POLTERGEIST

Directed by: Gil Kennan

Starring by: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Catlett, Kennedi Clements

MGM-Ghost House Picture

Poltergeist was one of classic horror movies that I love so much, that’s why when Hollywood makes the remake of this Spielberg’s movie, it became my  top list movie I should watch this year.

The plot hasn’t change much; it was obvious for remake movies to be compared with the original, that’s why it brought some spark for me to remember the previous movie. The Bowen, a nice family with their three kids, Kendra, Griffin, and Madison had move to their new house in some nice neighborhood but they experienced strange thing inside the house. It was Griffin who realized that first; he heard a noise in the night, finding a closet full of freaky doll, and saw his sister, Amy who speaks to unseen things in front of the closet and television. Well, I just love to see when the hairs of those two were raise when they put their hand at the closet knob.

The presence of unseen force broke Kendra’s phone and she asked Eric for a new one. Eric went to the mall then, but it was funny because on few scenes before Kendra gave comment that there was no mall near the neighborhood. And it doesn’t make me any sense when Eric, the father, bought so many expensive stuffed like cell phone and robot drone, just after he said that his family suffering financial problem because he’s being laid off on the earliest scenes of the film.

Eric and Amy Bowen found out that their house was built on the cemetery...former cemetery...from the dinner talking with some folks that...well, to be honest I don’t know what the meaning of the dinner event was, because there’s no explanation about it, whether it was dinner event to gather neighbors or business colleague? Logically, neither was right, if its business colleague neither Eric nor Amy were on work so they couldn’t be had one, but if its neighbor’s meeting I don’t think they could tell the story about cemetery with such ease. So, I think that scene was only something to inform the couples about their house history. I giggles because the writer put some dialog which mention the house of Bowen wasn't built on old cemetery, which is something to tease the writer of the original because he describes that the house was built on some ancient cemetery that belong to Indian.

The parent started to believe about noisy ghost that haunt their house when they saw Griffin grabbed by an old tree that pulled him outside and Kendra got hysterical about ghost in the basement. Further they found out that the youngest child, Madison, was trapped inside the television after she’s being dragged into the closet. It was cool to see the effect when the lights from the lamp’s bulb were flying out to the closet before the ghosts took Madison away.      

Desperate to get help, Amy visited the Paranormal Research Division from her campus. The staff set the house with electronic equipment to track the appearance and Amy helps them with calling at Madison. But it was Eric who found the hole to the other side when he tearing down the closet wall with chair and table after he got attack by the ghost that looked like Madison. The leader of the staff, Dr. Brooke Powell realized that the Bowen was attack by evil spirits call Poltergeist and they couldn’t handle that without the help from occult specialist and television personality Carrigan Burke.      

Eric begun to experienced the appearance as well when he took the drink in a sink which ends with the shoot, throwing up dirt liquid from his mouth and eyes, but funny how the bottle that he put next to the sink was moved few inches away from it after Amy woke him up from the hallucination.

Carrigan arrived and he became solution for the family’s problem. He set the rope from the Madison’s room upstairs to be a lead to the way out from the downstairs ceiling. The remake adding the technology which wasn’t invent yet on Spielberg’s era, the drone, to seek Madison who trapped in the fire hole upstairs but you had to do all thing by yourself if you want to get it done, so when the drone destroyed by the things inside the hole just when they’re about to found Madison’s location, Griffin decided to help his sister by entering the other side hole before Carrigan does and the big brother succeed to get her out.

This film is good thing to remember and I didn’t have any disappointment watching it. It amplifies to the new generation why Poltergeist became the legend of classic horror movie. I think they also choose the right girl as Madison Bowen because Kennedi Clements, who’s starring this film as her debut, has angelic face as Heather O’Rourke had. I hope the curse from the original movie doesn’t stay on this movie and the actor and actress who played the role in this new movie will be fine for the rest of their life.

