It’s hard to look at a remake and not compare it to the
original film. For those of you who love
the original it will be really hard to not compare the remake of Poltergeist
(2015) with its predecessor. The story
is for the most part the same as the original.
Eric and Amy Bowen (Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt) move their three
children into a new home after he is laid off from his job. Before the first day is even done the
youngest of the Bowen brood daughter Madison (Kennedi Clements) starts
experiencing the haunting as a force in the house is immediately drawn to her
innocence. Her brother Griffin (Kyle
Catlett) is scared of just about anything while the oldest daughter Kendra
(Saxon Sharbino) is more concerned about the fact that she’s been uprooted and
moved to the middle of nowhere.
When little Madison is abducted by the spirits inhabiting
the house the family realizes that they need help and turn to a trio of
paranormal investigators lead by Dr. Brooke Powell (Jane Adams). When she realizes that the situation is
unlike anything she’s ever encountered she calls in special favor to Carrigan
Burke (Jared Harris), a reality TV host known for being able to exorcise
ghosts.
The film has no shortage of CGI manifestations as for the
first time audiences get a look into the other side of which the spirits
inhabit and little Madison finds herself trapped. The ghosts are also more violent in this film
but the reliance on CGI downplays the suspense for the most part. There are several really effective scenes
that happen early in the film especially Griffin’s encounter with the clown
dolls (an homage to the original film) but the family dynamic which grounded
the original film is lost in this film especially when it relies on Griffin to
save Madison. Rockwell as the patriarch
of the family does a fine job as does DeWitt but it is Harris who steals the
show (as Zelda Rubinstein did in the original).
Harris’ Burke is not nearly as interesting as Rubinstein as a character
but Burke has his war stories to tell from his various ghostly encounters and
he’s not afraid to tell the stories.
Anyone expecting Rockwell to be his usual scene stealing self (because
he’s such an accomplished actor) will be sadly disappointed as he really does
disappear into the father figure just trying to find a way to support his
family.
For many audience members who have never seen the original
film this film plays fast with the material and plays up the jump scares which
most audiences expect but for those of you who know and love the original film
this pales in comparison. It’s a well-produced
film for modern audiences that don’t have the history of the original film to
fall back on. The only problem is that
there are hundreds of ghost and haunted house films being produced every day
and it’s hard for this one to be distinguished from the rest.
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