Poltergeist (2015) Movie Review - Spoiler Free

I finally watched the remake no one asked for of a perfectly fine movie. Was it good? Well, I really wouldn’t want to talk about it…

Genre: Fantasy / Horror / Thriller

Director: Gil Kenan

Cast: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Saxon Sharbino, Kyle Catlett, Kennedi Clements, Jane Adams, Nicholas Braun, Susan Heyward, Soma Bhatia & Jarred Harris.

Run Time: 93 min.

US Release: 22 May 2015

UK Release: 22 May 2015

German Release: 28 May 2015

Hello from Madrid, in Spain. If you followed my posts since around March, you might remember that I did a trailer analysis of Poltergeist. In that there I stated my high hopes for this flick due to its good cast, director and not too revealing trailer, only showing the scary clown scene.

Well, yesterday I finally managed to get my hands on some tickets and sat through it until the end. I was so disappointed when I walked out of the theatre, not able to comprehend why Sam Rockwell and Jared Harris signed on to this project. Yes, it did entertain me throughout its entire length, but it simply wasn't good!

The film was directed by Gil Kenan (Monster House) and stars Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris, Jane Adams, Kyle Catlett, Kennedi Clements and Saxon Sharbino. Sadly, not even Rockwell managed to elevate this ghost pic to greatness.

The plot is pretty much the same as the original one, except for a slight variation at the end, which sucked. It revolves around a family that moves into a suburban house, haunted by ghoulish spirits. After the ghosts kidnap their youngest daughter, the rest of the family joins forces with a group of scientists specialised in paranormal activity to try and rescue the young girl.

Sounds familiar? It’s because it is! The story is a rehash of the original one, and though not a shot-for-shot version, most of the plot elements are plain copies of the 1982 Spielberg production. The only original part in this remake is the shadow scene, and I still am not sure what to think of it. I did like the idea and appreciated the thought of originality, yet at the same time, it felt inconsistent plus silly.

The first thirty to forty minutes of the film contain some actually effective jump scares. After the kidnapping of the little girl, however, and the inclusion of the paranormal team, it turns into a comedic supernatural something.

So the movie goes along, explaining how a paranormal entity will mess around with the electronics of new tech, yet they are able to send a drone through the portal? How does it manage to broadcast a clear signal when all other technology fails during a supernatural event? A big plot hole that makes no sense!

This was my biggest problem with the movie, because although it has jump scares, they are all short in effectiveness. The trailer managed to spoil one of the potentially biggest scares there could have been in the movie, the clown scene. Since I already knew what was coming, it wasn’t frightening at all. If any film studio is reading this: I beg you! Stop ruining movie mysteries with trailers!

Still, as bad as it was. The film managed to entertain me throughout its entire length. For that, I do need to give it some credit.

Sam Rockwell was the best part of this horror flick. Rosemarie DeWitt was really good as mother hen, but Sam Rockwell’s portrayal of Eric Bowen stole the show. He really sold his role of a father who just got fired from his job, is worried, and all he wants is to provide for his family. That man can turn crap into gold.

I am a fan of Jarred Harris; he is brilliant as James Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and David Robert Jones in the TV Series Fringe. Here, though, he failed to impress. His character is the comedic catalyst of the film, and that pissed me off. Just as Harris, Jane Adams served as some sort of slapstick joke in this movie, and felt terribly miscast.

The child actors have been ok, they weren’t brilliant but neither have they been terrible. As annoying as Kyle Cattlett’s character got from time to time, he is the best of the bunch, while Saxon Sharbino is the weakest of the three.

Gil Kenan, man, what happened? I loved Monster House; it was a great animated-horror flick for children, and then you go and pull this off? One of the major problems I had with this movie was the overuse of close-ups on characters.  Those shots are normally used to submit an important message or when a character has something important to say, but in Poltergeist, it is used just for the sake of it.

The effects used are crap as well. I talked in my recent posts for Jurassic Park and The Lost World about how great the computer-generated imagery still looks today. Well, Poltergeist is showing you how not to do it! The CGI squirrel, the tree hands, even the ghostly ghouls and the skeletons rising from the grave look awful and synthetic! The only good-looking effects have been during the clown scene, and that was totally spoiled in the trailers.

Why not use practical effects for some of the effects, e.g. the skeletons in the coffin, the hand and black slime that rises from the floor or even the squirrel. It would have improved the movie.

---

Verdict: If movies that are perfectly fine are going to be remade just to cash in on the franchise, then directors should have at least the nerve to sit down and make a list of the errors made in the original one, to improve them in their take on the story. Sadly, none of it was made for this horror flick, which is why I bestow this remake with a 5.0 out of 10! It was an entertaining movie it just wasn’t a good one.

So, what did you think of Poltergeist? Did you go see it? Did you enjoy it? Do you agree with what I said?