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Poltergeist (2015 film)

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Poltergeist
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGil Kenan
Screenplay byDavid Lindsay-Abaire
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJavier Aguirresarobe
Edited byJeff Betancourt
Bob Murawski
Music byMarc Streitenfeld
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • May 22, 2015 (2015-05-22) (United States)
Running time
93 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35 million[2]
Box office$29.4 million[3]

Poltergeist is a 2015 American 3D supernatural horror film directed by Gil Kenan, written by David Lindsay-Abaire and produced by Sam Raimi. The film stars Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris, and Jane Adams. The film was released on May 22, 2015, by 20th Century Fox. It received mixed reviews from critics, and has grossed over $29 million.

Plot

Eric and Amy Bowen are looking to buy a new house with three children, eldest daughter, Kendra, their son, Griffin and youngest daughter, Madison; after Eric has been laid off. They are shown a house that has recently come on the market that fits their price range, so they move in. The first night, they hear strange noises in the walls, and Griffin finds a box of clown dolls that were left at the house.

In the middle of the night, lights and electronic devices start turning on and off, as some unseen force appears to move through the home. The commotion wakes Griffin, and he goes downstairs and finds Maddy talking to an unknown presence inside the television. She tells Griffin someone is coming, and he attempts to unplug the TV, causing the lights to go out of control. Eric and Amy learn that their house was built on an old cemetery, but that the bodies and headstones were moved to a better neighborhood.

At the house, Kendra's phone begins emitting strange sounds, and she becomes trapped in the basement by a ghost. Griffin notices the clown dolls seem to be moving by themselves. One clown doll attacks him, but he is able to destroy it and escape. He tells Maddy to stay in her room while he goes to find Kendra. Maddy is lured into her closet and becomes lost in an unending void. She is then dragged into the darkness by ghosts. Griffin is grabbed by the branches of the old tree outside their house, which pulls him outside. Amy and Eric arrive home to see Griffin being tossed around in the tree branches while Kendra tells them she can't find Maddy.

The family realizes Maddy is trapped inside the TV when they hear her talking from it. Amy and Griffin visit the Paranormal Research department for help. The staff sets up equipment in the house. They gives GPS locators to everyone in the house, so they will know where everyone is at all times. While trying to contact Maddy, Eric is ambushed in the closet by a ghost resembling her. Angered, he breaks down the closet wall, revealing the portal that Maddy fell through. The investigators realize that this haunting is a poltergeist. The lead investigator Dr. Brooke Powell decides to call occult specialist and television personality Carrigan Burke.

Carrigan arrives and explains that Maddy is a possible psychic, able to communicate with spirits. He reveals that the poltergeists are trapped and angry because only the headstones were moved to the new cemetery, but the bodies remained. They plan on using Maddy to free them from their purgatory. Carrigan comes up with a plan to get Maddy back. He anchors a rope in Maddy's room and tosses it into the vortex. They attempt to use Griffin's toy drone to guide Maddy out, but it is destroyed by the poltergeists. Griffin, ridden with guilt over leaving Maddy alone in the first place, goes through the portal himself. When he finds Maddy, the poltergeists attempt to destroy the rope to trap them, but they both escape.

The family begins to leave but they are stopped by the poltergeists, who drag them back into the house and attempt to abduct Maddy again. The family saves her, and Carrigan decides that as the only other psychic, he must go into the vortex and lead the spirits into the light. The Bowens flee as the house is torn apart by a giant light. The investigative team run to their equipment, looking for a sign that Carrigan managed to get back.

As the Bowens look for a new house, the realtor shows them a house with lots of closet space and an old tree in the backyard; the Bowens drive away laughing. During the end credits, it is revealed that Carrigan survived the incident and is back filming his ghost program, now hosting the show with Dr. Powell.

Cast

Production

In early September 2013, the crew shot interior scenes for the film in an old residence in Toronto.[4] Exterior shots were filmed on the West Mountain of Hamilton.[5] The film was shot and released in 3D.[6]

Release

On August 6, 2014, the film's release date was shifted from February 13, 2015 to July 24, 2015.[7] On March 4, 2015, the date was shifted again to May 22, 2015, which was previously set for Spy.[8] It was released in 3D.[9]

Marketing

The film's first trailer was released on February 5, 2015.[10] Forrest Wickman of Slate Magazine's opinion was that the trailer made the film appear to be too similar to the original film.[11] James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly said that the trailer "retains and amplifies several elements from the original", and praised that "the modernizing doesn’t result in, say, the family’s daughter being kidnapped by ghosts in Snapchat".[12] Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting stated that "while every fiber of my being wants to reject it, [the film] actually looks pretty insane", and praised the trailer's final shot.[13] Ben Kuchera of Polygon also opined that the trailer appeared to be similar to the original film, but that it "looks great, as a horror movie".[14]

