UPDATE: The first trailer is live. Check it out right here:
ORIGINAL POST: Tobe Hooper’s 1982 horror classic Poltergeist made nightmare fuel out of television screens and clown dolls (among other household items). Now, the first images from the upcoming remake of that film suggest that the passage of time hasn’t reduced the scare potential of either element.
USA Today debuted the first set of images from Monster House director Gil Kenan’s contemporary remake of the 1982 film, which spawned two sequels and a spinoff TV series. Produced by acclaimed genre filmmaker Sam Raimi, the Poltergeist remake casts Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt as parents who realize that the house they’ve moved into is also home to malevolent entities bent on abducting their daughter, Madison (played by 8-year-old Kennedi Clements).
“Whenever someone approaches material that’s so beloved, there’s a reflexive reaction to be worried,” said Kenan of the project. “It’s a responsibility we take very seriously. We’re working to make a Poltergeist film that lives up to the original’s legacy.”
Raimi indicated that the ubiquity of smartphones, tablet computers, and other screen-based devices has only made the themes of the original film more resonant over three decades later.
“The original film commented on how we’ve let television get out of control, babysitting our kids,” said Raimi. “It’s only gotten worse with the handheld portable devices. Screens are everywhere.”
The new images also confirm the return of another element from the original film: A clown doll that terrorizes the family’s young daughter in a particularly scary scene. You can see some of the images from the film in this post, and head over to USA Today for the full gallery.
Along with Rockwell, DeWitt, and Clements, the film stars Jared Harris, Saxon Sharbino, and Jane Adams. Poltergeist hits theaters July 24.