As a reminder, Poltergeist was issued as a curse movie because there were several accident and tragedy happened several years after this film launched and became prequel, two actresses that played as the daughter, the youngest, Heather O’Rourke, died by cardiac arrest and septic shot caused by misdiagnosed intestinal issue while the older daughter, Dominique Dunne, was killed in brutal murdered by her boyfriend that strangled her to death. Some said it’s cause by the used of real human skeletons by the crew, with the pathetic reason that it were cheaper than if they make the fake skeletons for properties.  

INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 3

Directed by: Leigh Whannell

Starring by: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson, Lin Shaye

Blumhouse Production

I’ve been waiting to see the third sequel of Insidious because I’m curious of what was seen by Elise, the psychic heroin, when she’s been healing a possession young girl from the second movie. I thought chapter 3 would satisfied my curiosity but I found out that the story in this film took different part which didn’t continue the previous, instead moving backward to the time before Elise had to deal the black gown lady that killed her on the haunting of Lambert family.

A girl named Quinn Brenner comes to visit Elise in this house. She said that she missed her mom that already passed away and asked for Elise help to contact with the dead. Before that she did the call by herself but ends up nothing. Elise, who actually finished with supernatural calling, took pity on her so finally Elise decides to help her. But something was attached on Quinn since she’s doing the calling alone, and that demon want to own her. Elise warned her but it all too late.

Quinn experienced weird things, like what happened when she take the audition, she saw someone waving at her from the window and across the street before she got hit by car. The accident makes her paralyze from the waist down and she have to stay alone on her apartment, luckily she have good father, Sean, who want to take care of her safely. 

When he gave her the bell in order to call him if she needs everything, I remember of my grandmother who also got paralyzed because of her old-sickness and she also had the same bell to call peoples if she’s hungry or need to go to the bathroom.

I like the part when Quinn knocked on the wall and got the answered but when she text Hector by phone, turn out that he was not at home and who the hell’s knock her back? It’s cool...

These paranormal occurrences become more and more frequent every time Sean help her daughter, started from just the bell ring and Quinn that move to the upstairs room which finally facing Quinn with different part of her which doesn’t have arms, legs, and face that try to grab her to jump from the window. 

Sean believe that something demonic was haunting Quinn, so he visit Elise and asked for her help but she turned him down. She’s too afraid to handle the demon because of her nightmares and the threat from the spirit of black dress woman who want to kill her if she’s doing spiritual visit to the other side.

Sean finds help to somewhere else and his son suggested that they called bunch of bloggers who acclaims that they can deal with ghost and terminate them. Specs and Tucker put camera on Quinn’s head to monitor her overnight from the electronic equipment which they usually used on their ghost project. 

I smiled when those silly couple found out that there’s no ghost haunt Quinn, instead it was Quinn herself that walk down from her bed...remember, she still paralyzed and her legs wrapped in a cast. I thought to myself that, it must be part when the writer wants to tell us that none of those “ghost hunters” from TV or internet are real.

Then again, the hero came and the audience applause when Elise finally came to Sean’s apartment and decide to help Quinn after she talk to her colleague, Carl, who supported her to be strong because she’s alive and everybody needs her. 

Actually, I don’t agree with Carl’s saying that she’s stronger than the spirit in the dead world because she still live, how come we could deal something that not from our world? For instance, I don’t believe we could defeat shark in the ocean but it’s obvious that I’m stronger than the shark on the land. But so be it, if it makes Elise get motivated to help Quinn, and that’s for the best...

Elise took a journey one more time to the darkness world and met some ghosts that lead her to “The man who can’t breathe” who make Quinn’s half soul as his pet. She fought the evil spirit and takes her soul away. 

It makes me wonder, how the hell she could do that? Isn’t Quinn’s half soul appears to be limbless, so she couldn’t walk? But Elise grabbed her shoulder and take her to run which I think too much for an old lady...hey, I just realized that this movie also put old lady as the main character, similar to The Taking of Deborah Logan at my last review...

