Poltergeist
Tags: paranormal, haunting

Plot synopsis:
(Note: this is a remake of the 1982 Tobe Hooper directed horror film of the same name)The Bowen family - Eric (Sam Rockwell), Amy (Rosemarie DeWitt), Kendra (Saxon Sharbino), Griffin (Kyle Catlett), and Madison (Kennedi Clements) - move into a new home. Upon arriving, Griffin wanders through the house. He notices Maddie talking in front of her bedroom closet to an unseen presence. Griffin also hates that his room is in the attic. He hears a noise in the corner. He opens a door to a cellar and sees a red ball on a string. He pulls it and a bunch of creepy-faced clown dolls pour out. Griffin gets Eric to investigate. A squirrel then pops out of nowhere and frightens them. Griffin chooses to sleep somewhere else until the squirrel is gone.Griffin catches Maddie talking in front of the closet again. This time she shows him a trick where she touches the handle of the closet and her hair stands up. Griffin tries it and they both laugh.Some of the electrical items in the house begin to turn on by themselves. Kendra's phone gets ruined, which she blames on Griffin. At night, the kids' toys and several lights go on and off. Griffin walks downstairs and sees Maddie talking in front of the television. A bunch of hands press up against the screen. Griffin runs to protect Maddie but is pushed by an invisible force. Eric and Amy go downstairs to see Maddie in front of the TV. She turns to them and says, "They're here."Griffin notices more of the weird things happening in the house, but nobody listens to him. He raises his voice to his parents, making Amy say that he's behaving like a baby. He runs back to his room, hurt.Eric and Amy go out to dinner with some friends, leaving Kendra to babysit. The couple learns from their friends that their house was built on an old burial ground. The spirits in the house begin to properly haunt the kids. Kendra's new phone flickers and she hears a three-note sound that she follows to the basement. The floor cracks open and oozes black sludge. To her side, Kendra sees a skeletal ghost. Then a hand pops out from the sludge and grabs her leg. In Griffin's room, the tree over the house beats against the window during a thunderstorm. The creepy clowns start moving everywhere until one doll actually attacks him. The branch then breaks through the window, almost hitting Griffin with broken glass. He runs to Maddie's room to find her huddled in the corner as the closet is creaking and making a weird sound. Griffin runs to get help and is pulled by the branches of the tree. In Maddie's room, several lights head toward the closet. Maddie's Piggycorn doll rolls into the closet. Maddie follows it until she sees that she is deep in her closet. A pair of hands grab her and pull her into the darkness. Eric and Amy return to find Griffin in the tree until he falls from it. Kendra runs out and says she can't find Maddie. The family looks everywhere until Griffin hears Maddie's voice in the TV. She's calling for her mom.Amy and Griffin visit the office of Dr. Brooke Powell (Jane Addams), a paranormal researcher. Griffin blames himself for what happened to Maddie because he left her alone, and he asks Brooke to help bring her back. She takes on the Bowens' case with her assistants Sophie (Susan Heyward) and Boyd (Nicholas Braun). They go to the family's home to find any sign of Maddie. Boyd sits on a chair that flies from under him and up against the wall. The crew sets up to record whatever they can. Boyd goes into the closet to add a heat sensor. He taps the wall and finds a hollow point to drill through. The drill gets pulled into the wall, creating a huge hole. Boyd sticks his arm in there and gets pulled against the wall. The drill starts to make holes closer to Boyd's face until he is let go with a red mark on his arm. He looks back at the wall with no hole and back to his arm with no mark.Boyd runs back downstairs with everyone else, now definitely believing their story. Brooke suggests that this is the work of a poltergeist, which means these spirits can interact with the living world for their own means, and there is more than one spirit involved. The team and family get contact with Maddie through the TV again, until the poltergeists push the TV and break it. Eric goes into Maddie's room and smashes through the wall with a table leg, and then shoves a huge part of the table through the wall. This opens a portal from the closet to the living room ceiling. Brooke then decides she needs to call in the only person she knows who can stop this.She calls in Carrigan Burke (Jared Harris), the host of a paranormal investigation series, and her ex-husband. Carrigan suggests that Maddie has a gift that allows her to communicate with the spirits, and her purity is the key for the spirits to move forward. Although Eric is hesitant to trust Carrigan, he knows he has no other choice if he wants to get Maddie back.Together, they throw a rope through the closet and out the ceiling to make a chain with which to bring Maddie back. Carrigan uses one of Griffin's toy drones to fly in with a camera for a sign of Maddie. The drone flies through the portal, giving everyone a view of the house, infested with countless spirits. The drone eventually finds Maddie, who hears her family and calls to them. Three spirits pull her back, alerting everyone. As the adults argue as to who should go in, Griffin runs upstairs and goes to save Maddie himself. He goes through the portal and finds Maddie. The poltergeists pull the rope and throw it through the other end. Griffin takes Maddie and runs toward the exit. The two of them fall from the opening of the ceiling. Their parents revive them and embrace them.The family starts to pack their bags after thanking Carrigan, believing the house is clean. Maddie says it's NOT clean, despite Amy thinking she helped get the spirits toward the light. Maddie says she didn't since she was pulled out before they could go. Eric starts to drive the family out until the poltergeists attack again and push the car through the house. They begin to pull Maddie back toward the closet. The family runs over to save her. The spirits then emerge in their ghoulish forms to pull Maddie back themselves. Carrigan then commands the spirits to retreat and leave the family alone. He knows what he must do to stop this. He runs up to the room and allows the family to escape while he gets pulled into the portal himself. The Bowens retreat in Sophie's car and drive away. Maddie then sees a beam of light burst from the house, suggesting the spirits have moved onto another realm.In the aftermath, the team tries to find a sign of Carrigan. After spotting nothing for a while, they find a signal near the bottom of the house.The Bowens start to look for a new home. They visit one house that the realtor describes as having big closet space. After seeing the big tree outside and other reasons not to stay, the Bowens leave and decide to just get out of town.Shortly after the credits start, we see Carrigan (alive and well) in his show, only with Brooke joining him. She tries to do his show's catchphrase, to his disapproval.

