Let's compare the Poltergeist movies with the Jaws series shall we? The first entries are both considered to be classics of the genre and are much beloved which made the appearance of their sequels pretty unwanted. However, in both cases, they were much better than they had a right to be and entertained but by the third go-around quality was definitely on a downswing. At least Poltergeist didn't have a laughable fourth entry to tarnish the series even more (here's looking at you Jaws: The Revenge). So just how is this third encounter with malicious spirits? Not good. That's the easiest way to describe it.

After the events of the first two movies Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) now finds herself shipped off to Chicago to stay with her Aunt Patricia (Nancy Allen), Step-Uncle Bruce (Tom Skerritt), and their teenage daughter Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) in the fancy, high-tech skyscraper that Bruce just so happens to be in charge of - it's such a mega structure it contains condos as well as a mall and giant swimming pool. It's quite a change from the suburbia she's used to and she's only there because of being admitted into a school for gifted children as well as being the subject of psychologist Dr. Seaton (Richard Fire) who is determined to prove the paranormal events of the past didn't really happen.

There's a whole lot of talkiness at first in the script by director Gary Sherman and co-writer Brian Taggert which tries its best to introduce all new characters but only gets muddled in the process. There's also some decent subtle moodiness as Carol Anne keeps having visions of the evil Reverend Kane (who was after her in the previous entry) as well as some mildly effective scenes involving cracking mirrors and ominous laughter. At around the same time, our half-pint psychic Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein, thankfully given more to do here than in part two), senses that Carol Anne is in trouble and heads out to try and help.

And trouble she most definitely is in. Talk about shit luck as the entire building is taken over by supernatural forces, which gives Sherman the chance to stage a merely "okay" mid-section with prolonged scenes of Carol Anne being stalked mixed with lame hijinks of Donna and friends sneaking into the pool. Then it all collapses in the final third as the maker's poorly string together a whole bunch of scare scenes involving possessed cars, mirror images that are alive, reanimated animal carcasses, and various other ghostly goings on. It's fine and dandy they've decided to load the finale up with all these things but none of them work nearly as well as they did in previous entries (which had such things as a face ripping and braces attack, to name a few) and it all just reeks of desperation.

Poltergeist III is just a huge misfire that mostly doesn't work due to its scattershot script. There are too many characters to try and keep track of and we just don't give much of a care about any of them. Whereas we had the Freeling family to root for before and they were an engaging bunch, Carol Anne's new caregivers never feel like they belong in the same room together. Patricia is too caught up in her art gallery openings, Bruce just spends a lot of time looking concerned about all the malfunctions in the building, and Donna jumps between being a bratty teenager and big sister-type. I never felt worried about them or if they were going to get out alive - that's not a good thing.

The returning O'Rourke is a little bit older here but gives her worst performance of the series. It's probably because she was sick at the time of filming (in fact, she'd pass away from septic shock during production), so I can forgive her, but the scene with Carol Anne being hypnotized is almost painful to watch. Skerritt and Allen do what they can as the adults of the story and Boyle isn't bad but, like I said, I just didn't care. It was nice to see Rubinstein back, and she gets a pretty effective scare moment in the finale, but her presence here is merely "just because". It's actually Fire, as non-believing Seaton, who's the steadiest here and I was surprised to learn that this marks his only real meaty acting gig and that he's responsible for writing both Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and the sci-fi/horror gore comedy The Borrower.

Before helming this, Sherman supplied us with B-movie fun in the form of Dead & Buried, Vice Squad, and Wanted: Dead or Alive. They're all entertaining flicks in their own way, which is why it's too bad Poltergeist III turned out so poorly. His direction is decent and I thought the usage of mirrors was somewhat intriguing but it just lacks everything else that made the previous ones watchable. (Chris Hartley, 6/18/13)

Directed By: Gary Sherman.
Written By: Gary Sherman, Brian Taggert.

Starring: Tom Skerritt, Nancy Allen, Heather O'Rourke, Lara Flynn Boyle.