This movie had cool ends which make us realized that we don’t missed someone we love even if their death already and it was okay for the rookie director, Leigh Whannell to replace Jamse Wan who couldn’t take part to direct this prequel because of his tight schedule on Fast & Furious. I think I’m going to wait for the next chapter of Insidious...    

THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN

Directed by : Adam Robitel

Starring by: Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, Michelle Ang, Ryan Cutrona

Millenium Entertainment

This movie should be play at Cinema last year but I don’t know what cause the delay so it just screened recently this year. The premise about "groups that examining old lady which had Alzheimer whose behavior was change very fast but it seemed something else is going on with her, something evil" made me thought to myself, woow that's cool stuff and I think the same thing as I felt that on Quiet Ones...some science thing that end up in horror ways...

This kind of movies usually put young girl to posses but I gave credit for this movie because they put old lady to be main character, which something risky for my opinion compared to what Texas Chainsaw did by putting good looking young girl to replace a-mature-woman-should-be to make the movie more interesting, but it did make the difference. Like any other movies that choose possession theme, The Taking used close shoot range style like what was on Paranormal Activity or Rec.

The plot was too pushy as well, as the group insisted Deborah Logan, the nice old lady that suffering early stage of Alzheimer disease, to be exam. First she refused but when Sarah, Deborah’s daughter, urged her mother to accept the money that offered to prevent their house, the story finally begun. 

Deborah was showing some bizarre action that state as normal thing by Dr. Nazir, personal physician, for someone with aggressive form of Alzheimer, but the cameramen Luis was the only one who noticed that Deborah’s act was beyond normal explanation and concern that something natural takes part.

As a movie that showing logic, it’s funny to see how Mia and the other were busy to find Deborah that missing from her room in the dark. And they're doing it couple times, they done it again when they seek for Deborah who disappeared from her room at hospital. 

Normally when people freak out about missing something or somebody they should be put the lights on before started to seek but in order to make the movie more terrified I thought they deliberately let the lights off. The close range shoot was also became the element of surprised because we don’t know what could be appeared close to the characters.  

Things became tense when Luis and Gavin record Deborah speaking in French while sitting on her old switchboard about sacrifice and snake, and the line of 337 that continually rings belongs to local physician named Henry Desjardin, who disappeared after series of cannibal ritualistic murder of four young girls. Deborah’s action that became extreme and violent forced them to put her in hospital.

While Deborah taking care at hospital, Mia and the other discovered Desjardin was doing ancient demonic ritual that took five girls to accomplished to make him immortal. Unfortunately, he just got four before he disappeared mysteriously after that. They suspected Deborah was involved in something that make Desjardin disappeared. 

Sarah could be his fifth victim but before he accomplished his mission Deborah killed Desjardin first and his ghost is been haunting her now. They also found out that Deborah case actually similar to what happened on the possession case at Africa and the witch doctor there ends it by burning the kid’s corpse with fire. So Sarah started to look where her mother burry Desjardin.

In the hospital, Deborah succeed to abduct Cara, a cancer patient young girl, and take her to the location where Desjardin murder all his victims in previous time. It’s cool to see when Mia sees Deborah trying to eat Cara’s head in snake-like manner, showing that the demons inside Deborah is actually what they thought about that African’s ancient demonic ritual that includes snakes. Before they succeed to burn Desjardin corpse to ends the demonic act, Deborah was able to killed Chief Police first. 

In the end it shows a footage of Deborah that couldn't send to trail because she’s not in perfect health and how the cancer patient young girl became heals perfectly, there’s no surprise when Cara ends the scene with weird smile that told us that Desjardin finally able to control her, but how can he do that because he didn’t finished the ritual, wasn’t it? 

And that was when I thought about the Chief Police that got killed because she’s young and she’s must be virgin as required by the ritual...she’s the fifth victims and the mission accomplished...