The movie which I will be reviewing is the remake of the popular paranormal thriller, Poltergeist (2015). I should preface this review by stating that I have not actually seen the original so I cannot comment on similarities.
I was pleasantly surprised when I started the movie to see Sam Rockwell taking up the leading male role alongside Rosemarie DeWitt as the leading female. I would begin to realize as the movie progressed that the child actors Kyle Catlett and Kennedi Clements would be the main focus in the movie as Kennedi's character, Madison would be targeted and enticed by the paranormal entities while Kyle's character Griffin would be harassed. The final member of the family was the rebellious teenage daughter Kendra, played by Saxon Sharbino.
The setting is a newly developed suburban area in an unnamed state in America. It is very quickly revealed to us that Sam's character Eric is now unemployed and Rosemarie's character Amy is also out of work as she is focusing on writing a book. We are reminded of the fact that both parents are unemployed quite a bit in the first half of the movie, although in truth it doesn't really add to the story in a direct way like I imagined it would as it had been mentioned so much. The movie very quickly presents the idea of the paranormal threat when we see Madison talking to "nobody" in her new bedroom as soon as she enters it. The pace from here is quite slow, as we are shown the struggles of a family in a financial crisis and a bit more development into the characters themselves. We learn that Griffin is frightened very easily since a traumatic experience in his childhood which allows his parents to take his words of caution with no real urgency and that Madison is continuing her solicitations with the spirits.
It is not until Eric and Amy go out for dinner, leaving Kendra to babysit Griffin and Madison do we see the real extent of this "haunting". Various frightening occurrences take place within the house much to the horror of the three kids at this time. Meanwhile Eric and Amy are told that their house had been built on an old cemetery which had supposedly been moved. Shortly after this, Madison is "taken" by the spirits into their world.
Unsure of how to handle this Amy goes to a paranormal research center to recruit their help in saving Madison. They agree and set up various pieces of equipment to detect the entities. We soon learn that the closet in Madison's room is a portal and someone must go inside to save her, all the while fending off a horde of angry spirits.
My final thoughts on this movie are as follows:
It is a good "Netflix" movie, if you've nothing to watch and are in the mood for a little fun then this is a good choice. The story is relatively simple as are the characters. The acting is nothing to write home about, as I felt Rockwell was sub par and the child acting was, like a lot of child acting, just mediocre and at times frustrating. It did feel that the movie dragged at times and the heavy use of CGI really took away from the sense of horror and threat. It is as I said still quite enjoyable and a nice way to kill an hour and a half of your time with some nice little frights.
I would give this movie an average 6 out of 10.
I was pleasantly surprised when I started the movie to see Sam Rockwell taking up the leading male role alongside Rosemarie DeWitt as the leading female. I would begin to realize as the movie progressed that the child actors Kyle Catlett and Kennedi Clements would be the main focus in the movie as Kennedi's character, Madison would be targeted and enticed by the paranormal entities while Kyle's character Griffin would be harassed. The final member of the family was the rebellious teenage daughter Kendra, played by Saxon Sharbino.
The setting is a newly developed suburban area in an unnamed state in America. It is very quickly revealed to us that Sam's character Eric is now unemployed and Rosemarie's character Amy is also out of work as she is focusing on writing a book. We are reminded of the fact that both parents are unemployed quite a bit in the first half of the movie, although in truth it doesn't really add to the story in a direct way like I imagined it would as it had been mentioned so much. The movie very quickly presents the idea of the paranormal threat when we see Madison talking to "nobody" in her new bedroom as soon as she enters it. The pace from here is quite slow, as we are shown the struggles of a family in a financial crisis and a bit more development into the characters themselves. We learn that Griffin is frightened very easily since a traumatic experience in his childhood which allows his parents to take his words of caution with no real urgency and that Madison is continuing her solicitations with the spirits.
It is not until Eric and Amy go out for dinner, leaving Kendra to babysit Griffin and Madison do we see the real extent of this "haunting". Various frightening occurrences take place within the house much to the horror of the three kids at this time. Meanwhile Eric and Amy are told that their house had been built on an old cemetery which had supposedly been moved. Shortly after this, Madison is "taken" by the spirits into their world.
Unsure of how to handle this Amy goes to a paranormal research center to recruit their help in saving Madison. They agree and set up various pieces of equipment to detect the entities. We soon learn that the closet in Madison's room is a portal and someone must go inside to save her, all the while fending off a horde of angry spirits.
My final thoughts on this movie are as follows:
It is a good "Netflix" movie, if you've nothing to watch and are in the mood for a little fun then this is a good choice. The story is relatively simple as are the characters. The acting is nothing to write home about, as I felt Rockwell was sub par and the child acting was, like a lot of child acting, just mediocre and at times frustrating. It did feel that the movie dragged at times and the heavy use of CGI really took away from the sense of horror and threat. It is as I said still quite enjoyable and a nice way to kill an hour and a half of your time with some nice little frights.
I would give this movie an average 6 out of 10.
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