REEVALUATING THE ETERNAL DAMNATION OF 'POLTERGEIST III'

Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne in POLTERGEIST III Year: 1988

There are actually some good things about the maligned POLTERGEIST III including a capable director; a cool, ominous soundtrack; and a decent rudimentary story-line that makes the build-up... Carol Anne now living in a glass-structured Chicago high-rise with her aunt and uncle... work for and against itself since, as the movie progresses into manic delirium, it's more a letdown than a wasted experience from start to finish...

By the 45-minute "Kong mark" (the same time it took the giant ape to reveal himself), a lot has happened, and it's somewhat interesting. Aunt and Uncle (horror-vets Nancy Allen and Tom Skeritt), who also work for the building they reside in, are at a downstairs party full of spooky-looking art pieces. Their cute teenage daughter (Lara Flynn Boyle) sneaked herself and her friends into the building's off-grounds swimming pool for a beer party while, in the apartment, the late Heather O'Rourke's Carol Anne is just starting to get really scared of the impending ghosts... which is where the problem begins...

Scream queen Nancy Allen and the Star Wars prequel Robots

Like running across a large field where only the first thirty yards harbor difficult (and interesting) obstacles, POLTERGEIST III goes from intriguing and suspenseful to a redundant and annoying chase scene between the family and the ghosts, led by an ancient, white-haired Reverend Kane...

Which is downright blasphemous for fans of POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE, by having another actor deliberately made-up to resemble the late great Julian Beck, and shouting, "We're Back!" to counter Carol Anne's legendary "We're Here" from the timeless original. But there's another pro to this 80% con of a sequel's sequel as Heather O'Rourke, who died not long after production wrapped, turns in a great performance, having to intensely react to what she remembers as opposed to what's actually happening around her...

Heather O'Rourke & Richard Kind P3 RATES: **1/2

This occurs at a school for gifted children, another initial location with wasted potential that includes a psychiatrist-in-denial played by Richard Kind, wielding a novice style of contrived, atrocious line-delivery that makes bad horror movies fun to bag on...

Intentional or not, Kind's phony-kind Dr. Seaton is the real villain here, and even he's lost in the frenzied shuffle (along with a glorified cameo by the Columbo of ghost whisperers, Zelda Rubinstein's Tangina) where otherwise capable DEAD & BURIED and VICE SQUAD director Gary Sherman is overloaded within an ominous yet glossy-looking corner of purgatory that, with so much going on, he and the cast couldn't possibly paint their way out.

Lara Flynn Boyle in POLTERGEIST 3 aka POLTERGEIST III

Lara Flynn Boyle & Heather O'Rourke in POLTERGEIST 3 aka POLTERGEIST III

Lara Flynn Boyle passes three Fake Reverends in POLTERGEIST 3 aka POLTERGEIST III

Richard Kind's even-keeled shrink in POLTERGEIST 3 aka POLTERGEIST III

A copy/pasted and forced Zelda Rubinstein's Tangina in POLTERGEIST 3 aka POLTERGEIST III

Otherwise talented Tom Skerritt's over his head as neo Craig T. Nelson in POLTERGEIST 3 aka POLTERGEIST III

Heather O'Rourke with an ET: Extra Terrestrial Speak & Spell tying this with Spielberg, sorta

A bathed Lara Flynn Boyle cared for by concerned dad Tom Skerritt in POLTERGEIST III

Haven't yet figured who this actress is with all the unestablished credited first names but she's cute, so...