Poltergeist (2015) by Gil Kenan

Director: Gil Kenan

Year: 2015

Country: USA/Canada

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Haunted House

Plot:

After moving to a new home, a family finds that the series of strange incidents around the house is the cause of a vicious, violent poltergeist living with them and must rely on a group of experts when they kidnap their daughter into another dimension.

Review:

For the most part, this was a fine if somewhat flawed remake. The biggest thing against this one is the fact that there's much more of an emphasis on speeding throughout everything and it tends to come off as quite rushed without any reason. This one starts in on the supernatural theme quite early on, merely minutes after the move-in with nothing worth getting upset over and yet the insistence on moving away is brought up which makes this feel so rushed. It gives off the idea of having missed a few steps to get to this spot in the film rather than simply going from the arrival to the initial claims of something happening in the house beyond the steps shown here. Even the other antics here, from the spirit attacks on the house to the random blurting out of the big twist here that starts the whole haunting being a throwaway line in the middle of the movie rather than gradually developing naturally in here since it has to rush through everything.

Likewise, there's also the fact that being a remake it severely diminishes a lot of the surprise and shock from what happens here by pretty much running through the entire plot without much deviation which makes what happens here not that shocking or original when it showcases the attacks in the bedroom or forces them to bring in the spiritual guides. Once it gets past all that and focuses on the two in the other dimension, the heavy-handed and obvious CGI environment leaves a lot to be desired with the rather lame look that's not at all realistic and likely to actually occur given the way it looks throughout the time in there as the bright flashes and obviously fake heads are just atrocious-looking to take them out of the moment.

There's some damage done here because of that yet there are still a few rather enjoyable parts here. Despite the rushed nature of what's happening, the film isn't truly boring at all as there's plenty of build-up to the actual haunting where this one really gets a lot right. Those scenes are incredibly fun, with the family's supernatural-based attacks being quite impressive, the actual segment where the house comes alive and begins targeting them with far more intense abandon than expected. Even the action leading into the trip into the other dimension is a lot of fun with the ghosts becoming aggressive in a fun enough form that makes for a great sense of fun here, and leading into the great finale that's even bigger in terms of fun action. They make this one fun enough to be enjoyable.

Overview: **.5/5

An enjoyable enough remake but has some flaws overall, this one works best as a surprisingly familiar original take on the genre yet falls short with its connection to the original. Those who appreciate this kind of approach or are curious about the differences will be the most intrigued by it while most others out there will want to heed extreme caution.