Yup, yet another horror remake is on its way, this time a new version of Tobe Hooper’s classic Poltergeist. The original was an odd little horror film that walked the line between creepy and kinda funny. Will the remake follow suit? Probably not – Tobe Hooper was always good at taking low-budget, b-grade ideas and making them shine. His films tend to be larger than the sum of their parts.
But how do you capture that undefinable essence in a remake? You don’t unless you are lucky, and the halls of horror are littered with films that failed to reignite the spark of their source material.
Yet remakes will happen and Poltergeist, which started principle photography back in 2013, is not going to be stopped by a few grumblings. Still, as if to convince us that this won’t be a good movie, a few stills have been released. They mainly appear to involve people doing stuff with their hands, including a new version of Poltergeist‘s most famous image of a child embracing a static-rambling television screen. Only this time there are ghostly hands all over the screen, as if to remind us that a movie named Poltergeist is about the supernatural.
Maybe I’m just being difficult, but that is just too spoon-feedy for my liking. JoBlo is mildly more optimistic:
If you want a silver lining, take a look at those behind the camera of the new POLTERGEIST. Directed by MONSTER HOUSE’s Gil Kenan and produced by Sam Raimi, POLTERGEIST touts a great cast that includes Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Jared Harris. The key is the filmmakers desire to continue the legacy of the original film while continuing to explore our society’s reliance on media. The first POLTERGEIST was a commentary on television as babysitters and the new film will expand on that. Here is what Kenan had to say about the approach to the film.
But if you share the thought that we really don’t need a new version of this movie, the following pictures won’t change your mind.
Last Updated: February 5, 2015
