​FILMS

poltergeist

2015 review number 73:

Poltergeist: (Horror/Thriller): 49 out of 100: This is the remake of the 1982 film of the same name. Hollywood is recycling old horror films and this is another one to add to the collection. If you were a fan of the original then you're not going to get much from the inferior remake.

 

The story is pretty much the same as the original with the Bowen family moving to a new house. Eric (Sam Rockwell) and Amy (Rosemarie DeWitt) are the parents of teenager Kendra (Saxon Sharbino), middle child Griffin (Kyle Catlett) and youngest daughter Madison (Kennedi Clements). Little do they know that their house is built on top of an old cemetery. The angry apparitions terrorise the family and take Madison to another realm within the house. It is up to the whole family along with a paranormal scientist (Jane Adams) and a celebrity psychic (Jared Harris) to rescue her.

 

There's no point in remaking a film if there's nothing that can be improved on the original. Although the pacing is fine, the main problem is that the horror is tame. It relies on jump scares which don't really scare the audience. I know a movie is scary when I half close my eyes or slip down further into my seat but these didn't occur to me at all. There are about 25 jump scares altogether and only one truly frightening scene. The cliched music also tries to add to the scares but fails miserably as it telegraphs the upcoming jump scare.

 

Most of the acting is passable but you wouldn't call it a lesson on how to act. Rockwell appears to be miscast as he is more suited to quirkier roles. It's hard to picture him as a family man. Clements gets to say the iconic line "They're here!" but even the way she delivers it is lame and expressionless. The dramatic scenes are probably handled better than the horror scenes but you just wish that there would have been more interactions between the family members.

 

All the visual effects are of the CGI variety and not even the ghosts are that scary. It goes to show that something unseen can often be scarier than what you can see in a horror movie. At least the sound effects are successful in promoting some scares.

 

This is not the worst horror movie around but it pales in comparison to the original. It's best to watch the 1982 original but if you refuse to see movies that are over 30 years old, see this when it is released on DVD because the smaller screen is all that it deserves.

 

Starring Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt and Jared Harris

(94 minutes)

Parental advice: Supernatural themes and coarse language

Additional scene during or after credits: Yes, during the credits we see two characters recording a show for TV and they have a little dispute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhr8d1yxSP8 (Movie trailer)

(Reviewed on Tuesday 26th May, 2015)

 

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