Review #1,407: 'Poltergeist III' (1988)

The promotion and subsequent release of Poltergeist III was overshadowed by the death of 12 year-old star and face of the franchise Heather O'Rourke, from cardiac arrest and septic shock brought on by a misdiagnosed intestinal stenosis. The studio, who understandably wanted to avoid any claims that they may be looking to take advantage of such a devastating tragedy, kept advertising to a minimum, although they had previously pressured director Gary Sherman into completing the film against his wishes. Poltergeist III was a critical and commercial flop, putting an end to the franchise that should have really stopped with Tobe Hooper's original. A lack of promotion cannot be blamed entirely though, as the rushed final edit is an incoherent mess with precious few links to the mythology established in the first two entries. They should have known they were in trouble when original stars JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson turned down the chance to return.

In an attempt to freshen up the series, the action is moved from a suburban home to a luxury skyscraper: A 100-story colossus complete with its own mall and art gallery. In charge of the tower is Bruce Gardner (Tom Skerritt), the new husband of Patricia (Nancy Allen) - the sister of JoBeth William's character. As well as having to adapt to newly married life, Pat is also having to deal with her daughter from a previous marriage, Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle), so the last thing she needs is the arrival of spooky Carol Anne (O'Rourke), who seems to bring trouble with her wherever she goes. I don't recall an explanation given for why the Freeling family would suddenly send the daughter they almost lost twice to an auntie they've never mentioned, but the script by Sherman and Brian Taggert isn't concerned with making too much sense. It's happy to simply drag out the franchise as far as it will go and ignore what made the previous films so popular with audiences. The Freelings always fought off the supernatural forces at play with their unbreakable family bond, but Poltergeist III sidesteps establishing this newly family unit in favour of lazy jump shocks.

The Gardner's don't seem particularly adept at taking care of a traumatised 12 year-old either, happily leaving her in the care of their irresponsible teenage daughter and enlisting her in a special school, where sceptical psychiatrist Dr. Seaton (Richard Fire) believes the spooky events experienced by Carol Anne and the people around her are brought on by some kind of mass hypnosis. This leaves plenty of time for Carol Anne to be harassed by Reverend Kane (Nathan Davis, replacing the late Julian Beck), who still wants her to lead them all into the light. The film quickly dissolves away into a series of set-pieces plucked at random from Cinema's Big Book of Characters in Peril, involving falling through ice and killer cars revving in the underground car park. Without the family bond so purposefully developed over the course of the last two films, these moments lack any dramatic weight. Sherman would prefer to have the characters yell each other's names repeatedly at the expense of actual dialogue, and in one case is happy to toss away one supporting character without any explanation at all. On the positive side, there are some fantastic 'in camera' effects deployed as the spirits use mirrors to communicate with the living world, and the presence of Zelda Rubinstein and Tom Skerritt's moustache is always a pleasure.


Directed by: Gary Sherman
Starring: Tom Skerritt, Nancy Allen, Heather O'Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein, Lara Flynn Boyle
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,387: 'Poltergeist II: The Other Side' (1986)

Back in 1982, Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist terrified audiences with state-of-the-art special effects and a story of unseen supernatural forces at work in suburban USA. It's rather tame if watched back today, but the popular chiller is still a lot of fun, and producer Steven Spielberg's magic can be felt throughout (some would say a bit too much, considering Hooper received the director credit). Poltergeist's success meant that a sequel was always on the cards, and when it came in 1986, Poltergeist II: The Other Side had no qualms about going down the familiar follow-up route of taking everything good about the first and doubling down on it. The result is an over-stuffed extravaganza of flying chainsaws, monster tequila worms and possessed braces, complete with dated computer effects that may have been charming if the story unfolding before us wasn't so utterly preposterous.

