Review #40: American Poltergeist (2015)

This review was originally written in October 2017.

Horror Movie October day 11: American Poltergeist

I don't have a ton to say about this movie; it was really bad. Low budget, terrible acting, the dialogue was stilted and unlike anything anyone would ever say in real life, and for being called "American Poltergeist" you'd assume a poltergeist would be the main antagonist of the movie, right? Instead, I guess there's a poltergeist present, but virtually all of the kills (more on that in a moment) are done by a woman who's working with the poltergeist, not the poltergeist itself. Notice I didn't say she was possessed; she wasn't. As far as I could tell she was in full control of her faculties, and when all of the kills occurred the poltergeist was standing nearby just... watching, I guess? And for that matter, is it really a poltergeist when it has a physical form? I don't think so. This movie unravels more and more as you study it.

The kills in this movie were some of the tamest I've ever seen. You never see anything actually happen; you just see the killer run up with a snarl on her face and then it cuts to another scene. (Sometimes, you don't even get that much.) And whenever a body is shown, the only damage is some red paint on their cheeks made to look like they were bleeding from their eyes. It should also be noted that this movie has an incredible amount of jump scares; I'd say probably 95% of the intentional horror in its entire runtime were jump scares. There were a few spots that were genuinely creepy, though I don't think they were all intentional.

I only chose this movie because it was on Netflix and had a relatively short runtime. It has a sequel as well, which I might watch tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Final rating: 2/10 Oddly Wholesome Horror Movies

Number of Movies I've Watched So Far Where Tenants Are Wholly Unconcerned About Discovering a Locked Door In Their House That Has Never Been Opened: 2