Nolafus
Aspiring something
- 5,724
- Posts
- 11
- Years
- Age 28
- Lost in thought... again
- Seen Mar 4, 2018
I was a little interested in Poltergeist when I first saw the trailer. The few jump scares were decently done, and it looked pretty scary. So, when my roommate said that he and some friends were going to go see it, I tagged along. I drove to the theater, got in my seat, tried my best to ignore the guy behind me giving the play by play, and prepared myself to be scared. Fortunately, it did provide some decent scares. Unfortunately, everything else completely fell apart.
The movie opens up with one of the most common horror movie cliches, a family moving into a new house. I get it, it gives us the chance to see the kids one by one as they complain about how the old house was better, and gives the writers a chance to slide some exposition by us and let us know that the dad doesn't have a job, and the mom refuses to work, opting instead to stay at home with the kids. Sure, that's how the movie started, but I could have been talking about any number of horror movies, and that's definitely not a good sign. The first few scares are given, mostly by things you aren't supposed to be afraid of, and the movie begins.
To cover the plot very briefly, the family begins hearing strange noises, but the parents shrug it off like usual. There are some clown dolls, a missing girl, and a famous dude with a really bad hairstyle. A poltergeist, of which the movie is named, starts stacking comic books, destroying furniture, and being a nuisance in general. Scares ensue, and the family is terrified. Some stuff happens with the usual group of nerdy ghost watchers, and the day is saved. The end, if you made it to the end.
Being an aspiring writer, the first thing I look for in a good movie are the characters. Sure, you can have the best plot in the world, but if you don't have the characters to convey those twists and turns, the story will fall flat. That's kind of what happened here. Poltergeist doesn't have a stellar plot or anything, but a lot of the moments didn't work simply because the characters felt fake. The acting performances weren't that good, the dialogue sounded scripted, and before long, the characters just seemed like the stock group of people in every other horror movie. There's nothing memorable about them, and when the climax of the plot revolves around not knowing if the group of protagonists will survive, that's not good. It's not good at all. The characters aren't completely terrible, but they aren't special in any way, shape, or form. They're just kind of there.
So the movie didn't have the best characters, at least the story was good, right? Well...
I must admit, the story itself is actually quite interesting. Looking at it from what it must have looked like at the planning stage, it did have quite the potential. It just needed the right direction and execution, and I'm sorry to say, it took a massive nosedive.
For starters, the pacing is so off in this movie. Part of the reason the characters felt so fake, is because they took forever to do anything. You always knew when a scare was about to come, because the camera angles would get all wonky, and the characters would take a couple minutes to open a door. I think there might of been a scene where it took two full minutes for someone to walk down a hallway that wasn't even that long to begin with. I'm all for suspense, but it was ridiculous. By the time the scare comes, the major feeling is relief that the wait is over, and we can finally move on with the plot. Oh, and I guess I jumped there a little, I think.
If you can make it through the scenes that are way longer than they should have ever been, then there are a few decent scares waiting for you, thankfully. Ironically, I don't think the parts that delivered the biggest shock were meant to be that scary. As I stated before, the big scares were introduced with these scenes that took hours upon hours to end, so by the time the scare actually came, you were bored and irritated. It's the small scares that they put in and don't lead up to that pack a punch, and boy do they start early.
Seriously, the long scenes with scares began way before I was expecting them, and the movie was practically full force a little before the halfway point. Sure, that made a huge impact at first, but when you still have the rest of the movie to get through, it's exhausting. I left the movie theater ready to fall asleep right then and there. I was so tired of being on edge, and I still had a review to write. Which, I guess I should be moving along with now, even if my bed is looking ever so comfy.
This movie had so many special effects, it might as well be sci-fi. The scares were so obviously fake. We had lights drifting away from light-bulbs, hallways lines with rotting corpses, portals that were on fire, it was stupid. The Star Wars prequels had less special effects.
Okay, so I may be exaggerating a little with my last jab, but my point stands. There were only a few scares that had minimal CGI, and those were the ones that worked (the power-drill scene, yikes!). The animation wasn't that good, and it didn't deliver like it was supposed to. Which pretty much sums up the movie right there.
Also, this was so annoying it's getting its own separate paragraph. Every other scene in this movie has some sort of flickering light, and I had the biggest headache walking away at the end. My eyes hurt like heck, and a few scenes I closed them completely because the glare from the light was so irritating, I couldn't watch the movie. It's not like it's subtle either. The camera zooms in on a static television, where bright flashes are engulfing the entire screen. That's probably my biggest issue with the movie right there. I just can't wait to sleep off my headache tonight.
So was there anything about this movie that's worth seeing? Yes.
As I said above, there are a few decent scares. Not enough to save the film, but enough to keep me interested. You won't be walking away complaining about how nothing scared you at all, but don't expect to be cowering in fear. Some scares work, some didn't, and that's the way it is.
You may or may not know, but Poltergeist is actually a remake of a film made in the 1980's. I haven't seen the original, but I watched a couple reviews, so I had a basic idea of what was happening. If you've seen the original, I wouldn't worry about this movie being spoiled. One thing this movie actually does pretty well is staying true to the original inspiration, while adding in just enough twists to keep the audience guessing. You can definitely tell that the two movies are related, but they're not the same without being obnoxiously different.
