Poltergeist (2015)

I can't believe all the negative reviews I've seen of this movie. I always wonder if they're written by people who even actually like the horror genre, much less have a passion for it.

This movie is a remake. Do not expect a remake to be better than the original. That is pretty much impossible. It's lost the element of surprise.

How many horrors have we watched that are "B" or lower? Asylum Films anyone? We watch them because we love the genre. We look for redeeming qualities in any horror, no matter how bad. Humour, or effects, or acting. Sometimes it's just laughing at how fake the effects are and how bad the acting is. But we retain the passion for the horror genre and we appreciate any contributors.

I do not like remakes that are exact copies of the original. This movie brought some differences, although the essence of the original was there.

I appreciated this movie because it is a horror and one that had a significant budget. I thought some of the effects were great!

If I had a complaint about this movie, it is that I wish it was a little bit longer, and put a little more complexity into the plot.

If you love horror, I recommend this movie. If you love horror, you're not going to be disappointed. Just don't expect that a remake is going to be anymore than a pleasant trip into yesteryear to see an old friend.

Fmovies: 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.

Let's get this out of the way: Remakes never surpass the originals (aside from very rare cases like John Carpenter's The Thing). The premise is the same - a family moves into a house that's haunted with a poltergeist, their daughter gets trapped into the "spirit" realm and they hire an expert to help the family get her out. It's essentially a retelling of the original story with a few tweaks and a ton of CGI. So is Poltergeist one of the rare instances where the remake is as good or better than the original? F*ck no. But that doesn't mean it has no entertainment value as a standalone horror flick.

Poltergeist is a popcorn movie more than anything. Everything about it, from the poor writing to the lukewarm thrills, only provide surface-level enjoyment. It never gets under your skin like a good horror film should. It's not scary or disturbing, and it definitely won't stick with you once the credits start to roll. The problem is that Poltergeist is extremely formulaic and predictable. They set up these creepy scenarios and build up suspense by making it really quiet for a few moments, and then a few seconds later... BAM, loud noise and creepy face jumps at you. I love me a good jump scare but the scares are cheap and you can see them coming from a mile away. It's a shame because there are moments where you can tell the director is trying to build tension and unease, but these easy scares ruin any momentum the atmosphere had going for it.

Acting wise, Sam Rockwell is the obvious highlight. He's a very talented, likable actor and elevates any scene he's in just by his presence. He could have easily done this role in his sleep or on auto-pilot but Rockwell commits to the part and is by far the most watchable and relatable character in the movie. The family dynamic feels real solely because of him. Jared Harris gives a great performance as well considering the limited screen time he was given.

Which brings me to the characters themselves, and this is where the movie fails. Hard. The only characters that feel "real" are the father, the son, and the younger daughter (who isn't used nearly as much as she was in the original). Everyone else is just... there. The mother and older daughter add literally nothing to the story, the paranormal team members are completely forgettable and are only there for exposition, hell even Jared Harris' character is a huge wasted opportunity. It's the fault of the writers really. I mean there is some truly *cringeworthy* dialogue that's so unbelievable that it looks as if the actors are just reading off cue cards. And then they throw in a really really dumb love subplot between Jared Harris and the lead investigator which was a waste of time and excruciatingly awkward to watch.

This movie does polish some classic scenes from the original. The living tree, the clowns (yes, multiple), the subterranean graveyard, etc. It all looks sleek, smooth, and modern. But again, the novelty factor is gone so you pretty much know how everything is going to play out. There's one iconic scene that they butchered though, anyone who's seen the movie knows exactly what I'm talking about. It just felt half-assed and shoehorned in simply because it was such a powerful scene in the original and the filmmakers probably felt obligated to throw it in. The difference is that the original version was haunting and unexpected while this version lasts for like a split second and leaves you feeling absolutely nothing.
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Poltergeist fmovies. 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.

I actually created this account just to make this review. I've never ever seen such a bad acting Seriously the (Dad) is trying to be so cool all time so it gets embarrassing. His walking like his a bodybuilder and got this rough hard attitude against his family members so its just make you wanna crawl out of the skin AWFUL: Same with the mother absolutely ZERO actress and their dialog are so unnatural like their reading it from a book. Alsom their expressions doesn't fit what they're saying at all.

There's not even ONE moment where i even get a little scared all is so predictable.

I cant believe they got the permission to do a remake of this (cult movie) Don't see it just keep you're memories from the original MOvie.

Im honestly stunned how bad the (Parents) are its like a Joke.

This movie might just be a remake, but it's not. In fact, it seems to have taken very little from its predecessors in title. The script is banal: as it has happened in thousands of films before, a family with children moves to a new house, acquiring without knowing the (not very encouraging) possibility of being frightened by an endless series of ghosts. Of course, children will be the preferred target of these ghosts, be it by the ingenuity or the effect that this can provoke in the public. Nothing new here. Equally unoriginal (we've seen something similar in "Insidious" or "The Conjuring"), the wardrobe in the girl's room is the most active place, eventually "devouring" one of the children. I will not talk more about what happens in this movie so I will not spoil. I just wanted to demonstrate that the film is a succession of cliches.

Gil Kenan's direction proved to be poor, fragile and did not seem to have been able to ask for the best of the actors and staff members. A lazy direction, which is content with the medium without pursuing excellence. The scares are scarce and predictable: objects that jump towards the display, snoring, scary noises and lights. I can say that I never felt truly frightened while watching the film. About the actors what can be said is that they seem to me to have tried to fulfill their role well, but they were not directed effectively. Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt fulfilled their roles, while the children (especially Kennedi Clements and Kyle Catlett) seem to have fully lived up to what was asked of them. Jared Harris and Jane Adams do not seem to have been good choices, a complete casting error.

This film is a far cry from the quality of the Poltergeist of the 1980s, and I do not know if it's honest to relate these films to this movie. This seems a bit too ambitious, even though they share the same name. Despite this, I have the feeling that it would have been better with a more creative script and a more demanding and skillful director.