What actually happens
Static is a perfectly good conversation partner
Steve Freeling sells real estate and his wife Diane looks after their three children in Cuesta Verde, California. Dana is sixteen, Robbie is eight and Carol Anne is five. One night Carol Anne starts talking to the television after the broadcast has stopped and only static is left. The next night she is at it again, and a ghostly white hand comes out of the screen. A violent earthquake follows. The family is shaken awake, and Carol Anne announces in a strange voice that they are here.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
The tree has an opinion about Robbie
The next day brings a run of odd events. A glass of milk breaks by itself, silverware bends, and furniture moves around on its own. It all seems harmless at first, and then it stops being harmless. During a bad thunderstorm, the gnarled tree in the backyard seems to come alive, and a branch smashes the children's bedroom window, snatches Robbie and drags him outside into the rain, where the tree tries to swallow him. While the family runs out to help, Carol Anne is pulled into a portal in the closet. The family gets Robbie free, and the tree is sucked into a tornado. Then they hear Carol Anne's voice coming from the television.
Bring in the parapsychologists, then the medium
Martha Lesh, a parapsychologist, shows up with her colleagues Ryan and Marty and decides the house has multiple ghosts. Steve's boss Lewis Teague tells him the development was built on a former cemetery, and says the graves were moved elsewhere. Dana and Robbie are sent away, and Dr. Lesh calls in a medium, Tangina Barrons. Tangina explains that Carol Anne is in a different plane where restless spirits are stuck, because her bright life force pulls them off the path to the afterlife. Something much stronger and demonic, which she names the Beast, is holding Carol Anne and using her to keep the other spirits in place. The way in is the closet in the children's bedroom, and the way out is the living room ceiling. Diane goes in on a rope, with a second rope already threaded through both openings. She finds Carol Anne and brings her back, and they drop through the ceiling covered in ectoplasm. Tangina announces the house is clean.
The pool and the unmoved graves
The Freelings are almost finished packing to move out. Steve goes to his office and Dana is on a date, so Diane is home with Robbie and Carol Anne. This is the scene people dread most, and it comes near the end. The Beast attacks them violently, apparently to drag them into its dimension. Diane runs into the backyard for help and falls into the flooded pool excavation. Skeletons rise through the mud around her, and she climbs out and runs back into the house. She gets the children out as more bodies burst from the ground. Steve comes back with Teague and works out that only the gravestones were moved while the bodies stayed, so the development sits on unmarked graves. The family picks up Dana as she gets home and drives away as the house caves in on itself into a portal. They take a room at a Holiday Inn, and Steve's first act there is to remove the television.
The ending, explained
After Tangina declares the house clean, the Freelings pack up to leave. The Beast attacks Diane and the children, and bodies burst up out of the ground around the house, but Diane gets the children out. Steve learns from Teague that the builders moved only the gravestones, so the bodies were never moved. The family collects Dana and drives off as the house collapses into a portal, with Teague and some dazed neighbors looking on. They check into a Holiday Inn, where Steve removes the television. Everyone in the family survives.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, E-Buzz is alive throughout.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Poltergeist scary?
Yes. Poltergeist is a 5 out of 10 with medium dread: a haunting with jump scares and little gore.
How does Poltergeist end?
The Beast attacks the family again after the house is declared clean, and the Freelings escape as the house collapses into a portal. Everyone survives, and the family checks into a Holiday Inn, where Steve removes the television.
Does the dog die in Poltergeist?
No dog dies in Poltergeist. E-Buzz the dog is alive throughout. A canary is seen dead.
Is there a post-credits scene in Poltergeist?
No. Poltergeist has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Why is the house haunted in Poltergeist?
The Cuesta Verde development was built on a former cemetery, and only the gravestones were moved. The bodies stayed, and in Poltergeist the restless spirits and the Beast are what the Freelings run into.
