Review of Poltergeist (2015) by A H — 07 Jun 2015

Poltergeist (2015) is a generic remake of the horror classic of the same name. It focuses on a family that has moved into a new house in a suburban sprawl. Things appear ordinary until they don't. The little girl hears voices coming from behind her bedroom closet. The little boy encounters a creepy clown doll. The electricity flickers on and off at random hours during the night.

It's all pretty standard material.

But I'm not sure if I was expecting anything new or original. The trailer sold the film as an exact replica of the original and that is what we received, sort of. Since it features the same exact scenes as the original, you pretty much know what is going to happen and when it is going to happen, which subtracts from the scare factor. Part of what makes a film scary is the unknown, and when you know everything that is going to happen, you have a subpar horror picture in your hands.

The performances, for the most part, are spotty. Since half of the cast consists of children, you can figure out the reason why. (Although, there are some exceptions to that rule as the woefully underrated Tomorrowland (2015) can attest to.) The only real standouts are Sam Rockwell as the father and Jared Harris as the medium. The former brings much needed emotional weight to the what is at stake for the family, while the latter is having an absolute blast in a campy role.

The CGI, it should be noted, is subpar. And given that the screening I went to was in 3D, it mainly served to distance myself from the film even more than I already was.

There really isn't much else to say about the film other than to sum it up as unremarkable. It wasn't a bad experience, just an unmemorable one. I wouldn't recommend it seeing in theaters. Moviegoers shouldn't financially support film studios for churning out standard, unoriginal products. Instead, go watch and support a film like Tomorrowland.

Grade: C.