Spielberg's story of the American dream going to hell is a classic not unlike Psycho, The Exorcist, and any film fan can tell you a damn fine watch. He even hired Tobe Hooper (dir. Texas chainsaw massacre). This is a horror fans dream. What's not to like? Cute kids, cuddly clowns, demonic skeletal lions, the "Beast", and a clairvoyant dwarf, all wrapped up in the real estate deal snafu from Hell itself! Now that's entertainment!
Craig T Nelson coming off his role as the nasty Prison guard in Stir Crazy, and a young actress Jobeth Williams brings believability to the role of early 1980's middle class parents. The mother being the liberal joint smoker, the dad the conservative Reagan book reader, I just believed the chemistry. What is so odd just like in real life when things go wrong you can't see it coming, they don't know the bulldozer of evil that's about to run them down like road kill. The American dream itself attempts to consume this family, as the dead who were buried there where literally evicted to accommodate the living. And as any Zombie/Ghost story fan can tell you: The Dead HATE the living. This movie is not so much about monsters, and ghoulies, but vengeance, and how unethical practices in business can really fuck you up! Like Wall Street with supernatural pissed off spirits.
Video: 4.5 out of 5
Awesome video! Check out the before mentioned Demonic Lion towards the end. It looks fantastic, and scary as hell like a demonic spirit should! This quality is simply pure nightmare ebony perfection. The blacks are easily recognized from dark grays, (check out night time pool scene), and the face tearing scene looks pretty clear like it was done this year.
Audio: 5 out of 5
Anyone with a half decent 5.1 to 7.1 system will enjoy this lossless track. I don't care how large a set of balls you claim to have; the scene where you hear some cloven hooved monster chasing Carol Ann in the spirit world is fucking creepy as hell. This track brings out the rear channels in this scene, and always freaks me out. Movies simply don't do that anymore sadly.
Overall: BADASS like a room full of Charles Bronsons. Buy this film on blu-ray if you have not already.
Spielberg's story of the American dream going to hell is a classic not unlike Psycho, The Exorcist, and any film fan can tell you a damn fine watch. He even hired Tobe Hooper (dir. Texas chainsaw massacre). This is a horror fans dream. What's not to like? Cute kids, cuddly clowns, demonic skeletal lions, the "Beast", and a clairvoyant dwarf, all wrapped up in the real estate deal snafu from Hell itself! Now that's entertainment!
