Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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.

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.

I recently have been going through a "ghost kick." I've been watching tons of ghost and haunted-house films. Everything I can get my hands on- from classics like "The Haunting" and "The Changeling", to foreign films like "Ringu" and "Ju-On", to modern films like the "Paranormal Activity" trilogy and "Insidious." So, naturally, when I saw "Poltergeist II" and "III" on Netflix, I started them up, intending to watch them back-to-back. I actually like "Poltergeist II"- it's silly, but is a fun sequel overall. I hadn't seen the third film, however, in years, and I wish it had stayed this way."Poltergeist III" is scary. Not because of effective jumps, a creepy atmosphere, or top-notch writing like the original. But because it is so bad. Just foul, awful. Tedious.This time around, Carol-Anne (Heather O'Rourke) has been sent to live with her relatives in Chicago, supposedly because she's been accepted into a school for gifted youngsters. The real reason is that the actors for the first two films probably read the script and refused to be involved.She is staying with her aunt Pat (Nancy Allen), her uncle Bruce (Tom Skerrit) and her cousin Donna (Laura Flynn Boyle). Bruce owns the high-rise building where they stay, and Pat apparently works in an art gallery in the same building.Carol-Anne has been tormented by memories from the first two films. At her new school, a doctor named Seaton (Richard Fire) believes that she isn't haunted by ghosts, but rather is a manipulator who can cause mass-hallucinations by using hypnosis... uh... yeah, the movie actually goes there. It insults the audience by suggesting that Carol-Anne may be a manipulative hypnotist. Of course, we know it's actually the vengeful spirit of Henry Kane who is haunting her. But the fact that the movie stoops this low by even suggesting this as a possible explanation is just pitiful.Blah, blah, blah- you know the drill. Kane catches up with Carol-Anne, and torments her, nobody believes her at first, and so on. Eventually, the family must come together (with the help of Tangina, again played by Zelda Rubinstein) to stop Kane once and for all.This movie... sucks.The plot is all over the place. The first two films at least had a logic to them. This movie starts up by adding new rules and layers to the "haunting" that make no sense. Kane just sort of hangs around inside of mirrors the whole time. I'm not kidding. Mirrors were never used like this in the first two films. But in literally EVERY SINGLE SCENE, there's a lame scare where Kane will appear in a mirror (mirrors line the halls of the building), and it actually becomes funny within 10 minutes, because you KNOW it's going to continue. They try to change it up later on, by doing other gags where the mirrors don't reflect things properly, but it's still the EXACT SAME "SCARE"... It happens at least 50 times in the movie, I'm not kidding. It gets old really fast. They sort-of try to explain it (I guess the mirrors reflect the spiritual world, or some such nonsense), but it doesn't mean anything.Also, whereas the first two films used special effects effectively, and had all sorts of monsters and creatures and skeletons, this film has none. Remember the giant skull from the first film? The "Vomit Creature" from the second? They are tossed out the window so Kane can randomly appear in a mirror and cackle before vanishing in every single scene. It's so uncreative that it hurts to watch.I also must say, the "rules" for this film have no consistency. Somehow, Kane can now "clone" people in the Mirror/Spirit world, so half the movie, you're not seeing the characters, but rather evil reflections of them that don't do anything in particular, just act evil at random. Like everything else, it makes no sense.The film is a mess. There is also a recurring "scare" where Carol-Anne will hear Kane calling her, but like the mirror gag, it becomes funny when we realize it never, ever stops. I was able to predict when it was coming and say it along with him in the movie, it was so blatant and over-used.The acting was pretty bad. O'Rourke tries, but can't work with the material, and seems more like a brat than an innocent little girl. Nancy Allan starts off nice, but her dialog makes her come off as a nasty, self-centered jerk even though she's one of our "heroes", and Tom Skerritt... he just seems creepy and unsettling, even though he's meant to be a nice guy. The actors simply have no good dialog or development to feed off of, and all suffer for it.The film is abysmal. I'm only giving it a 2 to honor the late Heather O'Rourke. But it's actually, easily a 1 out of 10. Avoid this, please, for your sake!

Poltergeist III is a fun and chilling inclusion to the Poltergeist "franchise". Neither sequel comes anywhere near the brilliance of the first film, yet I found this third addition to be much more enjoyable to watch than the second one. The plot begins with Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) staying with her aunt, uncle, and cousin in an apartment within the famous John Hancock skyscraper in downtown Chicago. Carol Ann is seeing a psychologist who in an attempt to help her cope with her past unknowingly unleashes the demented spirit Kane who once again pursues her.What I liked a lot about this film was how it built up suspense. From the start we see the window washer resemble Kane, a mysterious crack creeping up the glass walls of the building, lots of eerie shots of mirrors, cold temperatures, and a creepy piece of art turn its head. Throughout the movie the story does a good job moving at a fast pace. The puddle scene was very cool, but one of my favorite scenes of all three of the Poltergeist films is when Tangina is turned into a rotting corpse and Lara Flynn Boyle's character is seen screaming and digging her way out from inside the decrepit body. This film has a very creative plot full of mirror tricks, icy fogs, dead animals screaming to life, and watery portals, although it loses its way towards the end. The ending itself is rather disappointing, as it literally ends with Tangina and Kane holding hands and walking together into the light like old friends; haven't they been duking it out over a span of three movies? Also I'm scratching my head as to what ever happened to Lara Flynn Boyle's crush, did they just leave him in the spirit world at the end? There are definitely some gaping loop holes in the end.Overall I felt this was a fun 80's horror genre film to watch, and enjoyed it much more than the second movie. As long as the viewer isn't expecting it to come anywhere near the first Poltergeist as far as quality goes, Poltergeist III is worth experiencing.