Horror, more than any other film genre, goes through trends that shake up everything you see. In the 1970s,thanks to the likes ofThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre,Black Christmas, andHalloween, slashers led the way, leading toFriday the 13thandA Nightmare on Elm Streetand their countless clones dominating the ’80s. After a dead period, slashers returned withScreamand a plethora of movies just like it.By the early 2000s, the slasher boom had dried up. What was horror to do? Why, repeat itself, of course, by remaking every single one of those aforementioned titles!After the 2003 reboot ofThe Texas Chainsaw Massacrewas a success,everything got a redo, with most falling way below the standards of the original. Every big classic seemed to get a do-over, including non-slashers likeThe Amityville HorrorandThe Omen. By the 2010s, horror was beginning to change, but one more remake tried to sneak its way in. 1982’sPoltergeistfromTobe Hooperis a classic fright fest, but in 2015, withSam Raimias producer andSam Rockwellas the lead, an unnecessary remake was attempted.It was so bad that it essentially ended the reboot and cheap jump scare reign of terror.
Poltergeist
The Bowen family relocates to a seemingly peaceful suburban neighborhood, only to discover that their new home is haunted by malevolent spirits. The haunting begins with unsettling disturbances and quickly escalates when the youngest daughter, Madison, is abducted by the poltergeists. In their quest to save her, the Bowens turn to a team of paranormal investigators who reveal the sinister history of the house.
The 2015 ‘Poltergeist’ Is a Nearly Exact Copy of the Original
These days, horror fans recoil at the words “remake” or “reboot,” but in the early 2000s, they did big business. Even then, we might have claimed to be against the idea, but our curiosity would drag us to the theater to see if a retelling of one of our favorites could recapture that old magic. Most couldn’t, though sometimes a necessary redo likeThe Crazieswould be better than the original. Usually, however, a remake couldn’t touch the classic that came before it. The few memorable ones worked by trying to take a familiar story and do something new with it.2003’sTexas Chainsaw Massacremakes its main villain, Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey), somehow even more terrifying than Leatherface.Rob Zombie’sHalloweenin 2007 wasn’t as scary as whatJohn Carpentercreated in 1978, but whether you liked it or not, he tried to do something different, taking us into the childhood of Michael Myers.The 2009Friday the 13thisn’t just another brainless stalk-and-slash, but a story about a brother trying to rescue the sister kidnapped by Jason Voorhees.
Then there’sPoltergeist.Produced bySteven Spielberg, and directed by Tobe Hooper, the same man behind the originalTexas Chain Saw Massacre, 1982’sPoltergeistwas a ghost story, but one that went deeper, with a little girl sucked into her TV and a family who must rescue her. It may have been rated PG, but it was scary as hell,even without that ungodly clown scene. It was followed up by two more sequels that no one asked for, especially becausethe series had become tainted by tragedyasDominique Dunnewas murdered shortly after filming andHeather O’Rourkedied before the third movie was released. The franchise wasn’t calling out for another installment, but Hollywood finally got to it whenSam Raimi produced a remake in 2015directed byGil Kenan, who gave this year’s underwhelmingGhostbusters: Frozen Empire.
This ‘80s Horror Movie Had Its Star Swim in a Pool of Real Human Remains
How far did this seminal horror movie go to achieve one of the most memorable horror scenes ever shot?
With some top-caliber actors like Sam Rockwell,Rosemarie DeWitt, andJared Harris, maybe thisPoltergeistcould have had a chance, but it failed by being a nearly exact copy of the original. Some of the visual effects are better because of the times, but it’s so familiar and pointless that the horror is stripped away. How can you be scared of a movie when you know every single beat before it ever happens? Critics rejected it,with it standing at just 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences did as well.The original film made $77 millionat the box office, but 39 years later,the remake could only pull in a meager $47 million on a $35 million budget, with half of that amount coming from its opening weekend. Curiosity brought out a decent number of people, but then they were turned away.
The Jump Scares in the ‘Poltergeist’ Remake Are Cheap and Pointless
The most egregious part ofPoltergeistisn’t how empty it feels, like a movie that exists just because a studio wanted to make a few bucks, but the insane amount of jump scares in the film. Now, jump scares are expected in horror, and while some are great,like the endings toCarrieandFriday the 13th, many are cheap, such as when an innocent character unexpectedly jumps out or a door slams — or the dreaded fridge door. Those moments startle us, but it’s not true fear, simply a physical reaction we can’t control caused by our brain going into protection mode.
It would be crazy not to expect the 2015Poltergeistto have any jump scares. The original did, but those were earned, like the moment when young Robbie Freeling (Oliver Robins) islooking for his missing clown doll at night, only for it to appear behind him. It’ll make you pee your pants, but it’s a scare that means something.The problem with thePoltergeistremake is that those jump scares aren’t earned, but are rather jolts that have no meaning behind them. There is no effort behind it at all. It’s so bad that the websiteWhere’s The Jump?, which counts horror movie jump scares for chickens who want to prepare themselves ahead of time, tallied up a whopping 21 jump scares. Only a couple of them are truly scary, including the clown moment, which we already know is coming. Most are the worst jump scares you can imagine, such asa squirrel popping out of a wall, a toy turning on by itself, a loud clap of thunder, and hands appearing out of nowhere over and over. That amount of lazy jump scares makes a movie feel cheap as if the creators don’t know how to scare us, so they’ll try to trick our brains instead.
Horror Has Moved In a Different and Better Direction
Thankfully, the failures ofPoltergeistbrought an end to the remake trend and overuse of empty jump scares. At the time of its release, horror was moving into a new era, one of fresh new titles rather than reimagining old ones. We now had great horror movies likeThe Conjuring,Insidious, andSinisterto watch, which had some of the greatest modern jump scares.InInsidious, a red-faced demon suddenly appears out of nowhere behind Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson), and it’s enough to make you nearly pass out.James Wanhad brought the jump scare back to what it should be — effective, meaningful, and seldom.
Newer horror films made since then have learned from their examples, knowing thata jump scare needs a built-up genuine scare behind it.2017’sIt, another remake of sorts, could have easily fallen into the cheap jump scare trap, but directorAndy Muschiettiknew that even ifIthad a decent amount of jump scares, they had to make sense and not insult the viewer. There is the scene where the kids are in a garage watching a slideshow. Pennywise appears, moving across the screen, our hearts beating faster, but as the slides are turned off, BAM, there Pennywise is, literally jumping out of the screen. We accepted it and loved it because it made sense for the character, it fit into the atmosphere of the film.
Horror was already beginning to change before thePoltergeistremake, and it has continued to do so since. The remake fad mercifully ended, and jump scares, while still something fun that the audience craved, became reduced and the last beat of building suspense, a jolt earned rather than a bad trick. Horror fans have appreciated the smarter approach to inducing fear,withdreadandatmospherein movies likeBarbarianandSmilebecoming the focal points of recent horror. Sure, we’ve moved on from direct remakes to legacy sequels and reboots, with aHalloweentrilogy that was two movies too long, and the return ofScream, but at least none of those movies had jump-scare squirrels.
The 2015Poltergeistis available to watch on Max.
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