Poltergeist (2015)
DIRECTED BY: Bill Kenan, WRITTEN BY: David Lindsay-Abaire, Steven Spielberg, GENRE: Horror/Thriller RUN TIME: 93 Mins, RELEASE DATE: 2015
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. ~ 20th Century Fox.
I think its fair to start first off by saying that I watched this film, not because I was excited about seeing it, but because I purely wanted to compare it to the fantastic 1982 original that starred Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams and the late Heather O'Rourke. Admittedly, that's not the best reason to watch a film and that's not how I generally tend to do things, but that is the only way that I could find myself being interested in watching this film.
This 're-imagining' (there's that word again - thanks Tim Burton) has received overall negative criticism from both critics and the general viewing public alike, and having now watched it for myself, I can pretty much understand why. Although it is not a shockingly terrible film (as far as remake comparisons go), it is pretty forgettable and bland. You can call it a contemporary re-imagining of a classic all you like, but that's just a fancy way of saying a modern-day remake, which is exactly what it is. In regard to storyline, it adds nothing new whatsoever, if you have seen the original, then you have seen it already. There is no more point to it than Gus Van Sant's shocking shot for shot remake of Hitchcock's amazing 1960 classic suspense thriller Psycho, only this isn't nearly as gut-wrenchingly insulting as that catastrophe.
So what's good about it? Er... It looks good! I guess, but that's a matter of perspective. With digital effects being so advanced these days you'd expect nothing less from a Hollywood film, but like I said, that's just a matter of perspective. Although dated now, the original was just as impressive at time so that's not really too much of a compliment for it. After all, this too will look dated in years to come, but for right now, it looks pretty sleek. Aside from that, there really is nothing too impressive about this at all, and the whole film seems to be at an end before you've even had chance to get into it, but that's probably not a bad thing. At the end of the day, all it does is rework the original scenes with modern visual effects and lazy storytelling. Maybe it's because I am older now, and I was only a young lad when the original was released, but this latest version fails to creep me out in the slightest and I don't think that it would make the slightest difference if I was 7 years old again. I can't imagine that this film would have any effect on me whatsoever, aside from being nothing more than something to pass the time for an hour and a half when I'm at a loss for anything to do.
I guess the strongest aspect of this film is in the casting. Most of them too are pretty forgettable, but Sam Rockwell is pretty great in the role of the father Eric Bowen. He adds a great touch of natural humour a likeability to the role, but then I have always been a fan of his. Taking up the role originally played by Heather O'Rourke, and now renamed Madison Bowen, is the wonderful young actress Kennedi Clements, who really does give a great little endearing performance as the tormented daughter. She brings such great charm and sweetness to the role and I predict good things for her in the future (as long as she doesn't turn into a child star cliché). There's also a typically fine performance from Jared Harris as the GhostHunter extraordinaire Carrigan Burke. Young Kyle Catlett is fair enough too as Madison's brother Griffin, but to be honest his character annoyed the hell out of me and I just spent the entire film wishing that he had been sucked into the supernatural world instead of his sister, but that is purely down to the writing and not a reflection on his portrayal of the character.
Overall, if you are looking for a good scare, then this is not the film for you, its just pretty dull from start to finish with nothing to make you glad you watched it after the end credits have stopped rolling. If you have seen the original, then there really is no reason to bother with this one. There are much better films out there to spend your time watching. That being said, this is just my opinion, you may love it. I doubt it though.