movies which doesn't really show a lot to the imagination, the scares and visual effects are very in your face, people usually prefer subtlety etc. That's what surprises me, you'd think this would get so much hate.

[–] thegreatheep1 9 years ago

The scares are supposed to be in your face. The movie's tagline is 'It knows what scares you', so the evil entity is going to amp up the activity to accomplish its goal. Robbie's afraid of the tree and the clown, so it wouldn't be as effective if the clown doll just waved at him or the tree had an eyeball staring into the kids' bedroom.
Carol Anne fears the closet and needs the nightlight on to see anything in there, and the evil force snatches her away in the one way guaranteed to affect her.
Perhaps the paranormal researcher had some phobia about his face being cut/sliced, so the evil made him hallucinate peeling his own flesh from his skull.

Today's filmgoer would probably call this boring, now that CGI effects are in every kind of movie, so practical special effects would look ridiculous. CGI leads to lame scares, like in the Poltergeist remake. In the new one, the tree reaches into the house, its limbs extending through the halls, bending around corners, making the tree just an ineffective attempt to copy the original.

[–] ReturnOfWhiskey 9 years ago

How can you say you "like" a movie and then proclaim to be surprised at how well it's received? how stupid is that.

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[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

I'm pretty sure you like certain movies which don't have the best ratings here.

Also, I said why I'm surprised because of the mindset horror fans have.

[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

The movie's tagline is 'It knows what scares you', so the evil entity is going to amp up the activity to accomplish its goal. Robbie's afraid of the tree and the clown, so it wouldn't be as effective if the clown doll just waved at him or the tree had an eyeball staring into the kids' bedroom.
Carol Anne fears the closet and needs the nightlight on to see anything in there, and the evil force snatches her away in the one way guaranteed to affect her.
Perhaps the paranormal researcher had some phobia about his face being cut/sliced, so the evil made him hallucinate peeling his own flesh from his skull.

But some people appreciate more subtle scares, yet, this is considered to be great.

I'm not defending the remake or anything, but when it came out people complained how the scares will be in your face and not subtle....see something wrong there?

Also, I'm not sure if you can use "characters being scared" to prove a point.

OK, let's say there's a horror movie which has a scene where a disgusting creature jumps out, it's a jump scare.

You complain how it's a cheap scare and isn't creepy or anything. But, if it happened to you in real life you would be scared, you'd be screaming and running for your life.

So yeah, of course characters would find it scary, because it's happening to them, it's real.

[–] WeirdRaptor 8 years ago

Yes, some people. Others like the movie just the way it is. There are a lot of viewers out there, so obviously the ones who don't mind are the greater amount.

The Remake WAS more in in-your-face. There is nothing wrong here.

A scare is a scare regardless of what kind it is. The only thing that matters is the delivery.

"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you." -Gandalf