Amazon.com video review:
The law of diminishing returns was obeyed
assiduously by the three Poltergeist movies, which have been
boxed together to show how Hollywood milks an idea for every last
ounce of cash it can. The best in this series is the original,
directed by Tobe Hooper and produced by Steven Spielberg (who
reportedly also lent a hand behind the camera), about a suburban
family whose house turns out to have been built on an Native American burial
ground. In the film's most clever touch, the disturbed spirits attack
the family (and pluck its youngest daughter into the netherworld)
through the TV. Oddly, though the family moves away in the sequel, the
spirits follow them, then remain committed to harassing the daughter
in number three, even though she's gone to stay with relatives. By
that last film, the special effects have become the raison d'etre for
the whole movie (which later launched an entire cable TV series). Why
didn't they just call Ghostbusters? --Marshall Fine
