Poltergeist: Movie Review

Poltergeist or The Worst Film-Going Experience I've Ever Had. A film-going experience is an important thing to anyone, especially someone who is trying to do their job in reviewing a film. The last thing people need is for a bunch of rowdy teenagers. I'll blame this problem on the demographic this film was going for. It seems like all horror films nowadays are just one-shot throw-away films that have no sense of place.

The most tragic aspect of this film is that it is not a remake of the 1982 original horror classic. This film is a rip-off. There are a few scenes changed here and there, and the ending is recreated due to the simple mindedness of the audience, but the remaining scenes that try resembling the original are cheap and poorly crafted.

The second most tragic aspect of this film is the demographic it is aimed for. These are the days where films are produced to appeal to the most financially savvy people. These people being teenagers, and these teenagers having no care for the world around them. Hence, during a film, these teenagers talk, yell, and laugh at each other while the film makes for white noise. I will admit that due to the state of my film-going experience the film suffered a bit more than it might have.  This film had potential to be, while not as good as the original, a decent horror film. The teasing in the beginning worked well. There was a particular creepy clown scene. However, most of the film's errors come down to making money and what demographic would be foolish enough to give money away. The film then becomes a cheap knockoff looking to make a quick buck.

To appeal to today's current teenage demographic, iPhones and iPads are thrown onto the screen. Each scene is kept simple, with minimal dialogue and maximum visual effects. When the scares come, they are in jump-scare form. Producer, Sam Raimi shamefully throws in a couple standalone Evil Dead references. Raimi then creates a visual spectacle for the climax that disconnects from any true scares that the audience might receive.

While there might be critics out there that see the positives of this sloppy horror "remake," I cannot appeal to a film that had the potential to be something more, but chose to be something less just for money's sake.


F
Good Qualities: The clowns.
Bad Qualities: Poor demographic to aim for, poor special effects, thin story.


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