MovieChat Forums > Poltergeist (2015) Discussion > Worst remake ever.

Worst remake ever.

posted 9 years ago by mrbidangl
35 replies | jump to latest

As a fan of the original, and of horror in general, I was very wary of this even before I saw it. Some of the imagery caught my eye and I decided to watch it with halfway decent hopes. Man was I wrong.

The storytelling is absolutely nonexistent. Everything that made the original family likeable or at least halfway relatable was completely striped out. The only semblance of back story about this family comes in the way of an absolutely horribly awkward conversation with a real estate agent and the mother blaming herself for her son being scared of everything by telling us she lost him in a mall 3 years ago. The only human emotion I felt for this entire family was feeling like how much of a cocky jerk the father was. Don't even get me started on the paranormal investigators. What a joke of a plotline that was.

To boot, the pacing of this film is terrible, especially if you've seen the original. There is no buildup to anything as everything happens with no sense of time. It literally feels like everything happened within the course of the first 2 days the family moves into the house. There is no sense of dread as Maddie makes contact with the dead, and there is no sense of urgency even as the final act commences. Everything and everyone just seems so commonplace as things happen to them, especially when the guy setting up the cameras almost gets his face drilled into while his arm is being sucked into the other world. He literally just walks back downstairs like nothing happened.

All in all this was a terrible movie and should be considered blasphemous to the original. I don't even think Uwe Boll could have made a worse movie.

[–] reggiecenteno-48001 9 years ago

Nope it was good

[–] patrick5020 9 years ago

I agree it was very good. Worst remake goes to NOES

[–] austinman 7 years ago

Yeah, but Reggie rated "Friday the 13th 8th, Jason takes Manhattan" as a 10, so i think we can safely ignore all his opinions on cinema related topics

Cheers

[–] MadameRoyale 9 years ago

I absolutely agree. Even if this wasn't a remake it would've still been a terrible film. Like you, I'm a horror fan and I don't know about you, but even I can appreciate even a bad horror. Ever seen "Chopping Mall"? Point proven. Anyways, this movie was so bad I actually wish I never watched it. There was not one thing I liked and the family was terribly unsympathetic. I get there's a segment of the population who will thoroughly enjoy this garbage but I hope they don't continue to milk this franchise by pumping out sequels. I can't even begin to imagine how much worse those would be.

[–] mr_casper_sgv-219-481496 9 years ago

worst remake? I heard that about every remake lmao

[–] jctennant55-892-30458 8 years ago

There are a lot of worse remakes than this. Remakes of Total Recall, RoboCop, and The Haunting are a few. If a viewer goes into a remake trying to compare it with the original, disappointment usually follows. Very few remakes even come close to the original, so personally, my expectations are not great.

[–] imnotlurch 8 years ago

I wouldn't call this THE definitive worst remake ever. But this was bad on a lot of levels. The original was far superior in every way:

1) The Freelings were far more believable and sympathetic. They came across like a real family who were truly desperate to find their daughter and were barely hanging on in trying to keep it together in their daily existence. You felt the love they all had for each other, and how much Carol Ann not being with them was killing them. The 2015 "equivalent" felt like five mehish actors trying to fake being a family, as though they spent next to no time together before attempting to act in front of camera. No chemistry among them at all. Zilch.

2) No buildup or real suspense at all.

3) Wow, over-the-top CGI. Not saying CGI can't ever be scary, but it was just as ineffective here as it was in The Haunting. Louder and fancier isn't always scarier...it takes a hell of a lot more than second-rate CGI to butter a complete turd. The 1982 version's more "primitive" effects did the job much much better. And the 82 version, like all horror movies, dared to leave some things to the imagination of the viewer. Picturing a little girl in some purgatory with arms all about her as she's trying to escape? Scary. Actually seeing that played out with not-so-special CGI? Nope.

4) Much better story in the 82 version.

This being said, the "franchise" built by the 82 movie de-railed horribly..."The Other Side" started decently before coming completely apart (the overall idea had some potential), and the less said about III, the better.

[–] Mroe74 9 years ago

I agree with the OP...this movie was horrible... It was so bad, that it made me angry. Lol. I'll never watch this garbage again. It's a disgrace to the original film IMO

Cake or death? Hmmmm I choose cake please.

[–] ohmsofficial 8 years ago

how bout the mother? rosemarie dewitt is just a weird looking woman, at least the way they made her look in this *beep* remake. i just wanted to punch her in the face..now the original mom, played by jobeth williams i believe, she was wayyyyy better.

[–] chamohlamb 8 years ago

You want to punch women you think are weird looking in the face?

[–] TalesfromTheCryptfan 8 years ago

Psycho gets that honor.

Poltergeist did sucked indeed and was unnecessary.

"If this is torture, chain me to the wall"-Oliver and Company

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pjhook1972 8 years ago

It wasn't all that great, but it was far from the worst remake ever. That would go to Day of the Dead (although Psycho, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, The Wicker Man, The Stepfather, Maniac, and The Haunting aren't too far behind).

[–] gerbilstunts 8 years ago

The Wicker Man wins it for me, only worth watching for how bad it was. The true definition of worst remake.

This was simply just.. disappointing.

[–] winstonsims431 8 years ago

no one cars what you think honey child
"Touchdoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooown Auburn"

[–] chamohlamb 8 years ago

Nobody cars what you think either, sweet pea.