Poltergeist hit theaters May 22 with an expectant and eager audience after the release of many spooky trailers that either drew in or repelled viewers. This movie was a remake of the original Poltergeist (1982) with the new version featuring Jared Harris and Nicholas Braun. With a 32 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the remake had a lower rating than the original 1982 version, which had received an 88 percent.

Judging from my experience, this was expected.

The plotline of the movie centers around a family of five who recently moved into a new suburban house in California due to their financial situation. The youngest child, Maddie, is inquisitive by nature and seemingly discovers new imaginary friends quickly through the furnishings of the house. While Maddie becomes more involved with these “imaginations,” Griffin (the protagonist) realizes these imaginary friends could actually be real enemies. As the three siblings start being attacked by clowns, mud monsters, and trees, the family knows something is dreadfully wrong with the house.

Unfortunately, Poltergeist is one of those sad attempts by the advertising industry to entice watchers by packing the trailer with almost all of the scary scenes from the movie, resulting in spoiling the movie. Although the trailer was decently scary with a couple of jump scares, there was no further development of attempts on spooking the audience in the movie itself. All of the scary moments were already revealed in the trailers, and when I watched it in theaters, I was left with an empty feeling of constantly expecting more. Reading some online reviews, many agreed and thought the new version was only better in quality and was lacking in many ways in content.

I also felt that the movie itself was short. Although there was not much information on explaining the reason for the spirit’s goal of reaching the “light” nor the way the electricity influenced the workings of the closet portal, I liked the idea of an alternate dimension in the closet which transported Maddie into the spirit realm. Even so, the moviemakers could have developed it a bit more and explained why it was a particular closet and nowhere else in the house that contained that portal.

So the final verdict? If you would like to watch this movie, try and refrain from watching too many of the trailers. A spoiled movie is a soiled movie. If you are still left with a negative experience, the next time you read the catchphrase “#Whatareyouafraidof” on the movie posters reply back with “#definitelynotthis.” Ghost House Productions may be afraid of that answer.