Poltergeist

This movie startet actually pretty okay, at least way better than I expected. For around 45 minutes I said to myself "This isn't so bad. That's a solid 6.5." Okay, there wasn't happening much, but that's not a bad thing. You keep the pacing slow and than some strange things start to happen, until the girl disappears and the family decides "to call someone". But instead some freaky, weird and maybe creepy lady showing up, there just came this drunk fella, pissing me in the face for 45 minutes. This became so absurd in a bad way, so dumb dialogue, so unnecessary scenes, so never ending stoned / drunk Sam Rockwell, that I can't imagine how this was green lit in the first place. Filmed. Produced. Showed in cinemas. I mean: What the heck? Did someone even bother to read through the entire script?!

But there's one good thing about this pile of horse rubbish. I realised what is the problem with all those (remakes of) modern horror films: They don't take the subject seriously. They don't buy their own stories. There isn't the same sense of wonder and believe in occultism, that has been in the late 60s, 70s and maybe early 80s. That's why they produce such mindless bull crap.

Seriously - don't watch this.

They say you should never remake a classic. The original Poltergeist from 1982 was written by Steven Spielberg who also seemed to have had a hand in how it was directed.

The 2015 remake is a soulless movie that brings nothing new to the table except a few jump cuts.

If it was an innovative reimagination whose reach could not exceed its grasp I might had been more forgiving.

Sam Rockwell is an out of work father, Eric Bowen who with his wife Amy Bowen and three young kids move into a new home. The house was built in an old cemetery and the bodies were supposed to have been moved but only the headstones were.

The youngest daughter Madison feels a presence, the spirits below the house need a guide and Madison is sucked in and disappears.

The Bowens call on paranormal psychics Dr Brooke Powell (Jane Adams) and Carrigan Burke (Jared Harris) to get her back.

The only thing to note is London born Jared doing an impression of his Irish father Richard Harris.

I was a huge Poltergeist fan when i was a little kid and was really scared of the original movies when i saw them on TV in the late 80s or early 90s. It had everything a good movie should have. a good script, good actors, good director... this one had none of those. the actors feel unmotivated. the script was rewritten to add the typical 21century Hollywood movie formula and the director didn't know what he was doing anyway...

don't watch this remake... stay with the original! its scarier anyway, even today!

First of all i'm a huge fan of horror films, so when i heard about a remake to the Poltergeist i was so excited and couldn't wait to see the trailer which actually surprised me. And I've went to the movies expecting to watch the old movie but with a few changes.

The thing is , they changed A LOT! So if you have the same expectation well it's not what you think it is. The pace of the movie was really fast in a good way but the only problem was the build up and that it lacked the feelings between the family.

The Scare factor: It basically relies on jump scares but i have to admit they were perfectly done and well timed . There were some clowns in a box which were sort of creepy. and also some edge-of- your seat moments. It's similar to "Insidious" and James Wan effects. So yes when it says from the producer of "Evil Dead" you know what to expect, But it won't prevent you from sleeping.

The acting was fine, CGI was okay and there were wonderful visuals. The 3D was mainly used for the jump out of your seat moments in a gimmicky way (Throwing stuff at the audience).

In the end, I had fun watching Poltergeist and it delivers a few thrills,Sam Raimi did a great job producing this film,for Gil Kenan (Director of Monster House) i think it's a huge step forward. But don't go in with very high expectations or you will be disappointed. Although you should watch it if you're a true horror fan and you're looking for some good scares.

The psychic they made out to be some guy faking it through his life instead of like in the original where she was legit and respected. Most scenes from the first are there, but NONE of the original scenes are even close to being half as good as the original. Remember "There herrreeee", well, there was no life in it when this girl repeated the same line. The casting was not bad. I think it was the director and script writers that really butchered this. The first movie had an atmosphere about it. This had nothing. I have seen B flicks with better atmosphere.

I cannot recommend this movie unless you are really bored or maybe want to compare to the original. Or you are just tired of banging your head against the wall.