Poltergeist (2015)

The five members of the Bowen family relocate to a new home, but they are going through a rough patch. Eric (Sam Rockwell) has recently lost his job thus the families' financial position is precarious so the last thing they need is a haunting in their new home. Which is exactly what they get, things start to get super serious when their youngest daughter Madison (Kennedi Clements) is taken by the evil spirits. 

The next horror classic to fall victim to Hollywood's crusade to remake everyone's favourite horror film is Tobe Hooper's Spielberg powered Poltergeist. Much like recent horror remakes such as Carrie, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist has been modernised with the story becoming more up to date in regards to any advances in technology much like how Carrie's ordeal with her first period went viral. Poltergeist modernises the original with the recession and unemployment replacing the financial stability and prosperity of the middle classes in Regan's America. Does this really justify a remake? No, but the film doesn't disgrace it's name either.

The remake of Poltergeist is really well shot and beautifully designed, Javier Aguirresarobe's cinematography in particular is most excellent (as it was in The Others). The film proves to be a competently made film as director Gil Kenan does a good job at making the film wonderful to look at but struggles to full justify a remake as the film doesn't contribute enough to warrant such a remake. However, without doing anything noteworthy, Kenan does an decent job at churning out effective enough frights and perhaps elevates the film beyond it's average script.

The scares are efficiently done but like many modern horror films the film does rely on jump scares a little bit too much, and it doesn't really let the tension build before getting into the thick of the action. Yet it remains rather good fun because of some effective scares, a decent level of tension and by making using of many the original's highpoints such as a creepy clown and that terrifying tree that lurks evilly over the house. The fun increases when Jared Harris turns up and decides to ham the hell of it by adopting some sort of Irish accent and giving a delightfully over the top performance.

Poltergeist is a visually impressive film with good performances across the board but this remake of the 1982 classic is just a tad pointless.

3/5