I went to see Poltergeist thinking it was a horror movie; I was sorely disappointed. Even compared to the latest Insidious (the third part), which set a pretty low bar as far as American scare-fests go, Poltergeist was even less scary. Sure, there were some jump-from-your-seat moments, often involving loud noises and hands over children's shoulders. There were some semi-disturbing imageries but the inclusion of numerous CG effects really detracted from the visceral aspects of more practical-oriented (read as: cheap) effects (think the first Insidious, or the first Paranormal Activity).
However, if you think of Poltergeist as a suburban Sci-Fi / Light-horror genre mashup, it becomes a bit more palatable.
I never really like it when horror films over-explain themselves; sometimes the scariest things are things implied by the filmmakers, as opposed to something spoon-fed. This is why Japanese or Asian horror in general works for me: they don't give a too-too elaborate backstory, scary shit just happens, deal with it! I remember having to shower with my eyes open for months on end or not looking at my monitor's reflection (back in the days of CRT monitors) because I might see something that I did not want to see, or feel a hand helping me shampoo my hair. I fed my own scares, and it left me scarred and scared years down the line.
Poltergeist spoon feeds you: everything has an explanation; everything happens for a reason; everything has a step-by-step guide towards solving the issue at hand. This attitude is very American in my view, as opposed to the usual Asian attitude of "lets just get the fuck out of here".
I've never seen the original Poltergeist in its entirety; I seem to associate it with a scene where, after chewing a drumstick, this guy tasted something wrong with his midnight snack and ended up looking down towards his maggot encrusted piece of chicken. This scared me enough to keep me away from breaded chicken drumsticks for a few years (hey, I was a kid then). I remember the TV part and some kids and something something something happened and, well, let me just say that I'm not sure how much this 'reboot' stuck to the original in terms of story. But I do believe that the original Poltergeist was also a a Sci-Fi / horror mashup, since they seem to stick with the idea that ghosts or entities have physically explainable (and even repeatable) manifestations.
Even with the sci-fi angle, I find it hard to recommend spending 250 pesos of your money and watching it in a moviehouse -- it's just not worth it. As a rental though, it might be good enough, or maybe via iFlix, should they decide to carry it.
Verdict: 1/5 Don't bother.
Details:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1029360/
Notable Actors: That guy from Moon
Release date: June 24, 2015
Seen at: Eastwood Cinemawalk
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