ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

TheLittleSongbird 'American Poltergeist' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing if not particularly original premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive as well as the low rating and poor reviews. It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films have are present here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'American Poltergeist' is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is really nothing to recommend.Lets start with the sole positive. The setting, while simplistic, is fairly spooky at times.Unfortunately, it is not done justice by the rather direct to video schlocky way it's shot and edited and the drab colour palette, so much so it was hard to appreciate it, it was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm. In particular, the camera work was a nauseous assault on the eyes with its excessive amateurish-ness. Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning the uniformly lumbering and histrionic acting that shows a huge indifference to the situation and what is going on and extremely awkward prolonged pauses. Donna Spangler and the wooden lead are especially bad.Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés, lots of unintentional humour that makes some of the film play like a really bad spoof and no depth whatsoever, while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags on forever with very little going on worth caring about and useless padding, never recovering. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Would not have minded the lack of originality (the film is extremely derivative and in a dumbed and watered down way) if the story and atmosphere were at least alright in execution, in reality they were both incredibly poorly done.A lot of 'American Poltergeist' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending makes the film finish on an incomplete and confused whimper.There is not enough threat, and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, it is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, completely failing to show any sense of horror or creativity. Everything here is neither creative, suspenseful or nail-biting. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden and like their heart was not in it or ill at ease, with the chemistry between the characters and actors coming over as constantly random and aggressive with the subtlety of an axe. This is very dreary and amateurish stuff.Overall, awful with no redeeming value apart from an element that is difficult to appreciate with it being complemented so badly. 1/10 Bethany Cox

evutzy This is basically like a poor acted version of Paranormal Activity. And what the hell was the camera man doing? He had the Parkinson desease or something? Don't lose your time with this catastrophe. Go read a book instead.

James Wright With a name like American Poltergeist you might think that this is supposed to be a parody of found footage haunting movies of the last decade, or at least a blatant cash-grab based on Paranormal Activity. There are already a lot of these movies, but some can actually be pretty good, or at least funny. This movie however has no idea what it is. It certainly isn't parody or comedy, even though the acting, writing, directing, story and editing are so bad that it is shocking that the makers didn't think to try to make out like it was all a winking joke rather than an attempt at a serious movie. Because they went the serious route, there are so many instances where humour could occur that ends up with nothing happening. Comically long pauses and decisions that aren't made light of, terrible effects that aren't highlighted to show their shoddiness, and cringe-worthy dialogue that isn't delved into enough to be anything but just bad.Overall there is no real intention or story behind this pile of trash. Modern haunting stories have such a simple formula that they should be hard to get wrong, but this one does at every turn by combining multiple elements for no reason and making a complete mess of things. It would be bad even with a bigger budget and better actors, because from the start there is nothing there. It is a complete waste of time with no redeeming factors.

goldysclement A horror movie ? Hell no, this is like the mix of all the worst clichés in horror movies in one awful movie. You should actually watch to value any other movie, you'll love them, even the worst ones. This is true GARBAGE. The directing is really horrible, every shots are horrible, not in the right angle, the right lights. Even something as simple as exposition and contrast are not good. The director of photography, if there's one, must be blind, or just dumb. Now, actors, well, if you want a how to be a actor 101, you should watch it to learn every thing that you should not do.The plot : the title of the movie is POLTERGEIST. You would expect some poltergeist right ? Well .. you'll be disappointed because it's a story of demon possession or some s*** like that. The only "poltergeist related" thing is that you hear some noises inside the walls, even though it's the definition of a poltergeist, it should not be caused by a a freaking demon. Overall, this is a great movie, really, you'll love it, have fun, and actually, you'll be really bored, but still, if you want to "chill" with your girlfriend, it might be a good option for your hookup plans