Review of Poltergeist (2015) by Brandon W — 18 Oct 2015

When the reboot of Poltergeist was announced, I'm not surprised anymore as Hollywood seems to take the classic films and remake them, and mostly failed on it. When Gil Kenan was the director, I thought that it might actually work as he directed Monster House which even though it's a kids film, it can creep out adults out.

With Sam Raimi as the producer, it doesn't make me that excited, but with Sam Rockwell as the main lead, it did got me curious to see it when it's on rental. Poltergeist is an all right reboot that I'm very glad that it's not an insult to the original movie.

The kid actors are tolerable for what they got, although they're not as good as the original actors. Sam Rockwell is the best part of the film and he definitely fits the part as a parent who jokes around a bit.

The effects are all right, although I didn't like that the film is full on CGI with no practical effects like the original did with practical and computer effects that are needed. Jared Harris is really good in it and he does give some interesting conversation about the character's past ghost hunter incidents.

It had some funny moments, and there are some creepy moments although it didn't really scare me as almost all of the scares were pretty much in the trailer. There are scenes that go haywire in the house, and they can be entertaining to watch.

There wasn't any build-up to the ghosts or the clown as it just kind of goes fast quickly which was very disappointing and makes the film more like every other ghost movies. There are some scenes that are different from the original which are actually pretty interesting to see where it was going, but the film had rare moments like this that I think that it should've been a bit more different while still having the spirit of the original.

As is, it was pointless and a bit more risky to do a reboot of Poltergeist as a master director like Steven Spielberg was involved as the story and co-writer of it, it could've been so much worse with it, but it could've been so much better for what the film gave which made me disappointed in it.