The first Poltergeist is a work of genius because, despite what it says on the credits, it's pretty much directed by Steven Spielberg. For the 1986 sequel the Spielberg connection has gone and replaced by a daft Native American myth for the continued haunting of little Carol Ann Freeling, but it at least was well made and kept the continuity in terms of cast, composer and the warming Spielbergian glow.
By 1988's Poltergeist III, the only constant remaining was poor Heather O'Rourke reprising her role as the tormented pre-teen. And for the most part it's a sorry affair. Replacing Carol Ann's parents are Tom Skerritt and Nancy Allen as her aunt and uncle...both strong actors, to be sure, but the pathetic script id too much for them to combat. The diminutive Zelda Rubinstein makes an unsubtle return but she's quickly sacrificed in noble Obi Wan fashion. The setting makes for a pleasant change, a modern skyscraper, all gleaming glass, concrete and florescent lighting, but it comes off as cold and distancing rather than the homely qualities of the last two movies.
The film feel like a disaster movie...a haunted version of Towering Inferno. We're introduced to a whole bunch of disposable characters, including a group of annoying teens (including the very cute Lara Flynn Boyle), who get to be terrorised in the final hour. There's the impossibly dumb psychologist who believes the ghosts are all a hypnotic suggestion, the shoddy animatronic, smoke and lighting effects which look cheap (as the director wanted all the effects done 'in-camera') and a story that hardly gels as it's main character, in this case Nancy Allen's Aunt Pat, is completely ignored until the final five minutes!
The only thing that works is the conceit with the mirrors; the ghosts in the spirit world exist only in the reflections. Similar to the Kiefer Sutherland 2008 movie Mirrors, the reflection that should not exist are downright creepy, and it's made all the more effective knowing it was all achieved without the use of visual or digital effects. Very clever indeed (unlike the rest of the film).
Far more watchable than I'd remembered it, Poltergeist III is still the runt of the franchise. I said runt.
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