Poltergeist (1982)—Or, Oh No! A Clown!

Clowns are always good for a horror-movie scare. And when you mix a toy clown with poltergeist activity at a haunted home in the California suburbs . . . yikes!

In this scene from Stephen Spielberg’s 1982 classic film, Poltergeist, tension builds during a quiet evening after bedtime. The kids are safely tucked in, and mom’s enjoying a hot bath.

Then the little boy starts to feel menaced by the stuffed clown that sits in a chair near his bed and seems to stare at him. At first, it seems like just an ordinary childhood fear of harmless objects made eerie by the shadows of a darkened bedroom. A few minutes later, however, it turns out the kid has had good reason to worry. . . .