Review: There is likely a very good reason for that...it stinks.Like nearly ALL the endless remakes and reboots that have been plaguing movie goers for the past decade or so....all this is, is a heartless version of the original.It has no heart.It has no soul.It is a retelling of a film that we all love and cherish...and it adds nothing to the story.
It improves nothing but the special effects--which held up very well over time--and in some cases belittles the fans of the original...particularly in the fact that they remade the movie at all, without adding anything clever to it.Like so many other remakes it is a hallow shell of the original..
The original Poltergeist is everything that this film is not....This "remake" is sloppy, careless, poorly executed and poorly written, all while the actors struggle to pull out performances (even a talented actor like Sam Rockwell comes off disengenuous).
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..
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.
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.
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 .
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.
If this movie was renamed it would of not been unfairly compared and the reviews would of been better.Sam Rockwell was as entertaining as ever and even in a horror he has a way of putting a light on things.
This perfect 3 D film is based on the classic Tobe Hooper tale about a family whose suburban home is invaded by angry ghosts.I eagerly awaited for this excellent movie release and I am glad and satisfied it is a pleasing and a decent horror film.When the terrifying attack of spirits aggravate and move inside a suburban house in a quiet wealthy neighborhood a lot of suspense and unpleasant,but breath taking surprises appear for youngest daughter and the family must save her from her destiny.This film deserves to be a number 1 horror movie,everything about it is a masterpiece.See it and be your own judge about it!..
Poltergeist is an impressive horror movie and is a good remake of the original movie.It does not deserve the hate.This movie is imperfect,but does not have errors.You will find good acting and great direction.The cinematography was lovely and the movie was entertaining from beginning till the end.Remember that Poltergiest (2015) was a successful movie all over the world.Some hate reviews don't necessarily mean that this movie is bad.I recommend seeing this lovely family movie.Kennedi Clements is sweeter than sugar and is so talented too.I am quite sure you're gonna love this amazing movie..
1)Poltergeist is a fantastic remake of the 1982 original movie .2)It Has Good Horror and Excellent Elements Of Suspense.3)Great 3D Visual Effects.4)All the actors in this movie acted well.5)The Cute Little Girl Kennedi Clements is not just a pretty face,but a lovely actress too.6)Modest PG-13 Horror Movie without Offensive Words Or Explicit Sex.7)The Editing Of The Film Was Amazing.8)This Film Achieved International Success (It Was Number 1 And A Top 10 Movie In Various Countries).9) I completely agree with the pretty Lesbian Girls Who Posted Positive Comments Here.10) Go and Buy Or Rent This DVD If You Wanna Enjoy Seeing A Masterpiece Movie..
If you want to watch it though to see very cool special effects, get scared when watching it (the first half), and to be engaged in an "original" horror movie idea then this is for you!
Every Friday the 13th (including the remake.) Every Candyman, as many Hellraisers as I could stand, every Phantasm, and every single haunted house film I could lay my hands on, from the original Poltergeist movies to The Changling and Burnt Offerings.
Throw both Shinings in there and Rose Red.The last good scary movie or mini-series I have enjoyed, until this one, was the first Woman In Black remake (not the sequel.) Oh yes, I did watch the original Woman In Black as well.
Nelson and all the other actors did a good job, but the effects surely didn't survive the test of time and it seemed production designers tried way too hard and created a boy's bedroom way over the top, for example.I read all the bad reviews about this remake, but today I thought 'Why not?' and decided to give it a chance.
