Poltergeist(1982)

asDirector[s], Steven Spielberg ("E.T." and "Saving Private Ryan") and Tobe Hooper ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Salem's Lot") team up to bring us one of the most well made and frightening ghost stories of all time!

JoBeth Williams, and Craig T. Nelson (lead star of the 80s T.V. sitcom, "Coach") play the roles of Diane and Steve Freeling, who live with their three children in the beautiful California suburbs. Heather O'Rourke stars as daughter, Carol-Anne, the youngest in the family, who somehow shares a connection with the supernatural via the family television. Eventually, strange and funny events begin to happen: a large earthquake rocks the neighborhood; chairs begin moving on their own, and the family dog continuously barks for no apparent reason. But soon enough, this all becomes a terrifying nightmare when Carol-Anne is taken by supernatural forces into another dimension (AKA the afterlife) through her bedroom closet!

Meanwhile, Steve and Diane hire a group of professionals in the study of the paranormal with the help of a gifted elderly psychic, Tangina Barrons (excellently portrayed by the late Zelda Rubinstein) to uncover the shocking truth to their home and hopefully save Carol-Anne from her spectral imprisonment! Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of the never-ending nightmare for not only Carol-Anne, but the rest of the Freeling family!

This 1982 blockbuster classic was followed by "Poltergeist II" (1986) and "Poltergeist III" (1988), O'Rourke's final role[s] as loveable (and cute) Carol-Anne before her untimely death.