If you're a kid, the scenes with the evil clown puppet and the carnivorous tree are straight out of Hell. If you're a parent, the mother's struggles to reach her endangered children, as corpses pop up out of the pool and floors all around her, are even worse. And the bit where the researcher claws at his own disintegrating face in the mirror gets to everyone.
What about when the giant flaming skull pops out of the portal in the closet?
And the simple fact that it all unfolds in somebody's home, not out in the woods or whatever, is pretty creepy. How many people who watch this for the first time can avoid looking suspiciously at their closet doors for several nights?
The iconic scene where one of the paranormal crew members dreams of ripping his own face off.
Critics initially blew off this movie as "not scary enough" because nobody gets killed messily. But seriously - ask any parent how they would feel to see their five-year-old dragged off by malevolent spirits, unable to reach them or stop it. I'll see your chopped-up corpse and raise you parental love for a child.
Poltergeist 2
The scene where Mr. Freeling vomits up a horrible creature. [1]
The sequel introduces Reverend Kane and boy does he ever leave a permanent mark on the series.
The confrontation through the screen door was probably the most frightening scene in the movie.
What's even more scary is that there was some Parapsychology Truth in Television in that scene. Most poltergeists can't enter a home without being let in by the owners. The fact that an easily breakable screen door is keeping a monster like Kane from haunting them is terrifying.
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