Poltergeist (2015)
A family whose suburban home is haunted by evil forces must come together to rescue their youngest daughter after the apparitions take her captive.
Director:
Gil KenanWriters:
David Lindsay-Abaire (screenplay), Steven Spielberg (based on the 1982 motion picture entitled "Poltergeist" screenplay by), 3 more credits »Stars:
Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kennedi Clements .Storyline
Legendary filmmaker Sam Raimi and director Gil Kenan reimagine and contemporize the classic tale about a family whose suburban home is invaded by angry spirits. When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and take the youngest daughter, the family must come together to rescue her. Written by 20th Century Fox..
Movie Reviews
This house is bland.
There are those who think that the original Poltergeist wasn't really scary enough, Steven Spielberg's family-friendly style taking precedence over Tobe Hooper's more visceral approach. Well, this 2015 remake waters down the horror even further…
I imagine the conversation between MGM execs went something like this…
1st Exec: You know what… we really should remake Poltergeist. After all, that's the movie that all those Paranormal Activity films are ripping off, and they're still raking in the cash.
2nd Exec: Yeah, imagine what we could do with today's CGI and 3D technology. That scary tree scene could be totes amaze-balls.
3rd Exec: Oooh, and that clown. Remember that? This time we could throw in lots of clowns. The more the scarier, right?
1st Exec: And that bit where the guy rips off his face and drops bloody chunks of flesh into the sink… that could be awesome.
3rd Exec: Are you out of your mind. If we did that, we wouldn't get a PG-13 rating.
1st Exec: Oh, so I suppose the part where the girl falls in the swimming pool full of mouldy corpses would be out as well.
2nd Exec: I'm afraid so, but hey, we could have someone throw up a few worms if it'll make you feel happy.
Yup, this is yet another calculated cash-in on a classic chiller carefully crafted to appeal to the widest possible audience, with none of that nasty gore to offend the squeamish. Instead, we get extremely predictable jump scares and lots of slick CGI, none of which is very frightening. In fact, this film is so pedestrian that it actually makes me yearn for Zelda Rubinstein.
I imagine the conversation between MGM execs went something like this…
1st Exec: You know what… we really should remake Poltergeist. After all, that's the movie that all those Paranormal Activity films are ripping off, and they're still raking in the cash.
2nd Exec: Yeah, imagine what we could do with today's CGI and 3D technology. That scary tree scene could be totes amaze-balls.
3rd Exec: Oooh, and that clown. Remember that? This time we could throw in lots of clowns. The more the scarier, right?
1st Exec: And that bit where the guy rips off his face and drops bloody chunks of flesh into the sink… that could be awesome.
3rd Exec: Are you out of your mind. If we did that, we wouldn't get a PG-13 rating.
1st Exec: Oh, so I suppose the part where the girl falls in the swimming pool full of mouldy corpses would be out as well.
2nd Exec: I'm afraid so, but hey, we could have someone throw up a few worms if it'll make you feel happy.
Yup, this is yet another calculated cash-in on a classic chiller carefully crafted to appeal to the widest possible audience, with none of that nasty gore to offend the squeamish. Instead, we get extremely predictable jump scares and lots of slick CGI, none of which is very frightening. In fact, this film is so pedestrian that it actually makes me yearn for Zelda Rubinstein.