And yes, it has some bad moments, and I still think 'The Conjuring' still is the most terrifying supernatural horror-movie, but this one comes close to a good second place.
I loved the balance between CGI and practical/live-action effects, every actor did their best job and the suspense was built up quite good.The story is updated real well and it never tries to copy the 1982- version.
Normally I'm not a fan of horror-remakes, but considering I couldn't bear watching the 1982-version anymore, this is a nice way to honor what effect it had in the '80's.I enjoyed it very much, way more than 'The Possession', 'Insidious' and other recent haunted-themed flicks that I don't even remember names or titles from.Heavily underrated and deserves way more good reviews..
In this day and age, succeeding in creating a film that is scary without using jump-scares or heavy makeup/CGI effects is quite an achievement, one that screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire and director Gil Kenan have definitely earnt.The story describes a family of 5 characters (two hardworking parents, one spoiled teenager, one anxious 8-9 year old and one adorable 5 year old) who move into a new house.
The acting is not half bad (by the entire cast), especially Kennedi Clements as little Madison (young talent never seizes to impress me).All in all, Poltergeist 2015 is living proof that when done right - a good Horror film doesn't need to stoop down to using cheats and "boo!" moments.
Fans of the original classic would probably hate it on account of it being "untrue to the source", but actual Horror fans would probably appreciate it for what it is: a scary film that is fun to watch..
The site's consensus reads: "Paying competent homage without adding anything of real value to the original Poltergeist, this remake proves just as ephemeral (but half as haunting) as its titular spirit." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 47 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Neil Genzlinger gave the film a positive review in The New York Times, writing: "The new Poltergeist might well be the scariest movie 13-or-unders have yet seen, just as the original was for their parents back in 1982.
Perhaps some of the haunting creepiness of the original has long since passed (but how can they compare - i remember seeing the original as a child and being scared silly by a couple of key scenes!!) This version has more emphasis on the characters, family and winning the battle so to speak.Importantly i liked the family, its well cast and well produced/directed with not too much nonsense filler which is the biggest turn off in many movies these days.Fun overall :).
However, after watching the new Poltergeist, I have to say that it definitely doesn't suck like other remakes and even though it has many places that could've been better, the 2015 Poltergeist is a slightly above-average horror flick (definitely worth more than a 5.0).One thing that I heard the most from the audience is that Poltergeist has nothing special.
Though you can still find many reused concepts from other horror movies and yes, many jump scares, Poltergeist still has some pretty scary scenes, especially in the first half of the movie, which I thought that the director paved the direction real well.
Greetings from Lithuania."Poltergeist" (2015) is a poor remake of a good original movie, but it is not the worst flick on it's own.
Kinds did OK job, especially one who played Griffin, and Rosemarie DeWitt's performance was probably the best in this movie.As a horror movie, "Poltergeist" (2015) features tons of clichés, and there aren't true scary moments, you can see "jump scare" scenes from a mile.
What i enjoyed about this movie was not the horror elements, but simply family scenes especially during first hour of this movie, but when so called "horror" starts, movie started to drag and by the end i was watching left time like each 5 min.Overall, "Poltergeist" (2015) isn't good, but it isn't particularly bad.
I found the only annoying part of the remake to be the mom character and the forced plot lines that surrounded her made no sense.Having said that, this movie was not scary for me at all (but neither was the original), but...
You can't expect a remake to also be revolutionary, can you?Sidenote: I found the vast amount of Star Wars memorabilia in the original movie really off-putting - yeah okay, we get it, Spielberg wrote it and produced it.I should say that, I get where all the negative reviews are coming from.
And personally I would like to thank them for making it 'not quite a remake' as I was about 30 or so mins into the film I realized I didn't feel like I was watching a film I'd seen before, sure they'd kept some of the old clichés, but lost some as well, replacing them with modern interpretations and it all just jelled together really well, so I felt like I was watching a new movie, in and of itself, and might I say, enjoying the hell out of it !
No, his voice didn't come close to dropping, and, in some long-shots, he didn't seem very tall, but, boys shoot up in spurts, and, if I'm correct about Kyle, I really hope the acting ability I saw on the screen will see him through the 'terrible teens,,' because this young man definitely has a future.The rest of the cast are all perfunctory in a good way.The usual feeling I get from remakes - the feeling of 'we've only made this for money,' wasn't that noticeable.
Again - I saw his from a new perspective - someone familiar with the first, but, who'd never seem it, and it really seemed care was put into making this a good film.At one point, something happens (don't worry - no spoilers), and it really seemed for a moment,they were setting the stage for a 'Poltergeist 2,' but, I'm happy to say I was wrong about that.Listen; there's way too.
