There have been some terrible and pointless remakes of classic horror films recently, and most of them have a Platinum Dunes (Michael Bay) connection. There have been a few brilliant re-imaginings slipping through the net as well, although the ratio does favour the latter.
Not being a fan of remakes in general, but having a nostalgic interest, I ventured to Leigh Cineworld, to watch Poltergeist in 3D (another thing I am not a fan of!), with low expectations.
Poltergeist (2015) takes the original film's story, plot and pretty much everything but the name Carol-Anne and copies it straight from the page. There are a few things done well, the clowns are ridiculously creepy, the special effects are far superior to the 1982 version, yet the practical effects still look better in the original. The kids are creepy, one scene involving shadows actually made the hair on the back of my neck tingle. There are nods to the classic version, "I't not like your house is built on an ancient burial ground", Hooper High, in reference to Tobe Hooper, but I cannot forgive the #ThisHouseIsClean reference. No-one, but No-one can say that line but Zelda Rubinstien and there is no need to put a hash tag in front of it to make it "cool"
I have to admit, I enjoyed watching the updated version, however, as I mentioned above, the film is creepy in parts but lacks the scares of the original (and that was a PG, and Stephen Spielberg!) It is happy to throw in lazy jump scares and loud music rather than building tension. As a stand alone film disregarding the superior original, it is better than most of the horror films I watched in 2014, it is a popcorn film, one to just enjoy for what it is and then walk away smiling.
As a side note, I was in Las Vegas a few years ago with my brother and a memorabilia shop had the clown from the original film sat in a rocking chair. I was going to buy it for him and leave it sat at the end of his bed, then one night just move it whilst he slept! oh the fun! The Clown from the 1982 Poltergeist makes the remake version look like a cabbage patch doll in comparison
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