Poltergeist

What it's about:

A reimagining of the classic tale about a family whose suburban home is invaded by angry spirits. When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and take the youngest daughter, the family must come together to rescue her.

What we thought:

I have already lost count of all the remakes on the movie circuit thus far. Hoping to capitalise on the classic original, Fox studios decided to give Poltergeist a modern spin.

As the story goes, a family down on their luck move into a new house after their dad Eric (Sam Rockwell) gets retrenched. Mom, Amy (Rosemarie DeWitt) is a stay at home wanna be writer, there’s the teenager  sister Kendra (Saxon Sharbino) who is easily annoyed, a geeky middle brother Griffin (Kyle Catlett) who jumps at the sound of any noise and of course the adorable little sister Maddie (Kennedi Clements).
Griffin notices some strange things happening, a closet full of clowns and strange sounds. But of course no one takes note of his concerns.

As if things couldn’t go more downhill for this family, the parents discover at a networking dinner that their new house is in fact built on the land of an old graveyard. Meanwhile back at home all hell breaks loose (sorry not sorry): Kendra gets held hostage by some tar goo in the basement, Kyle gets flung around by a tree and poor Maddie gets lured into the closet.

When the parents get home they discover that their baby girl is stuck somewhere in the television. Call in the cavalry!

Enter awkward paranormal professor Dr Brooke Bowell (Jane Adams) and reality TV star, ghost hunter Carrigan Burke (Jared Harris). They inform the family that these ghosts are not the friendly type.

To the film’s credit it does move really fast as we get to the ‘scary’ parts real quick. The fact that the film is in 3D is a complete waste! The effects are really bad.

As for the cast, they’re really convincing as a family and you can empathise with them just trying to keep their little family afloat. But there really is nothing outstanding about the performances.

Jade Harris gives a bit of comedic relief with his off kilter comments and the little banter between him and the ex wife (Dr Bowell) is cute.

Did this remake need to be done? Absolutely not. It really doesn’t add anything new to the horror genre in fact; it was a bit of a snooze fest for me. This movie will probably scare ages 13 and below, everyone else might just see it as a family thriller.

There are better things to spend your money on at the cinema this week.