Let me start out by saying that I am a huge fan of the 1982 original and its sequels (though most are a fan of the original and can leave the sequels alone),and originally I would've preferred a third sequel to a remake or reboot,but I agree that the Carol Anne story-line died with Heather O'Rourke.In fact,if this had been a third sequel,instead of a remake,putting a new family like the Bowens in this would've been what I would've done.Now,getting to my take on the remake (hey it rhymes): Like most remakes the plot for this remains virtually intact from the 1982 original in that youngest child (Madison to 1982's Carol Anne),gets kidnapped by evil spirits and family has to go to "the Other Side",to bring her back but spirits aren't happy nor willing to let their victim go that easily.Now,while some lines of dialogue are clearly lifted from the original,not all are and some are rearranged to fit the reimagined scenes (you'll see what I mean those who have yet to see this).I do like how the writers and producers did this to add some freshness to this and make this somewhat different than the original.
Overall,I did enjoy this movie as far as remakes go and as a stand-alone horror movie or even as a Poltergeist IV (assuming there's not one coming out.How well the remake does at the box-office will depend on whether we get sequels to this or a possible third sequel to the original trilogy),but I agree with most people nothing beats the 1982 original but do admit,Madison is a good substitute for Carol Anne.She is just as cute and the young actress playing her really makes you care to see her family get her back safe-and-sound like Heather O'Rourke did for the original's Carol Anne.I would've actually rated this 6.5 out of 10 stars but IMDb doesn't have half-stars..
Why i like this film: 1) good effects (loved the clown doll)2) great acting and well selected actors ( the little girl is very cute )3) good script ( was not cheesy like the original)4) good cinematography and lighting As a beginner film maker ( age 13 ), I compare originals to remakes to see what could be improved of already well known films or classics.
Overall, I liked the film more than the original but still think it was wrong to make a remake in the first place...
I'd just like to strain this - anyone going into this movie expecting a horror film will be disappointed.
This film is a remake of the original Poltergeist which was directed by Tobe Hooper - but between you and me Steven Spielberg most likely directed it.
I believe Poltergeist was an original and unique thing when it came out in 1982 but now every horror movie pulled something out of it and all those bits and pieces have been seen many many many times.
This doesn't mean it's very good, or necessary, or much less that it surpasses the original film; I just found it a mediocre but moderately entertaining horror film with a correct style for the new generations which would find difficult taking a 1982 movie seriously, with all the cultural relics implied by that...
In conclusion, Poltergeist (2015) isn't a very good film, but it was better than I expected, and because of that, I can give it a slight recommendation exclusively to the ones who have never seen the original movie.
For the acting, this family doesn't really stand out from the rest of haunting victims, although the child actors perform pretty well since much of the movie invests on them.The original's creepy atmosphere is definitely superior.
Movies like Insidious or Sinister arguably have better ambiance and set up, so it opts for a more literal modern touch.Instead of practical effects, Poltergeist uses plenty of CGI, especially towards the latter half.
Bad acting, bad soundtrack, and really bad CGI make this movie a complete waste of good popcorn.I'm sure the teens of the new MTV generation will love it, and THIS will be the version that every one will refer to for eons to come, which is too bad, because the original will always be the better version by far.Avoid this movie like the plague..
There are a few fun gags here and there (particularly in 3d considering it was filmed natively in the format) but there's nothing that we haven't seen before, and done better in recent films like Insidious and The Conjuring.The performances are serviceable enough with Sam Rockwell being his usual likable self, and Jared Harris playing a strange replacement for Zelda Rubenstein's character, but the family at the center of the story never really gels together and only serves to make you appreciate the ensemble in the original film.
If you've never seen the original 1982 Poltergeist, then this movie may be absolutely freaky for newcomers, but for those who have seen the '82 classic, this remake is both fantastic and awful at the same time.
Gil Kenan's direction is solid, but the script blows through the material so fast that his vision just doesn't stick.Poltergeist is certainly an admirable effort, but it needed to embrace the original's roots, scare tactics and slow build instead of sticking with recent horror movie "tropes" like jump-scares and minimal story-telling.
POLTERGEIST, the 2015 remake of the 1982 supernatural horror classic with the same title , haunts with the same hair-rising creeps that made the original Tom Hooper/Steven Spielberg film, a cultural phenomenon but it's utterly devoid of any inventiveness, nor of a sensibly-constructed narrative, to make itself a stand out among the string of horror movies that recently inundated the big screen.This haunted house-horror updates the set-up of its original source material.
The family enlist the help of paranormal investigators, including a famous TV personality (Harris), to help get her back.The original 'POLTERGEIST' is one of my all-time favorite horror films, it's also one of my favorite Spielberg movies as well.
There was one problem, unlike the other horror remakes, the original of this film had good production values, a great cast, and great director.
This review is in the first place to those who has watched an original Poltergeist from 1982 and hope to watch some maybe better remake of great horror movie.
Act,plot,story are pale copy of original movie.Don't watch this and waste your time.