Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.0

Poltergeist Blu-ray Movie Review

They're here again.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 1, 2015

There are any number of questions which may occur to various viewers as they watch the 2015 reboot of the venerable horror outing Poltergeist, but the central one which may be most prevalent may well be a simple, “Why?” Why remake the 1982 Poltergeist to begin with, especially when the remake doesn’t attempt to do much updating or renovating, let alone innovating? This new if not exactly improved Poltergeist isn’t horrible by any stretch, and it certainly doesn’t stoop to the mimicry Gus Van Sant employed in his remake of another horror staple, Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic Psycho, but the film is surprisingly docile a lot of the time, never really working up the requisite angst that should accrue once a picture perfect family discovers they’re in a hostile environment and that one of their children has been abducted by—well, something. Director Gil Kenan showed his facility with haunted manses in his wryly amusing animated film Monster House, but while this live action feature wisely eschews a blatantly cartoonish ambience, there’s precious little actual fear being engendered, either on screen vis a vis the supposedly traumatized Bowen family, or (more importantly) with regard to the audience, some of whom may feel they’ve been haunted by the spirit of boredom.

The general outlines of the original Poltergeist are still largely intact in this version, with a few relatively minor variations (like name changes for some characters). The Bowen family, father Eric (Sam Rockwell), mother Amy (Rosemarie DeWitt), and kids Kendra (Saxon Sharbino), Griffin (Kyle Catlett) and little Madison (Kennedi Clements), are dealing with problems fostered by Eric’s recent loss of his job at John Deere (how’s that for somewhat odd specificity in a screenplay?). The family is looking for a new home, and unfortunately their “price point” (to utilize an annoying phrase all too common on networks like HGTV) is not especially high, meaning their choices are somewhat limited. When their realtor shows them a house in an at least relatively appealing suburban neighborhood (despite high voltage power lines Kendra is convinced will cause tumors), they decide to buy, pretty much on the spot.

While many fans of the original film of course remember the interactions between that film’s little girl, Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke), and the spectral entities that ultimately "kidnap" her, this version initially spends a bit more time detailing Griffin’s sense of angst as the family moves in. He’s almost instantly fearful of the gigantic tree in the home’s side yard, and he’s also disturbed when he finds Madison having a one sided conversation with a closed (and stuck) closet door. These early scenes, while not especially jump out of your seat frightening, do an at least decent job of developing a sense of dread and foreboding. As is typically the case in horror films featuring too intuitive for their own good children, the parental units are largely clueless as to what’s going on, something that continues throughout this version and which tends to tamp down some of the scare quotient, since for some viewers at least, Eric and Amy will be the “stand ins” for adult audience members. If the adult characters don’t seem particularly distressed that they’re in an obviously haunted house, why should the audience care?

The first of the film’s two rather well done set pieces occurs in quick succession to this opening gambit, as Eric and Amy leave for a night out, and the three kids are soon contending with forces from another world. Little Madison has already had her “interchange” with the glowing television, alerting the family that “they’re here”, but of course no one knows who that “they” refers to. One of the perceived drawbacks to the original Poltergeist was its sometimes hokey looking special effects work, and in that regard, this version ups the ante significantly, with several rather cool looking CGI effects that are viscerally exciting (one especially cool moment in the 2D extended version has Griffin “stuck” in midair until that nasty tree can come grab him, per the original film).

With little Madison missing (though still at least a little accessible via various “portals”), the still not overly hysterical parents enlist the aid of local paranormal researcher Brooke Powell (Jane Adams), which is where the film ostensibly tips over into something at least a little different from the original version. In a tip of the hat to contemporary cable shows that feature ghost hunters and the like, eventually a television ghostbuster named Carrigan Burke (Jared Harris) enters the fray with a bit of a flourish. What’s so odd about this slight difference is despite Harris’ flamboyant take on the character, this section of this version has virtually none of the whimsy that the original offered. Despite being remarkably unsettling, the original Poltergeist also had a sly sense of humor at times, and that proclivity is by and large absent from this update.

The second set piece is a special effects extravaganza that sees Burke attempting to maintain contact with the spirit world and Griffin attempting to right a perceived wrong by taking some action himself. This part of the film has some fantastic visual interest, but once again the fright meter stays largely static. Things aren’t helped by the film’s reliance on an opening in a ceiling where various objects are kind of (to put it graphically) pooped out into the “real” world, something that makes the expected outcome vis a vis the Bowen children perhaps unintentionally funny.

While not down and out horrible, this Poltergeist never works up much spectral energy of its own. It ticks off the boxes of the plot points of the first film, but never bothers to invest them with anything new. The special effects are great looking, but a lot of this film is stuck resolutely in “meh” territory.

Poltergeist Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Poltergeist is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer on separate discs in 2.40:1. As the closing credits detail, Poltergeist was "captured" (as the logo proclaims) by Arri Alexa cameras, and the image has the typically sleek, sharp and smooth appearance that these cameras afford. While some shots have a slight buttery yellow quality to them, and quite a bit of the interior footage features the harsh blue, quasi-fluorescent, hues of a television broadcasting static to an empty room, generally speaking detail and fine detail are often at excellent levels. There are several sequences that feature things like "video feeds", where the imagery is intentionally pixellated or distorted. Shadow detail is generally quite well delineated, though there is occasional murk in the second half of the film. CGI and other special effects work can occasionally look slightly soft, but some of that relative gauziness (including some of the depictions of the ghouls Madison is contending with) seems to be intentional.

Poltergeist Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

From virtually the first moments of this film, even as its credits continue to unspool, Poltergeist's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix announces that it's going to be a no holds barred display of incredibly forceful LFE and well placed surround activity. There are a glut of fine moments scattered throughout this film, including the weirdly spooky and menacing sound of the flutter of the leaves in the Bowens' new house's iconic tree, to some of the less naturalistic sounding effects that dot some of the big set pieces. There is no dearth of startle effects, including one huge one when little Madison makes contact with "the others" via the television. While some of the special effects sequences get a bit stuffed with effects, prioritization is generally strong, though a couple lines of dialogue in the second big SFX sequence get a bit buried in the maelstrom. Otherwise, dialogue is cleanly presented and easy to hear in the mix. Marc Streitenfeld's kind of generic sounding score resides quite comfortably in the side and rear channels and is reproduced with excellent fidelity. Dynamic range is also extremely wide on this track.

Poltergeist Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alternate Ending (1080p; 1:46)


• Gallery (1080p; 1:03) offers both a Manual and an Auto Advance option. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.


• Theatrical Trailers:

  Theatrical Trailer 1 (1080p; 2:20)

  Theatrical Trailer 2 (1080p; 1:41)

• Theatrical (1080p; 1:33:41) and Extended (1080p; 1:40:53) versions of the film. The extended version features seven alternate scenes.

Poltergeist Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A lot of people pointed to that aforementioned example of Gus Van Sant's (more or less) shot by shot remake of Psycho as evidence of the excesses of directorial hubris, leading to that also aforementioned question, "Why?" Poltergeist doesn't quite scrape the bottom of the stylistic barrel in that particular way, but it's also curiously uninvolving and (even worse) not very frightening. While little Kennedi Clements is quite winning as Madison, Kyle Catlett as Griffin tends to indicate a bit too often. The supposed batner between Jared Harris' Burke and Jane Adams' Powell also falls pretty flat. SFX junkies may get enough of a jolt out of the big set pieces to make this a decent enough time killer. Technical merits are generally first rate for those considering a purchase.