Poltergeist: 10 Big Differences Between Original And Remake

This is one instance where the original version is very clearly more effective. 

One of the great scenes from the first Poltergeist was the face peeling sequence, where Steven hallucinates ripping the flesh off his own face before quickly snapping back into reality. It’s a shockingly gruesome scene, and the special effects look amazing and are still incredibly memorable today.

The team behind this remake perhaps realised they wouldn’t able to emulate that, so they go for something entirely different. Instead of skin peeling off, this time, the father hallucinates there being a bunch of worms crawling all over his face and blood coming from his eyes. 

It’s commendable that they tried something new, but this just doesn't work nearly as well. We also barely even get to see anything, with just a quick shot of his face from in the reflection of the faucet. The original really revelled in showing us the gory details, and that’s sadly missing here.

With this one, there’s no question that the remake doesn’t hold a candle to the original scene, to the point where they really shouldn’t have even bothered.