Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, out now

They’re Here! A Blu-ray collection of the three ghostly tales from the 1980s

The first Poltergeist film is probably now best remembered for the controversy over exactly who directed it – for what it’s worth, reading the various recollections, and rewatching the film, to me it feels far more Hooper than Spielberg, although he undeniably had an influence on it. It’s a spooky rollercoaster ride, and stands up nearly 40 years later far better than others from the period – very much assisted by the brilliant score from Jerry Goldsmith. It’s a standalone film, and well worth the time.

The sequel undercuts some of the motivation from the first film, and it does feel more of a “paint by numbers” follow-on – you can understand the studio wanting to capitalise, but it would probably have been better in retrospect to focus on either another family, or just some of those affected the first time around.

As for the third film, once again the real world impinges, with the tragic death of star Heather O’Rourke overshadowing the film’s release and giving what’s otherwise another scare-by-numbers an unwanted edge. There’s some well-realised practical special effects, but you’ll fast become irritated by the constant repetition of character names.

These are pretty bare-bones Blu-ray release – the two documentaries are present but there’s none of the new material for the Scream factory releases of the latter two films, and these are sadly out of print.

Verdict: A case of diminishing returns, but the first is still well worth putting on on a dark and stormy night… 7/10

Paul Simpson

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