Tobe Hoopers horror film POLTERGEIST takes place in the modern suburb, an environment that is usually seen in other filmgenres like, for example, dramas and comedy. Often the suburb and the suburban lifestyle is the focus of these films, portraying the suburb in a way that makes the people there seem either ridiculous or miserable. In POLTERGEIST that is not the case. The portrait of the place and people is quite neutral. This paper attempts to point out that non the less there is quite a great deal of social comment/criticism in this film. By describing POLTERGEIST trough three social aspects common in traditional ” movie suburbia ” and by explaining their role and meaning in the context of POLTERGEIST I aim to prove that POLTERGEIST is as much a “social problem” film as a classic ghost story.