2. Poltergeist (1982) (Dir. Tobe Hooper)
The main plot of Tobe Hooper’s classic horror Poltergeist concerns a nice, all-American family who come up against an entity from another spiritual plain after it kidnaps their daughter through their television. It is, of course, revealed that the family’s house was actually built upon an Indian burial ground, and that the undead have been manifesting themselves through horrifying forms.
Hooper plays his ending cleverly. Though the film seems to be coming to close after the apparent main climax of the film is over, Hooper throws the family back into the fray once more in a moment that looks to be emerging as one of these “here we go again” endings – this isn’t exactly as it seems, however. The Freeling family survive a second wave of spirits and torment and leave their home as it’s sucked into another dimension (to the shock of their gathering neighbours), and take refuge in a motel.
Here, Hooper (perhaps on Steven Spielberg’s suggestion) grants Poltergeist with a rare happy ending, one that is both amusing and apt: upon entering their motel room, the shot lingers outside the door. Then the door suddenly opens again, and father Steven Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) pushes the television out onto the balcony, as Jerry Goldsmith’s soundtrack switches from sinister to all choral and innocent. Not enough horror movies employ endings like these, and it’s extremely refreshing to watch a film that allows its characters to come through unharmed. Far more satisfactory for audiences, and humorous to boot.