The Hollywood Reporter brings news that Juliet Snowden and Stiles White are set to pen a remake of the classic 1982 triple-Oscar nominated PG-rated Poltergeist. Snowden and White previously wrote the cheesy horror flick Boogeyman and will now attempt to improve(?) upon the film previously co-written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, but is it really necessary or even a good idea?
Personally I think one of the things that made the original film so good was Zelda Rubinstein as Tangina, a character I don’t think should even be in the remake if they really want it to be taken seriously. I think it would be unfair to even try and recreate Rubinstein’s performance and thus should earn the film a new paranormal expert, The Orphanage proved it could be done with a fantastic and subdued performance by Geraldine Chaplin as Aurora. Then again, I guess it depends on what they are going for.
The Orphanage offered up more chills than thrills and Poltergeist is teaming with a little of both, but definitely leaning more toward the thrills, that is outside of Heather O’Rourke’s “They’re here…” But I think we all realize the killer clown is more of a thrill. One thing is for certain, I don’t think they will be able to avoid an R-rating this time, unless they actually tone down what was a PG-rated film at the time. Will we get the face peel? Hmmmm?
The film tells the story of a haunted house built over an Indian burial ground and the subsequent trapped little girl in the television. Boo!
On top of Boogeyman, Snowden and White also have helped in trying to bring a remake of The Birds to the bigscreen and also helped Alex Proyas with Knowing.
I am still not sure if this film should even be made, but I definitely think there is room for quality depending on where the remake departs from the original. By the way, for fans of the original the Blu-ray edition hits stores on October 14, click here for more on that.
