'Poltergeist' review: A horror film full of laughs

Director: Gil Kenan
Cast: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kennedi Clements, Kyle Catlett, Jared Harris
Rating: *1/2

The going gets tough for Eric Bowen (Rockwell) and his clan. The former baseball player (he blames it on a bad shoulder) finds his cards being declined, but that doesn't stop him from putting a roof over his family's head. It doesn't even stop him from buying them pricey gifts. How's a little morale booster going to hurt, when there's some resentment about the moving, right?

His son Griffin (Catlett), however is quick (and right) to be scared of the spooky goings-on. His kid sister Maddie (Clements) is however far more accepting of the house's eccentricities.

While the parents find out the development was built on land that housed a cemetery, a storm brews back home (eldest kid Kendra gets rattled in the basement, Griffin gets clawed at and tossed around by the tree outside his window, while Maddie gets taken by the entities inside her closet).

That's when the circus begins. Paranormal researchers are called to investigate. The poltergeists play to the gallery and that's when shit literally hits the ceiling. No really.

Gil Kenan's directed one of my favourite house horror films ever, Monster House, and if I had a film with this script I'd pick him, too. Except, I wish they didn't. At least he'd not have this film against his name.

The Bowens are all perfectly cast as is the house itself. It lends itself beautifully to the familiar story. Not much affects the pace here, not even the somewhat tepid, meandering dialogue. The runtime of ninety-odd minutes is this film's saving grace

What does affect pace is the fact that we've seen far better films in this genre (Insidious, Mirrors and The Hole, for example). Hell, the original 1982 film was a cult classic. If you're going for a redo, at least up the game. Scare-wise, there's nothing here, we haven't already seen. Effects-wise, it wildly fluctuates between the truly scary and the laugh-out-loud parts. And more so, toward the latter.

It's hard to imagine why any parent in their right mind, would fill their teen son's room with so many clowns. That's such a horror movie cliche, I feel like using one here to just describe it. The film is filled with other such WTF moments. Celebrity ghostbuster Carrigan Burke (Harris) for one, with stories of his battle scars (demonic and marital). Dr Brooke Powell (Jane Adams) and her awkward glances. Totally random statements from totally random assistants. And while the climax and ending is just about alright, it is the epilogue that's a total head-scratching moment. Stay till the after the initial end credits if you're into that kind of punishment.

These days, I go to horror films for the laughs. I had a tummyache after watching this one. Just too difficult to digest how this film actually got made!