Poltergeist - Review

Deep down in the depths of the Hollywood cellars, lay a plethora of dust filled films untouched from the hands of remakes. Destined to live their life as a stand alone piece of art, until the slimey, crypt like hands of the corporate world pluck them from their safe haven to once again edit blemishes of an imperfect-perfect world. To form another unneeded remake.

This common occurrence is far too familiar within the cinematic universe remaking, taking and abusing key ideas that were once seen as original and creative and now turning them into nostalgic force fed pieces of junk. However, every so often there comes a piece where the creators pay a respectable homage to it’s predecessor while still almost sufficiently creating their own piece of art. Which brings us to the latest release of ‘Poltergeist’ a once cherished 80’s film, that spawned several sequels and gave light to a world of haunted stories and ghoul filled houses that turned the Hollywood genres on their heads. The latest ‘Re-make’ to grace the silver screen comes not as a rip-off but as a homage to the early greats.

Sam Raimi has a knack of taking old horror and mixing it with the new, looking at his previous ‘Evil Dead’ remake that he kindly produced. Once again he had taken the old and produced it with the new, allowing a modern audience to grasp an understanding of the other realms that supposedly haunt our world according to old folk laws. Yes, yes I know the old tales of houses built over ancient burial grounds/ cemetery is so cliche and overdone inside the B-movie world, but that is all thanks to the original Poltergeist itself. Therefore, playing upon the original story still holds its worth.

The new film directed by Gil Kenan (Monster House) and starring Sam Rockwell is perfect enough to work as a stand alone piece for the modern generation, the director’s purpose was to not please the hipster movie snobs of “The original was better” but to open the new age generation to an enlightened tale that packs a rather large omen and fear factor or the unknown. The film itself without giving anything away allows the film to pack all the classic Horror nuances that you need, while leaving the ‘gore’ out of it. So, if you are looking for a night into the supernatural and a popcorn horror then I suggest checking out the latest edition, but make sure you leave your ‘Original was better’ pants at home as this film deserves to be enjoyed by the masses as it’s own modern take into the story.

I give this film a 6.5/10

Reviewed by Mase Shaw - Follow Mase on Twitter @MaseShaw