Poltergeist (2015)

Redundant and unnecessary.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Bad, bad, bad.... No talent, no soul, nothing added to the original and no interesting new take or re-imagining. Wasted opportunity. The comic ending was an insult! Avoid - watch the original which is a real film gem.

I vaguely remember watching the original version of this on television many years ago. The only abiding memory I have is of a little girl mewling 'They're coming,' and a television screen dancing with static. So on that basis, I have nothing much to compare this remake to. It begins with that most frightening thing: the wholesome family unit!Dad (Eric played by Sam Rockwell) is initially something of a twit but we warm to him as time goes on; mum (Amy, Rosemary DeWitt) tolerates everything with a smile; the teen daughter (Kendra, Saxon Sharbino) is constantly bored, growing up to look perfect and is spitefully sardonic and unbearable unless she gets her own way; the young son (Griffin - Kyle Catlett injects a refreshing earnestness into his character) is the best of the lot: un-sporty, polite and reserved, and the little girl (Maddie, Kennedi Clements) is a typical drama student juvenile. No more, no less. The paranormal investigator Carrigan Burke (Jared Harris) called out to investigate livens things up.The encroaching possession elements are handled very well. Apart from the cartoon-ish CGI tree terrorising Griffin, most of the effects in the house are real and physical (the finale very much the exception). The camera pans round a bedroom full of everyone sleeping as all the electrical items crackle on and off of their own accord. There are loud bangs and musical stings. And not one of these things is remotely frightening. What is guaranteed to squash the effect is the almost constant accompaniment of screaming children - which may be something I might be in the minority having any kind of problem with.I would say this is as competent as it can be, with a spectacular finale. It doesn't appear to tarnish the high reputation of the original, but doesn't take any particular risks with the format either.

So, I watched the 2015 Poltergeist with my sister tonight and it was pretty disappointing. It felt very rushed and it just took itself way too seriously. I felt the nervousness of the director, whoever that may be. I realize they were attempting to live up to the hype, as Poltergeist was a VERY big hit, but he/she needed to relax and take the time to get it right. I won't go into details in case anyone hasn't seen it by now because it took me this long to watch it myself, but the lighting and sound is everything. I liked the twist it had at the end and I liked the idea they had for the drone and the drill, but the rest of the movie doesn't add up to the greatness of those ideas. I really wanted to like it, but it was just trying way too hard and combine that with the budget, which I know they probably had issues with because of how iffy most directors are with one-time movies, it just didn't do well. It had potential, but it sold itself short. If I were to give advice to the director of this movie, I'd tell them to go back to basics and learn film and narrative aspects and to study the original a little further. I really do think if this director had more time and had relaxed a bit, it would've been a much better movie. Living up to Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper, that's up to debate(they're legends and legends are incredibly hard to surpass), but I could be proven wrong.

I only saw this one time on TV, so glad I didn't buy the dvd. This movie is a huge mistake. It sucked. It was the worst remake on the planet. It was just dumb, I don't get why anyone liked this. It was nothing like the original, it wasn't scary or creepy and the characters weren't funny in the least. The director of this needs a kick to the face for making such a piece of trash. I do not recommend it to anyone.