G ▁rating ▁on ▁appeal . ▁ ▁Re ception ▁ ▁Box ▁office ▁Pol ter ge ist ▁was ▁released ▁the atr ically ▁by ▁Metro - G old w yn - M ayer ▁on ▁June ▁ 4 , ▁ 1 9 8 2 . ▁The ▁film ▁was ▁a ▁commercial ▁success ▁and ▁gross ed ▁$ 7 6 , 6 0 6 , 2 8 0 ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁making ▁it ▁the ▁highest - g ross ing ▁horror ▁film ▁of ▁ 1 9 8 2 ▁and ▁e ighth ▁overall ▁for ▁the ▁year . ▁ ▁Crit ical ▁response ▁The ▁film ▁was ▁well ▁received ▁by ▁critics ▁and ▁is ▁considered ▁by ▁many ▁as ▁a ▁classic ▁of ▁the ▁horror ▁genre ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁best ▁films ▁of ▁ 1 9 8 2 . ▁It ▁holds ▁an ▁appro val ▁rating ▁of ▁ 8 5 % ▁on ▁review ▁aggreg ator ▁Rotten ▁Tomatoes ▁based ▁on ▁ 6 1 ▁reviews , ▁with ▁a ▁cons ensus ▁that ▁reads : ▁" Sm art ly ▁fil med , ▁tight ly ▁script ed , ▁and — most ▁important ly — cons ist ently ▁fright ening , ▁Pol ter ge ist ▁is ▁a ▁modern ▁horror ▁classic ." ▁Roger ▁E bert ▁gave ▁the ▁film ▁three ▁stars ▁out ▁of ▁four ▁and ▁called ▁it ▁" an ▁effective ▁thr iller , ▁not ▁so ▁much ▁because ▁of ▁the ▁special ▁effects , ▁as ▁because ▁Ho oper ▁and ▁Spiel berg ▁have ▁tried ▁to ▁see ▁the ▁movie ' s ▁strange ▁events ▁through ▁the ▁eyes ▁of ▁the ▁family ▁members , ▁instead ▁of ▁just ▁standing ▁back ▁and