Poltergeist: 10 Big Differences Between Original And Remake

In both versions of the movie, we find out that the house was built where a cemetery once was, but apparently all the bodies were moved to a different location. Later on, we find out they weren’t actually moved; only the headstones were. In the original, that’s a realisation the characters have towards the very end, and it’s sort of a fun, last minute twist as all the craziness is happening.

In this version, the parents find out about halfway through, and while in the original we only see the skeletons for one sequence, the remake makes heavy use of the skeleton imagery. We see the very human looking spirits throughout in place of the terrifying monster looking spirit towards the end of the original. There’s also an added scene where the oldest daughter’s foot is grabbed by a skeleton as the floor fills with this creepy black ooze. 

In the original, the skeletons were just a quick scare towards the end, but here, they’re a major part of the film’s imagery. 

Both versions are different, but both work. On the other hand, the monster we see in the original is cool and unique looking, and there really isn’t anything as unique in this version. The skeletons here are creepy, but how many times have we seen creepy skeletons in a horror film?