Poltergeist is one of the most frightening pictures I have ever seen.  It is one of the last great horror films, made during a time in which PG-13 films really pushed the envelope.  Based on an idea by producer Steven Spielberg and directed by a post-Texas Chainsaw Massacre Tobe Hooper, Poltergeist delivered on its tagline: it knows what scares you. 

 

Contorted trees peering through your window in the middle of the night and freakish looking clown dolls were just some of the fears that were used in Poltergeist to trigger that unique feeling of childhood trauma. 

 

Watching Poltergeist now, you really come to the realization that the film has aged beautifully, even in the current landscape of advanced special effects technology.  And why is that?  It’s because the picture has a strong and genuinely frightening story at its core.  Not to mention, one of the most interesting and memorable supporting characters.

 

When the picture was released in 1982, diminutive star Zelda Rubenstein was unknown to audiences.  After the release of Poltergeist, however, she was an overnight cult sensation.  As Tangina, a woman known for cleaning nasty specters from houses, Rubenstein created one of the most memorable characters, not only in the history of horror cinema, but cinema in general.  Her fluffy Southern twang and undeniably creepy facial expressions proved just as frightening as the Beast haunting the house.  But there was something about her that struck a nerve in me.  Her small stature and soft, high pitched voice haunted me for years after I saw the film.  Maybe it was the odd way in which she walked or that little glint in her eye…

 

Tangina doesn’t change from the moment we meet her until her departure.  At the end of the day, the point of her character is to give us the creeps, all the while supplying us with some much needed exposition.  It also turns audience expectation on its head, seeing as how we expect a woman who has cleaned many a haunted house to have a physically intimidating presence.  With Zelda, the audience is caught off guard, and as such, we realize that anything can happen in the world that Spielberg created.  As a result, Tangina was quickly elevated to the top echelon of characters in horror cinema. 

 

Say what you will of Tangina’s roles in Poltergeist 2 and 3, but in the original Poltergeist, audiences were introduced to a memorable character; one that truly captured our imagination, all the while haunting us with her almost otherworldly presence.