Poltergeist is a 2015 American supernatural horror film directed by Gil Kenan, written by David Lindsay-Abaire, and produced by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Roy Lee.

The film stars Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris, and Jane Adams, and follows a family who arrive at their new home and begin experiencing paranormal occurrences.

By 2012, a remake of the 1982 film was announced with Raimi producing the project alongside Lee, Tapert, and Nathan Kahane.

Kenan was announced as the film's director in 2013 and principal photography took place in Toronto from September to December that same year.

The first night, they hear eerie noises in the walls and Griffin finds a box containing clown dolls that were left at the house.

In the middle of the night, lights and electronic devices start turning on and off, as an unseen force appears to move through the home.

Amy and Eric arrive home to see Griffin being tossed around in the tree branches, which releases its grip when they come close, while Kendra hysterically tells them she cannot find Maddy.

He reveals that the ghosts are trapped and are angry because only the headstones were moved to the new cemetery, but the bodies remain; they plan on using Maddy "to free them from their purgatory".

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.

During the 1990s, Universal Studios briefly toyed with the idea of making a prequel film for the character of Reverend Kane.

[4] Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams were courted to reprise their roles, while the part of Carol Anne was to be recast due to the passing of Heather O'Rourke in 1988.

[8] In 2007, the studio decided to move in a new direction for the sequel and turned to Michael Grais to write a new script, now titled Poltergeist: In The Shadows.

[15][16] In April 2012, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Sam Raimi, Nathan Kahane, Roy Lee and Robert Tapert would produce.

[19] In March 2013, Gil Kenan of Monster House was hired to direct the film, while Roy Lee would join Raimi and Tapert as producers.

[22] In September 2013, Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris and Jane Adams were cast in the film.

[28] 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".

[29] 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.

[30] 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".

[34] 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.

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.

[34] 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".

[39] Neil Genzlinger gave the film a mostly positive review in The New York Times, writing: "The new Poltergeist might well be the scariest movie 13-or-unders have yet seen, just as the original was for their parents back in 1982.

Those parents might find it an enjoyable trip down memory lane, even if they do now recognize it as largely a well-served collection of horror-movie tropes".

It's the same kind of thing, with the same shape and some shared ingredients, but the texture's gone limp, and there's no sense of occasion about it, and there's some unpalatable goop stuffed in the crust.