Reception

Box office

Poltergeist made $1.4 million during its Thursday night showings from 2,500 theaters,[15] and an estimated $9.4 million on its opening day.[16] Through its first three-day opening, it grossed $22.6 million from 3,240 theaters, debuting at fourth place at the box office behind Tomorrowland, Pitch Perfect 2 and Mad Max: Fury Road.[17] In comparison to prior horror film reboots, its opening is well below the openings of 2009's Friday the 13th ($40.57 million), 2010's A Nightmare on Elm Street ($32.9 million), 2003's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ($28.1 million), and right below of 2005's The Amityville Horror ($23.5 million).[17]

Outside North America, it earned $8.3 million on its opening weekend from 3,750 screens in 36 countries, finishing at sixth place at the international box office.[18] In the Uk, Ireland and Malta it opened in third place with $2.2 million and Brazil with $2 million.[18]

Critical reception

Poltergeist has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 32%, based on 84 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7/10. The site's consensus reads "Paying competent homage without adding anything of real value to the original Poltergeist, this remake proves just as ephemeral (but half as haunting) as its titular spirit."[19] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 47 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[20]

Writing for Variety, Andrew Barker called it "Generally entertaining yet fundamentally unnecessary" and concluded, "even when one is inclined to admire the cleverness with which the remake revisits and reincorporates “Poltergeist’s” themes, it’s hard to pinpoint a single moment where it improves on them, and the aura of inessentiality hangs thick over the proceedings".[21] Tirdad Derakhshani wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer, "It's not exactly a scary film, but it does provide an enjoyable ride. It's good fun. But it left me befuddled" adding, "Why would anyone want to remake Poltergeist in the first place?[22]" Bilge Ebiri wrote in New York Magazine, "This new Poltergeist isn't anything special ... But it's not a travesty, and that feels like cause for brief celebration".[23]

In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave Poltergeist an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "POLTERGEIST (15)". British Board of Film Classification. May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  2. ^ "'Tomorrowland' expected to top Memorial Day Weekend at box office". LA Times. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  3. ^ "Poltergeist (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  4. ^ "Poltergeist Remake Shooting Now, First Set Details". horror-movies.ca. September 8, 2013. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  5. ^ Rockingham, Graham (September 7, 2013). "Remake of horror movie being shot on Hamilton's west Mountain". The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  6. ^ Miska, Brad (February 4, 2015). "Possessed Clown Highlights 'Poltergeist' Sneak!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  7. ^ "Fox Shifts 'Poltergeist' Dates". Deadline.com. June 20, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  8. ^ Lesnick, Silas (March 4, 2015). "20th Century Fox Shifts Dates for Spy, Poltergeist and Paper Towns". comingsoon.net. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  9. ^ "Poltergeist is set for 22 May 2015 and is to be released in 3D". BD. June 20, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  10. ^ Nemiroff, Perri (February 5, 2015). "First POLTERGEIST Remake Trailer: Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt Fight a Ghost Invasion". Collider. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  11. ^ Wickman, Forrest (February 5, 2015). "The Poltergeist Remake Looks Like No "Kids' Movie"". Slant Magazine. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  12. ^ Hibberd, James (February 5, 2015). "'Poltergeist' reboot first trailer: 3d masking done alsi in India, Chennai, Pixstone Images There is a clown". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  13. ^ Miska, Brad (February 5, 2015). "'Poltergeist' Trailer Looks Absolutely Bonkers!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  14. ^ Kuchera, Ben (February 6, 2015). "The first Poltergeist trailer provides the scares, but few updates to original formula". Polygon. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  15. ^ Anita Busch (May 22, 2015). "'Tomorrowland' Limited Release While 'Poltergeist' Grabs Strong $1.4M – Box Office Thursday". Deadline.com. (Penske Media Corporation). Retrieved May 22, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  16. ^ a b Rebecca Ford, Pamela McClintock (May 23, 2015). "Box Office: 'Tomorrowland,' 'Pitch Perfect 2' in Close Memorial Day Battle". The Hollywood Reporter. (Prometheus Global Media). Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  17. ^ a b Anita Busch (May 24, 2015). "No Heat At Memorial Day B.O.: 'Tomorrowland's Rocket Runs Outta Gas With $41.7M Bow – Monday Update". Deadline.com. (Penske Media Corporation). Retrieved May 25, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  18. ^ a b Nancy Tartaglione (May 26, 2015). "'Tomorrowland's $74.7M Global Bow; 'Pitch Perfect 2′ Singing $190.4M Cume; 'Mad Max' Smokin' $227.7M – Wwide B.O. Update". Deadline.com. (Penske Media Corporation). Retrieved May 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  19. ^ "Poltergeist". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  20. ^ "Poltergeist Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  21. ^ [1]
  22. ^ [2]
  23. ^ [3]