I would have put 1982’s Poltergeist among a list of films that didn’t need to be remade.
Admittedly, I haven’t watched it in many years, so perhaps Tobe Hooper’s film doesn’t hold up. (By the way, there’s been a persistent rumor over the years that producer Steven Spielberg was the movie’s true director.) Besides, just about anything more than 20 years old (or even 10, nowadays) is considered old or dated enough to remake. That’s the world we live in today.
So we have a remake of Poltergeist. Here is the second official trailer for the film.
Actually, that looks pretty scary — scarier than the original, perhaps, which was more creepy. But recent horror movies do a really good job of jolting you with quick cuts, jump scares and hard music cues. Personally, I think Poltergeist looks a lot like films that we’ve seen over the past few years, particularly the Paranormal Activity series, Insidious, The Conjuring, etc. People getting dragged quickly and turned upside down, ghosts suddenly appearing, and make sure you watch the children!
For those who have seen the original Poltergeist, perhaps the most notable change is that Jared Harris is playing the psychic medium made famous by Zelda Rubenstein. Making the character a man is certainly a way to demonstrate that this is a different movie.
Poltergeist, directed by Gil Kenan (Monster House) and also starring Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt, opens in theaters on May 22.
