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Poltergeist, the Remake… A Mistake?

Being a horror fan, when I heard of the remake of Spielberg’s 1982 movie POLTERGEIST, my reaction should have been…

supernaturaldean

However, it was more like…

Zooeymeh

Why? I am a fan of the original. There is nothing wrong with it. So many people, including many of us here at The Midnight Society, have been scarred for life by the clown doll, kid-eating tree, and child-devouring closet. Fabulous stuff, people. So, a remake?

From this…

poltergeist-original

to this…

poltergeist-poster

The trailers made it obvious that the special effects were… well, special. But was this movie the same story with updated effects? Yeah, this thought made me nervous.

I entered the theater with hope. And was disappointed. Same story. Same scares.

From…

Evil-clown-in-Poltergeist

To…

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From…

poltergeist-la-3-6-13

poltergeist

To…

maxresdefault

poltergeist1

The biggest change, from…

poltergeist-25th-anniversary-edition-20071008033224899-000

To…

213

What? No Tangina? Blah.

I sat in the theater early Tuesday afternoon, alone and wasn’t scared. I knew what was going to happen. They even used THE LINE!

poltergiestthey'rehere

I sat in my seat and begged them not to but… yeah.

In the original, the story unfolds. The reason for the haunting becomes clear as the movie progresses. In the remake, they took a couple of scenes to chuck the story (the same as the original) at us then filled the rest with effects. Cell phones, iPads, new TVs, and even a drone with a camera made appearances to keep it updated, but I didn’t think they added anything.

I don’t have a problem with remakes, but there must be something new, a reason why the film had to be remade. I want a different vision, something exciting that makes me sit up and be wowed. The new scenes that were added failed to do this. The story was sacrificed for effects. The movie tried too hard.

This made me sad.

Maybe if I hadn’t seen the original, I might have been scared. Maybe. I should have been freaking out, being alone in a huge, dark theater. (I saw MAMA alone in a theater and seriously kept checking over my shoulder). But using the same clown doll, tree, and closet… I saw it coming. I wished for more.

For this movie, I’ll stick with the original.

Stories are meant to be told. And, heck, even retold because we all have different ideas, different visions… it’s art! Set the creativity free!

And when it’s all about the horror, bring on the scary!

Note… Insidious 3 comes out today. That’s next on my to-see list.

Anyone else see the new Poltergeist? What did you think of going into the place where the spirits held Maddie? What did you think of the scene with Kendra and her cell phone in the garage? What did you think of focusing the end on the brother instead of the whole family? Thoughts?

*pics from Google Images… from Poltergeist of 1982 and 2015

 

  • MidnightSocietyJolene
    June 7, 2015

    Dang! I was really looking forward to seeing that too. But then again, remakes are never better than the original in my opinion so I guess I’m not that surprised.

  • Melinda Harrison
    June 7, 2015

    I totally agree with your review. My son and I loved the first movie. It scared us. But this remake should have been MORE. It fell flat. I don’t know why they made it. There are so many good horror novels IN YA to do.

    • Kathy Palm
      Melinda Harrison
      June 7, 2015

      Why didn’t they make it MORE? Ug! And yes! Why not find new and exciting horror to make into movies? That sounds fabulous.

  • E.L. Wicker
    June 7, 2015

    *pops head up from blanket* Can I come out yet?

    • Kathy Palm
      E.L. Wicker
      June 7, 2015

      Lol! Yes! Just stay out of the closet.

  • Kim Graff
    June 10, 2015

    I really agree with you here. There was no reason for the update. There was really not a lot different :/

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