Poltergeist III (1988)

You won't be disappointed!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It looked pretty eighties. The use of practical effects was fantastic as everything looked so real! The use of mirrors must have been a nightmare to film. The ghost world scenes looked especially good. The movement was nice but some cuts were a little jarring. The sound was mostly good. Some of the vocal filters used were a bit extreme. The music was subtle and good. Shame it was stereo but it wasn't such a big deal. It was a little cheesy. The acting (or possibly direction) was not that great and they seemed like they were reading lines most of the time. The ending felt very forced and rushed. I liked the theme of mirrors instead of a TV but overall it is obviously the weakest of the trilogy although never boring so ultimately entertaining and that is what you want, right? Easily the weakest of the trilogy but still an entertaining conclusion.

This is the third and final (although, knowing Hollywood, there will probably come a remake of the original sooner rather than later) entry in the "Poltergeist" franchise, which is according to yours truly the most overrated and unjustly successful horror franchises in the history of cinema. I never understood the popularity of the original "classic" because it is an incredibly clichéd, immature and over-sentimental piece of crap that presumably only had success because Steven Spielberg's name was attached to it. The sequel - unimaginatively entitled "The Other Side" - is just as dull, but for some incomprehensible reason even that film is highly appreciated among horror loving audiences. "Poltergeist III", however, is widely considered as a downright failure and a disgrace to the series. Now I don't intend to be contradictory without reason, but personally I actually enjoyed the third part a lot more than the first two parts! This is still an extremely mediocre, forgettable and sometimes very dumb spook-tale, but at least it's not as infantile and whiny than its predecessors.Thanks to the more specific horror expertise of director Gary Sherman ("Dead & Buried", "Vice Squad") and writer Brian Taggert ("Visiting Hours", "Of Unknown Origin"), "Poltergeist III" relies more on macabre atmosphere and gruesome effects, rather than on expensive lights & lasers shows. The screenplay inventively adds the use of mirrors to generate multiple uncomfortable sequences, and the film contains a lot less false scares and pointless "boo-moments!" The Freeling family finally got fed up with all of little Carol-Anne unwelcome and irritating ghost-stalkers, so they send her away to Auntie Patricia and Uncle Bruce in Chicago. They live high up in the ultra-modern and hi-tech skyscraper of which Bruce is the caretaker, and Carol-Anne attends school in an institution for gifted but emotionally unstable children. It doesn't take long before the Preacher Kane shows his nasty mug in the tower again. He enjoys cracking the mirrors, messing with the elevators and icing the luxurious pools, but he mainly just keeps nagging for Carol-Anne to lead them back into the light. Midget-medium Zelda Rubinstein to the rescue once again, I'm afraid… There's a lot of senseless nonsense and too many tedious dialogs in the script, but at least this is partially compensated through a handful of creepy moments (the possessed cars, eerie mirror reflections or the absence hereof…). The make-up effects are delightfully tacky and typically 80's, including one of the characters bursting through the corpse of another. Heather O'Rourke, the young ambassador of the whole series, sadly crossed over to the other side herself before the movie was fully completed. "Poltergeist III" is dedicated to her memory.

Heather O' Rourke(who sadly died before film was released) again plays poor Carol Anne, who is once again plagued by the same sinister spirits from the first two pictures. Here, she is staying with her rich uncle (Tom Skerritt) in his high rise apartment complex(Craig T. Nelson & Jo Beth Williams did not return) where she is forced to call upon once more the help of family friend and medium Tangina(Zelda Rubenstein) who is determined to end this supernatural menace once and for all...Sequel is really no better or worse than Part II, yet remains just as melodramatic and nonsensical, though it does at least lead to a conclusion of the trilogy, which to date has not been changed(thank goodness!)

I've watched all 3 Poltergeist films and my obvious favorite is the first one. The 2nd one has problems but this one I actually liked.The setting in the high rise building offers a unique setting for this story and actually has some very creepy moments. Many hallucinations are experienced by the characters in the film but they also encounter some creepy moments with mirrors and this works well here. Why do mirrors in films seem strange? I like the fact that the characters wander all over the place within the building and also liked the fact that total strangers were sucked in to what was happening with the family. Some unique scenes in this film.The acting isn't bad but it does have a low budget feel to it at times. Also, some of the reaction shots didn't quite fit. Nothing wonderful here but much better than the 2nd sequel.