Susan Granger’s review of “Poltergeist” (20th Century-Fox)
Back in1982, director Tobe Hooper (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) teamed up with screenwriter Steven Spielberg to make what has become an iconic supernatural thriller. Now British director Gil Kenan (“Monster House,” “City of Ember”) has created an updated PG-13 version with iPhones, iPads, GPS devices and an ominous, hi-definition, flat-screen TV.
After John Deere employee Eric Bowen (Sam Rockwell) is laid off, he and his writer wife, Amy (Rosemarie DeWitt), know they have to downsize in order to provide for their three children. So they move to an affordable fixer-upper on the outskirts of the Illinois town where Amy went to college.
Their six year-old daughter, Madison (Kennedi Clements), is enthusiastic, quickly making some new, invisible friends – “the lost people”- with whom she converses through her closet and the flickering TV in the living room. But their ‘fraidy cat middle child, Griffin (Kyle Catlett), is uneasy in his attic bedroom with a menacing willow tree visible through a skylight. Not surprisingly, teenage Kendra (Saxon Sharbino) is unhappy being separated from her school pals.
When Eric and Amy learn from neighbors about their house’s spooky, paranormal past, they rush home, only to find that Maddy has disappeared, leaving Griffin and Kendra traumatized. Seeking help, they consult Dr. Claire Powell (Jane Adams) from the university’s parapsychology department.
After thermal monitoring equipment and a drone camera are set up, a reality-TV ghost-hunter, Carrigan Burke (Jared Harris) – with his hashtag (#thishouseisclean) – concludes that Maddy has been abducted by vengeful spirits – i.e. poltergeists. They’re holding her captive in a shadowy, sinister netherworld that someone must visit to rescue her before she disappears completely.
Screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole,” “Inkheart”) updated the characters’ names but deleted individual personality traits that allowed us to identify with them. The original film’s key elements have been retained, including the demented clown dolls, the closet doors and the usual scary scenes, augmented by slick, far-too-revealing CGI.
So on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Poltergeist” is a creepy, contrived 4, a nostalgic yet totally unnecessary remake.
