Harefooted Halloween: Poltergeist III

What I Liked: Man, the special effects are really fuckin’ cool.  The use of mirrors is especially well done with so many simple yet effective illusions where a character might be moving in the mirror differently than in real life or not reflecting at all in the mirror and so on.  These tricks got me every time making me wonder how in the hell they pulled some of them off.  From what I understand they were all done in camera too and not messed around with in post production.

The story takes place in one day and almost entirely over the course of an evening.  There’s a gauntlet kinda vibe to it where Tom Skerritt (Alien, The Dead Zone) and Nancy Allen (Carrie, I Wanna Hold Your Hand) have to traverse all manner of obstacles and trials to try and rescue Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke (Poltergeist, Poltergeist II)) and Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle (Red Rock West, Twin Peaks)) from a malicious demon.

This piece also takes place in Chicago’s gargantuan Hancock building that includes apartments, offices and a full blown shopping mall.  It’s a good change of pace from sunny California and setting the whole thing in one building gives a bit of a claustrophobic feel.

What I Didn’t Like: It’s confusing as hell how all the family members are related to each other and why Skerritt and Allen are taking care of someone else’s kids.  And these two kids aren’t related to each other either.  Would it really have been so bad to start over with a new family for this installment?  I know they got Heather O’Rourke back again but she’s still only twelve and it doesn’t make sense that her parents aren’t there.

The school psychologist character (Richard Fire (writer: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer)) is such an annoying asshole towards everyone.  He tries to convince Skerritt and Allen that Carol Anne is hypnotizing anyone that crosses her path resulting in some sort of mass hysteria.  He’s so snooty and convinced he’s right but his theory is so far fetched and dumb sounding that I’m glad most folks end up ignoring him.

There’s definitely a certain we’re-making-this-shit-up-as-we-go-along kinda thing happening and you generally don’t want to get that impression from a movie.  The ending is particularly egregious where it feels like the filmmakers simply said “alright that’s enough, let’s just end this” because all of a sudden everything wraps up in a few minutes and the credits roll (apparently the ending was completely reshot for some reason but from what I’ve read the original version doesn’t sound any more thought out).

They brought back the villain from part II which isn’t a terrible move necessarily (I mean it’s an evil spirit after all that can’t totally be defeated I guess) but it comes off a touch lazy.  And that’s surprising considering how imaginative the rest of the film is.

It’s like they tried to set a record for the most times they could yell “CAROL ANNE, CAROL ANNE!”  in a movie.  According to IMDB they got up to 121.  Fuck.

Overall Impressions: Oooooooh shit, this one is also better than the first picture.  And I know for sure I’m all alone here but this crazy funhouse of terrors is so goddamn entertaining.  Yea, the budget was significantly less than the previous two and it shows, but it more than makes up for that with really neat visuals, camera tricks and a sense that there’s no escaping this malevolent ghost monster’s grasp.

Scene after scene, it doesn’t let up.  There’s Carol Anne being dragged down into a puddle on the ground by grotesque corpse arms, a pulsating glowing door that bows out so far it looks like it’s about to burst, a frosty demolition car derby in the parking garage, an elevator that moves at high speed pinning Skerritt and Allen to the ground, a meat locker where the animal carcasses come to life, plus all the incredible mirror gags.  I had such a good time.  And if you’re brave enough to check it out I think you will too.

It’s too bad this is where the series ended because I could’ve gone for another couple installments with weirder and wilder shit happening in each one.  However, Heather O’Rourke died shortly after she finished this one and I guess that combined with the fact that this didn’t make any money killed the franchise off permanently.  Damn, I was really getting into these.