One of the most unlikely collaborations of all times also happened to produce one
of the most popular and entertaining ghost stories of all times. As Texas Chainsaw Massacre Director Tobe Hooper and mainstream producer Steven Spielberg
(who at the time was best known for his family pic E.T. the Extra Terrestrial), teamed up to bring us this entertaining story of a suburban Californian
family being terrorised by ghostly apparitions.
Steve Freeling (Craig Nelson) works for a real estate company and has recently moved his wife Dianne (JoBeth Williams) and family into one of the houses on his company's latest building project. Everything seems fine at first, that is until they get an unwanted visitor of the supernatural kind.
Chairs and household objects mov areound the room for no reason, the kids hear voices in the TV, the old tree outside appears to come to life during a thunderstorm and tries to grab their young son through the bedroom window and finally, their young daughter Carol-Anne (Heather O'Rourke) disappears and can later be heard calling for help from their TV set.
Uncertain of who to turn to for help (Ghostbusters where not available at the time), they call in a group of psychic investigators who at first think the story might be a hoax. But after being struck dumb by what they see, call in a spiritual medium named Tangina Baron (Zelda Rubinstein) to try and vanquish the poltergeists and get Carol-Anne back.
A very enjoyable film, which relies heavily on good old fashioned thrills and chills, as opposed to blood and gore. Some of the special effects may look a little dated now, though the action packed finale, with ghosts and zombies wreaking havoc, still holds up as one of the best cinematic endings ever and puts movies like the 1999 version of "The Haunting" to shame!