Overall, I'll give this movie a 5/10.
Nothing quite reached the potential it could have, and while it did have a few decent scares, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
The movie opens up with one of the most common horror movie cliches, a family moving into a new house. I get it, it gives us the chance to see the kids one by one as they complain about how the old house was better, and gives the writers a chance to slide some exposition by us and let us know that the dad doesn't have a job, and the mom refuses to work, opting instead to stay at home with the kids. Sure, that's how the movie started, but I could have been talking about any number of horror movies, and that's definitely not a good sign. The first few scares are given, mostly by things you aren't supposed to be afraid of, and the movie begins.
To cover the plot very briefly, the family begins hearing strange noises, but the parents shrug it off like usual. There are some clown dolls, a missing girl, and a famous dude with a really bad hairstyle. A poltergeist, of which the movie is named, starts stacking comic books, destroying furniture, and being a nuisance in general. Scares ensue, and the family is terrified. Some stuff happens with the usual group of nerdy ghost watchers, and the day is saved. The end, if you made it to the end.
Being an aspiring writer, the first thing I look for in a good movie are the characters. Sure, you can have the best plot in the world, but if you don't have the characters to convey those twists and turns, the story will fall flat. That's kind of what happened here. Poltergeist doesn't have a stellar plot or anything, but a lot of the moments didn't work simply because the characters felt fake. The acting performances weren't that good, the dialogue sounded scripted, and before long, the characters just seemed like the stock group of people in every other horror movie. There's nothing memorable about them, and when the climax of the plot revolves around not knowing if the group of protagonists will survive, that's not good. It's not good at all. The characters aren't completely terrible, but they aren't special in any way, shape, or form. They're just kind of there.
So the movie didn't have the best characters, at least the story was good, right? Well...
I must admit, the story itself is actually quite interesting. Looking at it from what it must have looked like at the planning stage, it did have quite the potential. It just needed the right direction and execution, and I'm sorry to say, it took a massive nosedive.
For starters, the pacing is so off in this movie. Part of the reason the characters felt so fake, is because they took forever to do anything. You always knew when a scare was about to come, because the camera angles would get all wonky, and the characters would take a couple minutes to open a door. I think there might of been a scene where it took two full minutes for someone to walk down a hallway that wasn't even that long to begin with. I'm all for suspense, but it was ridiculous. By the time the scare comes, the major feeling is relief that the wait is over, and we can finally move on with the plot. Oh, and I guess I jumped there a little, I think.
If you can make it through the scenes that are way longer than they should have ever been, then there are a few decent scares waiting for you, thankfully. Ironically, I don't think the parts that delivered the biggest shock were meant to be that scary. As I stated before, the big scares were introduced with these scenes that took hours upon hours to end, so by the time the scare actually came, you were bored and irritated. It's the small scares that they put in and don't lead up to that pack a punch, and boy do they start early.
Seriously, the long scenes with scares began way before I was expecting them, and the movie was practically full force a little before the halfway point. Sure, that made a huge impact at first, but when you still have the rest of the movie to get through, it's exhausting. I left the movie theater ready to fall asleep right then and there. I was so tired of being on edge, and I still had a review to write. Which, I guess I should be moving along with now, even if my bed is looking ever so comfy.
This movie had so many special effects, it might as well be sci-fi. The scares were so obviously fake. We had lights drifting away from light-bulbs, hallways lines with rotting corpses, portals that were on fire, it was stupid. The Star Wars prequels had less special effects.
Okay, so I may be exaggerating a little with my last jab, but my point stands. There were only a few scares that had minimal CGI, and those were the ones that worked (the power-drill scene, yikes!). The animation wasn't that good, and it didn't deliver like it was supposed to. Which pretty much sums up the movie right there.
Also, this was so annoying it's getting its own separate paragraph. Every other scene in this movie has some sort of flickering light, and I had the biggest headache walking away at the end. My eyes hurt like heck, and a few scenes I closed them completely because the glare from the light was so irritating, I couldn't watch the movie. It's not like it's subtle either. The camera zooms in on a static television, where bright flashes are engulfing the entire screen. That's probably my biggest issue with the movie right there. I just can't wait to sleep off my headache tonight.
So was there anything about this movie that's worth seeing? Yes.
As I said above, there are a few decent scares. Not enough to save the film, but enough to keep me interested. You won't be walking away complaining about how nothing scared you at all, but don't expect to be cowering in fear. Some scares work, some didn't, and that's the way it is.
You may or may not know, but Poltergeist is actually a remake of a film made in the 1980's. I haven't seen the original, but I watched a couple reviews, so I had a basic idea of what was happening. If you've seen the original, I wouldn't worry about this movie being spoiled. One thing this movie actually does pretty well is staying true to the original inspiration, while adding in just enough twists to keep the audience guessing. You can definitely tell that the two movies are related, but they're not the same without being obnoxiously different.
Overall, I'll give this movie a 5/10.
Nothing quite reached the potential it could have, and while it did have a few decent scares, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.