Poltergeist Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Catlett. Directed by Gil Kenan. Rated PG-13. Now playing.
The 1982 version of Poltergeist has a few indelible elements: Little Heather O’Rourke announcing “They’re here!” to her family after spirits invade their house; diminutive Zelda Rubinstein as the maternal psychic who helps “clean” the house of evil spirits; the constant static on the television that announces the spirits’ presence. Overall, though, the Steven Spielberg production is a mediocre haunted-house story with some well-observed family dynamics, and the most interesting thing about it is the ongoing debate over whether Spielberg or credited director Tobe Hooper was the one doing the actual directing on set.
Still, Poltergeist is considered a horror classic, so a remake ought to have a unique point of view to justify its existence, or at least deliver some solid scares. Gil Kenan’s new version has neither, recycling most of the original’s major plot points with a few half-hearted modern updates, and relying heavily on the jump scares that are rampant in current horror movies. The solid cast led by Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt deliver respectable if unremarkable performances, the special effects are serviceable, and the brisk pacing is the sole improvement over the meandering, overlong original.
But even viewers who’ve never seen the original movie will be able to predict pretty much everything that happens after the Bowen family moves into a slightly run-down house in a fading suburb. First there are strange noises, then items start moving on their own, and soon full-scale chaos descends on the house, as evil apparitions kidnap youngest daughter Maddie (Kennedi Clements) and hold her in a sort of purgatory. Cue the paranormal investigators with their fancy recording equipment.
Rockwell and DeWitt project a decent amount of parental concern, but the story unfolds with such a perfunctory tone that their emoting is essentially meaningless. Perhaps acknowledging that no one could touch Rubinstein’s iconic performance, the filmmakers have changed her character into a smooth-talking TV ghost hunter played by Jared Harris, who brings a bit of playful energy to the role. Otherwise, Kenan (who directed a more entertaining spooky-house movie with 2006’s Monster House) just runs through the haunted-house motions, many of which were established by the original Poltergeist. While Spielberg and Hooper used those elements to tell a family story that connected with audiences, Kenan and his collaborators are content to churn out another forgettable horror product.
