Overview: Suburbanites Steve (Nelson) and Diane (Williams) suddenly experience paranormal activity in their home. What starts off as minor excitement quickly turns into nasty ghostly encounters.

The disappearance of their daughter Carol Anne (O’Rourke) forces the Freeling’s to bring in parapsychologists and a professional exorcist to exorcise their home.

Directed by Tobe Hooper and featuring Oscar Nominated Visual Effects by Richard Edlund, Michael Wood and Bruce Nicholson, Poltergeist is one of the most entertaining horror films of its time.

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the always-beloved Poltergeist PG-horror (!) in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this September 20th, 2022.

For my money, this Poltergeist [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is Poltergeist presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265, Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: HDR10, Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 and Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable.

For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color; such as, well, let us call it the anti-Groot moment! On the first of many awful nights at the Freeling residence, little Star Wars super-fan and comic book aficionado Robbie (Oliver Robins) is woken up when a possessed tree busts its arm-like branch through his window. He’s helpless as the evil tree grows fingers and snatches him right out of his bed and pulls him straight out of his own bedroom. The darkness, lit only by the moonlight is now fine tuned and is crisper than ever!

Indeed, the picture enjoys the fruits of the added resolution in terms of bringing out the aforementioned extremely fine facial and some of the yellow graded material. Such as whilst Robbie is trying to avoid being turned into fertilizer, his little sister Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) struggles against an even scarier supernatural force: her closet!

Out of nowhere, the door opens and a bright light emits from what seems to be an endless void, which then begins sucking the little girl out of her bed with the force of a tornado. The scares come courtesy of the excellent special-effects work, but they’re also psychologically jarring.

I mean, if kids can’t be safe at home in their beds, where can they be safe? Now crystal clear due to this 4K transfer, it is even more scary of a scene, trust me!

As for the audio, well we have a veritable smorgasbord of choice here: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit), French: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kbps), German: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps), Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kbps) and Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kbps).

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the movie itself, well, Poltergeist is one of the greatest horrors of all time, being written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper. Poltergeist is such an impactful horror, as it plays a huge part in pop culture. Poltergeist created so many horror cliches too, because of how great it is as a horror movie.

The plot is the classic haunting story. It’s difficult to make a memorable haunting film, as it’s been done too many times to count. After so many decades since Poltergeist was first released, it’s still not forgotten. Since Steven Spielberg helped write Poltergeist, there’s not a lot to complain about. The pacing is great, it never gets boring and the movie gets straight to the point!,p> The screenplay is incredibly clever, and because of that, Poltergeist was truly unique for its time. Poltergeist is also surprisingly funny. Comedy in horrors always feel forced in, but in Poltergeist, it’s lightly added in. I also love how the comedy isn’t introduced in through dialogue, but the objects that the ghosts haunt.

The visuals are also really great. The practical effects were realistic and smartly added in, not showing all of the effects in daylight, to help mask the practical effects. The aforementioned tree attacking the little boy is one example of adding in practical effects smartly into a movie. There was one scene where the practical effects looked really bad, and that’s the scene with the guy’s face being pulled apart. It was in 1982, so I can’t really hate on it too much.

The sound mixing and sound design was amazing too. I loved the little laughs added to the objects when they were possessed, it was funny and creepy at the same time. The whispers added in when Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) would speak to the spirits were great. The whispers were so good that many movies copied that technique to add a little more scare value.

Poltergeist is an excellent horror that masterfully blends everything great in horror movies into one film. It’s funny and creepy, the screenplay is very clever, and the practical effects were well done and smartly added in for it’s obvious early ’80s timeframe. And thus, in my humble opinion, Poltergeist is definitely in the Top 10 Horror Movies of all time.

Ultra HD Blu-ray Elements
Poltergeist Blu-ray contains the following previously released special features:

1. They Are Here: The Real World of Poltergeists Pt. 1- Science of the Spirits [RT: 15:30]
2. They Are Here: The Real World of Poltergeists Pt. 2- Communing with the Dead [RT: 15:31]
3. The Making of Poltergeist [RT: 7:15]
4. Trailer [RT: 2:25]

Poltergeist, the 1982 classic horror film written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital on September 20th, 2022, it was announced today by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Directed by Spielberg and directed by Hooper, Poltergeist stars JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Zelda Rubinstein, Beatrice Straight and Heather O’Rourke.

The screenplay for Poltergeist was written by Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor, from a story by Spielberg. The film was produced by Frank Marshall and Spielberg.

Ultra HD* showcases 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and a wider color spectrum, offering consumers brighter, deeper, more lifelike colors for a home entertainment viewing experience like never before.

   Poltergeist will be available on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack for $24.99 ERP and includes an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with the feature film in 4K with HDR and a Digital download of the film. Fans can also own Poltergeist in 4K Ultra HD via purchase from select digital retailers beginning on September 20th, 2022.