It's been a year since the Freeling family's house was sucked into another dimension, and with the insurance company refusing to pay out on a property that simply disappeared, the gang have moved to Phoenix, Arizona to live with 'Gramma' Jess (Geraldine Fitzgerald). While the insurance company isn't interested in investigating the paranormal goings-on, physic Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) has discovered a secret tunnel beneath where the house once stood, alerting Native American shaman Taylor (Will Sampson) to her findings. It turns out that a maniacal preacher named Henry Kane (Julian Beck) had perished there along with many of his followers, who had all huddled together in preparation for an apocalypse incorrectly foreseen by the reverend. Having failed last time around, Kane wants to take young Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) back to 'the other side', but mother Diane (JoBeth Williams) and father Steve (Craig T. Nelson) enlist the powerful and knowledgeable Taylor as their ally.

Poltergeist II has its fans and I can certainly understand why, although I found it a silly and rather tedious experience. Director Brian Gibson is keen to deliver a shock or set-piece in every other scene, and while this certainly moves the action along at a brisk pace, the attempted scares are far too soft to have any impact, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the events playing out. By the time Steve has downed a bottle of tequila and swallowed a Kane-possessed worm, you'll be wondering what the writers were smoking when they were brainstorming. The film's one true bright spark is the performance of Beck - who was battling stomach cancer at the time - as the creepy Southern preacher with a high-pitched voice and a set of yellow gnashers. He slithers his way into the Freeling's lives looking like a predatory sex offender from the Old West, but the character's compelling back story is only glimpsed in a couple of brief flashback scenes, and is left frustratingly unexplored. Beck's death before the film's release fits into 'theory' of a curse surrounding the Poltergeist films (O'Rourke tragically died aged 12 and Dominique Dunne, who played Freeling daughter Dana, was murdered in 1982), but when the trivia is more intriguing than the film itself, you know you're in trouble.


Directed by: Brian Gibson
Starring: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Heather O'Rourke, Oliver Robins, Zelda Rubinstein, Will Sampson, Julian Beck, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #414: 'Poltergeist' (1982)

Successful realtor Steven Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) and his wife Diane (JoBeth Williams) live peacefully in their suburban community with their two daughters and son. Falling asleep in his chair one night, Steven wakens to find his youngest daughter Carol-Anne (Heather O'Rourke) talking to the static TV screen. She does the same thing the next night, only to announce to her parents that "they're heeerre!". Strange things start to happen around the house, until one night Carol-Anne is sucked into her closet which seems to be the conduit for the 'white light'; a light that the dead must walk into if they are to achieve peace. With their daughter missing, Steven and Diane call in a team of paranormal investigators, along with a creepy old woman called Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein).

Although it says 'directed by Tobe Hooper' in the credits, it has long been debated who in fact directed Poltergeist. All of Hooper's usual traits of screaming women, a masked or disfigured killer, grisly deaths, lots of blood, all with a Grindhouse feel, are noticeably absent. Instead, the film feels something much more Speilbergian, with the industry's most famous Jew listed in the credits with production and writing duties. Spielberg was heavily involved in the production, working on it almost back-to-back with E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial (1982), and it does have the same atmosphere as his family-friendly alien blockbuster. This works both for and against the film.

During this era, Spielberg was arguably at his best, and was one of the finest craftsmen of blockbusters and sheer entertainment perhaps ever. One of the key attributes to his 70's/80's films was his realistic portrayals of often broken families, and the characters of Steven and Diane are fully-realised, and more importantly wholly believable. The characterisation here is better than most horror films care to give, and these joint-smoking liberal parents are funny and real, and give a much-needed heart to the story.

Yet when Spielberg (sorry, Hooper!) gets over-excited and insistent on giving the audience something spectacular, I felt the film failed. Flying household objects and static tentacles I can deal with, but giant tree-arms, demon heads and a computer-generated monster take it many steps too far, and crushes any real feeling of atmosphere. The film is just too ridiculous to be remotely scary. Perhaps a more low-key approach would have been more effective, and as entertaining as the film was throughout (although it does have a climax too many), the theatrical effects make the film look dated and suffocate any chance of real scares. A clean, enjoyable horror, but hardly a memorable one.


Directed by: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Heather O'Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie