Review

Poltergeist
Directed by Tobe Hooper

After I watched The Poltergeist, the first reflection I had about it was that that situation could never happen in southern Ontario. Because of the climate, and the position of the frost line, all of our houses have full basements. There are no slab-on-grade houses like in California, and therefore, no chance of a developer neglecting to move bodies from an existing cemetery before building a subdivision.

This observation led me to think about the basements in our suburban developments. These spaces are underused by the majority of homeowners, partially because the houses are purchased with the basements unfinished, and therefore usable only for storage, but also because they are usually dark and unpleasant places. The painted concrete floors, plastic-covered insulation and exposed piping do not provide a comforting living space. Some people put up drywall, lay down carpet or hardwood floors and add lots of lighting to brighten up and make liveable, this mostly subterranean level of the house, but many people simply store old furniture and boxes of seasonal decorations down there, while living solely on the upper floors.

The basements of single-family homes in planned subdivisions are usually three quarters underground with the minimum number of 20 by 24 inch windows around the perimeter. In many cases, the basement is not considered when planning the locations of stairs, columns and pipes, leaving it an awkward and jumbled space that most homeowners don’t know what to do with. The most popular solution that I know of is the basement recreation room. Adding finishes to the basement, then putting a pool table, television and bar down there to make it a place where teenagers would like to hang out, seems to be an ideal use of the space. Teens are not afraid of the dark anymore, they like to be separate from the rest of the family, and they watch a lot of TV, so the lack of sunlight is not an issue.

To briefly go back to The Poltergeist, I found it interesting that the presence of the ghosts, and the terror they wreaked on the occupants of the house, was due to the fact that in California, they don’t have to dig up the ground before building. Whereas in Ontario; and most of Canada; every house will have a basement; or at least a crawlspace; because of the climate. These basements and crawlspaces are the source of many a child’s nightmare, and the site of numerous horror movies. I found it amusing that the horror that occurs in the Poltergeist, was due to the lack of a scary place in the house; the lack of a basement.


I have the feeling that this review took the form of a ramble instead of a reflection.