Review of Poltergeist (2015) by Jeff B — 17 Jun 2015

"They're back" for another round of walking away from the light, only the Holey Ghosts of this Poltergeist remake offer up some legitimate scares but little else to truly make it memorable in the shadow of its much superior original. From the handheld video game-playing outset, this horror tale tries distinguishing itself far and wide from the 1982 that thankfully serves as forebear. The hallmarks of Steven Spielberg's story remain high points. A lot of judicious tweaks make the proceedings more current but the classic didn't exactly feel that dated. Outside of a contractual obligation, there was no reason to redo a proven horror scarer. Leaner but not meaner, this shorter version brings nothing new or more frightening to the screen despite sporting a higher rating. With just a PG, the nearly 34 year-old version scares up far more style, laughs, and spine tingling moments.

In this PG-13-rated remake of the 1982 horror classic, a family's suburban home gets invaded by evil forces.

Great casting and humor play a part in both versions but the blueprint uses these strong points to better effect (Jared Harris is an amazing actor but never sticks in your memory so much as diminutive Southern ghostbuster Zelda Rubenstein). Oh, you definitely jump a few times in Poltergeist 2.0 but you really should be jumping up to rent the standard. It's a shame too because, following his excellent work on the Amblin-flavored cartoon Monster House, director Gil Kenan definitely exhibits a great feel for horror. Always indelible on screen, Sam Rockwell is usually the most compelling actor onscreen when hes involved. Here, he tries acting his way around deviations from classic lines like "They're here" and "This house is clean" but it's just A-grade window dressing on a C-grade haunted house.

Bottom line: Polter Gripes.