Poltergeist: 10 Big Differences Between Original And Remake

10. Everything Happens Way Quicker

Rewatching the original Poltergeist, it might be a bit surprising how late into the movie a lot of the most famous scenes happen. The moments with the clown doll and with the skeletons in backyard actually don’t happen until the last 10 minutes. 

The movie is extremely patient, and that’s part of what makes it so effective.

The remake isn’t quite as patient because neither are we as an audience. In this version, the sequence involving the clown doll happens about halfway through the film, before Maddy is taken into the spirit world. In the original, this sequence happens after Carol Anne has been rescued and after we think everyone’s safe. There, the moment is saved for the end, but the remake would rather space out the scares a bit more and get to the moment with the clown earlier.

So which is better? Overall, the original is more effective at building a sense of dread. We keep seeing the clown and keep waiting for it to do something, and then finally at the very end it strikes. On the positive side, the new version is not as slow and often tedious as the original, but that arguably makes the last act less effective because there isn't as much of a buildup.