A Poltergeist for the 2015 crowd who know everything about today's technology

Poltergeist «««
PG-13, 93m. 2015

Cast & Credits: Sam Rockwell (Eric Bowen), Rosemarie DeWitt (Amy Bowen), Saxon Sharbino (Kendra Bowen), Kyle Catlett (Griffin Bowen), Kennedi Clements (Madison Bowen), Jared Harris (Carrigan Burke), Jane Adams (Dr. Brooke Powell), Susan Heyward (Sophie), Nicolas Braun (Boyd). Screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire. Directed by Gil Kenan.

If this remake of director Tobe Hooper’s 1982 horror classic Poltergeist were shorter than the 93 minute running time and the supernatural case were actually or supposedly based on real life accounts, the film would be a part of an hour-long segment of the series on Destination America called A Haunting (2005-2015).

That documentary series aired a story every week about a family in some area of the country who’ve gone through experiences of vengeful ghosts and demonic possessions. Before the hour was up, a priest or local organization specializing in supernatural incidents was contacted in hopes to rid the homes of whatever it was that was terrorizing the families.

The Poltergeist remake echoes scenes that come right out of those hour-long segments of A Haunting. The only thing missing is a narrator with a deep, gravelly perhaps menacing voice to tell viewers what’s about to happen at every few minutes. There’s a moment early on in the remake where young Madison (Kennedi Clements) talks to a closed closet and whose hair floats up on its own when she stands right near the doors. If any parent saw this, they would obviously assume it is a case of walking on the rug so much that it causes an electrical current.

There are other sequences that give clues the new home the Eric and Amy Bowen (Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt) and their three kids move in may not be just a case of the house settling on its own. There’s a bone that Griffin (Kyle Catlett) digs up while helping mom plant a front garden. The electric shock at the end of the stairwell everyone gets when they touch it. The spike Madison pushes into the ground while playing outside that comes back up on its own even after she pushes it back into the dirt.

When it comes to remakes, even the most unnecessary ones, I have always found the best ones are those that pay tribute to the original such as featuring cameos from the previous stars. Those, like myself, who have seen the ’82 version will be glad to know the filmmakers here retain such things that got viewers recalling certain moments. There is the menacing tree that develops a life of its own during a thunderstorm. The static from the unhooked flat screen television that still evokes the same image even after it’s unplugged. The filmmakers would commit complete sacrilege if Madison didn’t utter the familiar line that Carol Ann (Heather O’Roarke) said in the ’82 version of “They’re here.”

Like the original, the remake covers the same ground (and No I am not going to discuss the plot of the ‘82 version here) even though the names are changed and the events are different.

(Warning-spoilers ahead) The Bowens learn during a welcome dinner party from the neighbors that the suburb they’ve moved into was buried on a cemetery. But don’t worry, one of the neighbors says. The city moved the bodies to another area of town yet the realtor tells the Bowens in the beginning how the town is plagued by foreclosures and the homes are a steal. Then comes that powerful thunderstorm and the spirits of the undead abduct Madison into the underworld.

Amy contacts Dr. Brooke Parnell (Jane Adams) whose organization deals with the supernatural, much like the same groups profiled in A Haunting TV series. Parnell realizes they can’t battle the spirits alone and enlists the help of Carrigan Burke (Jared Harris), an exorcist with his own haunted television show who at the end of every episode tells viewers, “This house is clean.” Burke’s body movements and scars have a story to tell. When Griffin and Kendra (Saxon Sharbino) wonder why he walks with a limp, Burke tells them the story of how he battled a demon years ago and won but not until the demon took off part of his leg. Then there’s the scar on his forehead, which Burke promises to tell Griffin the story once they’ve got Madison back.

In director Hooper’s 82’ version the spirits communicated through O’Roarke’s Carol Ann via the television set. When the original came out we didn’t have the technology we have today. The Internet, in all likelihood, was not even a word. Cable movie stations were still in their infancy.

In this new Poltergeist, it’s all about the wonders of technology we now have at our fingertips in 2015. This is a Poltergeist for a new generation who know everything about flying drones, text messaging, flat screen televisions, communicating with one another via the Internet on laptops, cellphones, and reality TV. That’s more than enough for the undead to not only act out their vengeance on the living but to take them into their own dark portal where the only way out is if another loved one goes in to take them by the hand.

Does this new one replace the original? By all means, no! The reason it won me over, however, other than the fact when I saw this at 2:30 in the afternoon I was the only one in the auditorium and had the whole place to myself, is because David Lindsay-Abaire’s screenplay wastes no time getting to the heart of the story. I have often heard that if a screenwriter can’t get the viewer interested within the first fifteen to thirty minutes of a film then they’ve lost the audience. I was hooked within the first few minutes despite that impending sense of déjà vu. If there is anything scary about this version, it’s not the ghosts. It’s the fear that like the original, this one will spawn off another couple lousy sequels in hopes the film’s studio, 20th Century Fox and MGM can create a lucrative money-making franchise.

©6/4/15