POLTERGEIST (2015)

POLTERGEIST (2015). Director: Gil Kenan.

In this remake of the 1982 Poltergeist a family moves into a house that was built over a cemetery. It isn't long (less time than in the original) that strange things begin to happen, and then the little girl, Madison (Kennedi Clements), disappears into a closet and a dimension of lost souls. This version comes up with some new angles to the original film. In the 1982 version the kitchen chairs get stacked up on the table in seconds, while in this version the boy, Griffin's (Kyle Catlett), comic books get stacked up in the hallway. We get more of a view of the other-dimensional world of the dead, and there are striking images of corpses trying to force their way into our world from the child's closet. Oddly, however, the climax in this is rather abrupt and simply can't compare to the original's. The performances are okay -- Sam Rockwell [Iron Man 2] is the father, Rosemarie DeWitt is the mother, with Jared Harris as TV ghost hunter Carrigan Burke, among others -- but the picture is pretty much stolen by little Catlett, who gives a winning performance as the frightened little boy, Griffin. Ghosts or no ghosts, the parents seem even more irresponsible in not going to the police than in the 1982 version. One sequence with a drill and a terrified ghosthunter, Boyd (Nicholas Braun), nearly turns into torture porn but wisely shows restraint. Jane Adams and Susan Heyward play other psychic investigators.

Verdict: Okay, but a cut below the original. **1/2.

LOST CITY OF THE JUNGLE

LOST CITY OF THE JUNGLE (13 chapter Universal serial/1946). Directors: Lewis D. Collins; Ray Taylor.

Rod Stanton (Russell Hayden), an agent for the United Peace Foundation, is after a sinister figure, Sir Eric Hazarius (Lionel Atwill), who faked his own death and is calling himself "Jeffrey London." In Zalabar, the capital of Pendrang in the Himalayas, Dr. Elmore (John Eldredge) is working with London, unaware of his true identity. His daughter Marjorie (Jane Adams) has come to Zalabar to find her father. Nothing goes on in town without the say so of Indira (Helen Bennett), who at first seeks an alliance with London/Azarius, and seems to switch sides throughout the serial. Rounding out the cast of characters is agent Tal Shan (Keye Luke); Doc Harris (Ted Hecht), the casino owner; and a British gambler named "System" (Arthur Space, who was the villain in Panther Girl of the Kongo). There's a lot of talk of a Supersonic Wave Device made from "the most powerful radioactive element in the world," as well as treasure in a lost city with a statue of the Golden Goddess in the Cave of Eternal Sun. In other words, Lost City of the Jungle has practically everything in it but the proverbial kitchen sink. There are some effective cliffhangers involving earthquakes, fire pits, a gas-in-a-tomb death trap; and a guillotine held up by a rope that's rapidly burning. Good use of dramatic stock footage and an interesting score, as well. Hayden appeared mostly in westerns before and after this serial. Adams was Vicki Vale in the serial Batman and Robin; as an actress she had little oomph. Bennett had only a few credits to her name. 

Verdict: Definitely one of the more entertaining Universal serials. ***.

HOUSE OF DRACULA

HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945). Director: Erle C. Kenton.

Sequel to House of Frankenstein ignores the fact that both Dracula and The Wolf Man seemingly died at the end of that film and has both Larry Talbot(Lon Chaney Jr.) and Count Dracula (improbably) asking decent Dr. Edelman (Onslow Stevens) to cure them of their respective curses. Conveniently, Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange) is found in the caverns below Edelman's sanitarium, along with the skeleton of Dr. Niemann from House of Frankenstein. Before long Dracula (John Carradine) is up to his old tricks, infecting Edelman (who becomes a sort of vampire without dying) with his evil -- Talked out of reviving the monster by his kindly hunchbacked assistant Nina (Jane Adams), he now decides to bring the creature back to life in the climax. Strangely compelling horror film plays fast and loose with supernatural legends, but offers a kind of scientific explanation for both vampirism (parasites in the blood) and lycanthropy (something to do with self-hypnosis, overactive hormones, and pressure in the cranial cavity). Lionel Atwill is back as another police inspector. The Wolf Man and Dracula are in the same room only for a few seconds. They would interact more -- and Dracula would actually meet The Monster -- in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Verdict: Great fun! ***.