4/10

This remake of the 1982 original, lacks any of the originality charm that made this film ripe for picking from lackluster horror films of the 21st century. Now a victim of it’s own cliches, this film feels like a less interesting “Insidious” film. “Poltergeist” is about a family who’s new suburban home is haunted by evil forces. When the truth is learned about the grounds, the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and hold the youngest daughter captive. Now the family must come together to rescue her before she disappears forever. I didn’t expect much positively about this film going into it, and my expectations weren’t raised one bit. What does work for this film is the brilliant casting of Sam Rockwell as the father of the family. Rockwell has always been a strong comedic force in dialogue, and even in a horror film, his light humor is appreciated during some of the dullest times for a script that lacks any horror originality. Another excellent casting choice is that of Jerrid Harris playing a well educated paranormal explorer who has his own TV show, and is searching for the real thing. Harris always has a load of fun into the roles he plays, despite having minimal box office success. That is something that i can appreciate. The problem with these two working for the film is that they do as much damage as they do positivity. The film often feels like a comedy film and has no blood or gore to match the PG-13 that has handicapped such a movie. The original lacked blood as well, but Director Tobe Hooper knew how to spur fresh mental frights that were rare with such special effects in the 80’s. There are too many laughs and not enough suspenseful material to keep you interested when the predictable jump scares come to fruition. The CGI effects were at least colorfully engaging when the film shows the outerworld. It all takes too long to get here, and when it finally does come, the final fifteen minutes of the film feel like a rushed and conveniently wrapped up reminder that the previous sixty minutes were irrelevent. There isn’t much backstory on our characters, and the children in particular come off as whiney, instead of the adorable personalities from the original that made us terrified for the parents to lose them. There really isn’t much more to say. “Poltergeist” is a film that definitely didn’t need a remake, nor did it need a telling of a story that was done perfectly well the first time. I have always said that remakes should only be allowed when the original film was awful. This way, the remake will have something to improve on. Perhaps the most terrible fate for this film will be how forgetful it will be in six months. It’s not memorable enough to be mentioned in the great horror films of the last year like “It Follows” or “Unfriended”, but it’s not terrible enough to make my bottom ten list for worst films of 2015. The film, like it’s tortured souls, are doomed for a life of terrifying purgatory as the world moves on without them.