Review: POLTERGEIST Isn’t as Good as the Original, But It's Still a Fun Flick!
The first thing you need to know about me before I start this review is that the original Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg Poltergeist film is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. When I first found out it was being remade, I was disappointed that Hollywood would do that to such a wonderfully frightening horror movie classic. When Sam Raimi jumped on board to produce it, though, and Monster House director Gil Kenan came on to direct it, I wanted to have hope that the movie would be good because I’m a big fan of their previous work. I went into this new version of the film with a little hope, excitement, and an open mind.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by what this movie delivered to its audience. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and was completely entertained from beginning to end. It wasn’t as terrifying as the original, but this Poltergeist stands on its own, and it turned out to be a horror movie adventure that I had a blast watching. I know not everyone is going to like it, a lot of people will say that it’s not as good as the original, and you know what? It’s not. But that doesn’t mean it still can’t be an entertaining movie that takes audiences on a creepy, horror-filled ride.
This movie uses a lot of modern technology, and it's important to the story that they tell. With iPhones, iPads, big screen TVs and ghost hunting tech, the movie takes audiences to places that the original didn't. There were also a few unexpected things that I didn’t see coming, which I thought was cool. I won’t spoil those things for you here, but it did make for intriguing storytelling full of surprises. One of the things I hoped this movie would do is take us into the realm of the poltergeist, which it does, and the vision of it that they give the audience is very creepy and cool.
One of my favorite aspects of the film is how they played with the horror elements of the story. There were some interesting things they pulled off that made the movie pop with thrills that freaked out the people in the audience. I thought these elements were more fun than they were scary, but I don’t scare easily. For example, the creepy tree, the clown, and other things from the original movie were incorporated into this one, but it was a fresh new crazy take on the material that I think people will like.
As far as the acting goes, I really enjoyed everyone’s performance. Sam Rockwell gave a fantastic performance as the father of the family, Eric Bowen. There was once scene in particular in which he’s talking about getting his daughter back that especially stuck out. You could just see the desperation in his eyes and hear it in his voice. As a father, it hit me on an emotional level. Rosemarie DeWitt played his wife Amy, and she gave a solid performance. Jared Harris played a paranormal investigator named Carrigan Burke, and he was a complete badass. Kennedy Clements is the super talented little girl that took on the role of Madison, who is taken by the poltergeists. My favorite actor in the whole film, though, the one that stole the show, was Kyle Catlett, who played the little boy Griffin. This kid was freakin’ awesome! Not only did he give an incredible performance, but he was also kind of the main focus of the story. You’ll see what I mean when you watch the movie.
For anyone who hasn’t seen the original film, you’re in for a real treat. You can just sit back and enjoy the film for what it is, and not worry about comparing it to something that was made in the early '80s.
Whether you’ve seen the original or not, I think Poltergeist is a strikingly enjoyable horror movie worth checking out if you’re into the genre. It turned out way better than what I was expecting, and I think audiences will be surprised by how great this movie actually turned out.