Poltergeist III ** (1988, Heather O’Rourke, Tom Skerritt, Nancy Allen, Zelda Rubinstein, Lara Flynn Boyle) – Classic Movie Review 2501

Co-writer/director Gary Sherman’s 1988 third episode brings back only Heather O’Rourke and Zelda Rubinstein from the original two movies.

JoBeth Williams and Craig T Nelson having bailed out of part 3, their haunted screen daughter Carol Anne (O’Rourke) goes to live with her aunt (Nancy Allen) and uncle (Tom Skerritt) in their highrise building in Chicago (the city’s John Hancock Center).

But naturally the Poltergeist supernatural force follows her to the new address, otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a movie. And, luckily, medium Tangina Barrons (Rubinstein) is on hand too. Nathan Davis plays the ghostly Reverend Kane, who tracks Carol Anne down and terrorises her.

This unimaginative second sequel is a bit of a flop. The movie is pacey and flashy, but it is also muddled and seems slightly pointless, panicking to get to the shocks at the expense of characterisation and story. The script suffers from an over-obvious attempt at youth appeal by bringing in a teenage daughter (Lara Flynn Boyle) and her boyfriend (Kip Wentz) as main subsidiary characters.

Despite their competence and appeal, the actors are mostly fighting a losing battle this time. The FX makeup is by Dick Smith and the special visual effects are designed by director Sherman. Enterprisingly, nearly all of the special effects are live and performed on set.

Also in the cast are Richard Fire, Nathan Davis, Roger May, Paul Graham and Mary Weldon.

It terminated the series, though the original was rebooted in 2015.

O’Rourke died on February 1 1988 (barely a month after her 12th birthday) four months before the film was released and before post-production could be completed. She died of cardiac arrest and septic shock caused by a misdiagnosed intestinal stenosis. Poltergeist III is dedicated to her memory. Sherman re-shot the entire ending in March 1988, using a body double stand in for O’Rourke, after the original cut was rated PG by the MPAA in November 1987.

Marketing the movie was difficult through fears of appearing to be exploiting O’Rourke’s death. Skerritt and Allen were discouraged from giving interviews about the film to avoid questions about her death. It was a critical and box office failure. It cost a low $10.5million but took only $14million in the US.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2501

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