When this film starts out in a new location and with Carol Anne living with relatives, I was pretty stoked. The second film was okay but it seemed too much like the original to be truly enjoyable. "A new location and fresh blood would probably do the series well." I thought inside my incredibly handsome brain. I was wrong.
Carol Anne is now living with her aunt's family (Tom Skerritt, Nancy Allen and Lara Flynn Boyle) in the John Hancock Center in Chicago. She seems to be pretty happy and the beginning of the film was enjoyable (especially that smart ass girl in the car pool van), but then Rev. Kane shows back up and things return to their normal haunting bullshit: cold temperatures, disappearing reflections in windows, creepy faces, reflections in mirrors not matching, blinking lights, smoke, loud noises, blah, blah, blah.
POLTERGEIST III definitely had the opportunity to be awesome. It had a respectable budget and the idea of ghosts haunting a skyscraper is very cool, but, unfortunately, instead of centering on teenagers partying and skinny dipping in the swimming pool, the filmmakers dedicated nearly 66.6% of the film to Carol Anne running up and down hallways and stairwells while the rest of the cast yells her name non-stop. It was extremely tiresome. The runtime was only 98 minutes, but if felt like 150.
Worth a watch if you are wanting to finish the series, but if you are looking for an entertaining horror movie then skip it. The most interesting thing about this film is the 80's fashions.
[Pointless fun fact that isn't part of the review: I saw this in the theater on opening weekend in Dallas, TX and there were only three people in the theater. My friend, myself and some lone nerd up front.]
Part 1 - Poltergeist (1982)
Part 2 - Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
Remake - Poltergeist (2015)
