I often find myself in this abyss, coming across a horror film that I can never really remember for 3 different reasons. The first, I simply get bored and turn it off. The Omen Trilogy is a good example. Second, I fall asleep to it. Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan comes to mind. And the third, I watch it all and still forget it, like A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. Poltergeist 3 joins the mix in 1988 to the fans disappointment. However, I sadly have to fit this particular movie in all 3 categories. The problem is, I'm still debating how many times I've watched it to the end. The real mystery is why I even watch it at all. Than it dawns on me that I watch it because I shut if off last time, than I try again only to fall asleep half way through, finally conquering the Poltergeist 3 mountain of shame, finishing it far and few from the attempted tries at this anti-masterpiece. It's the Poltergeist 3 vicious cycle. When that inglorious finish line occurs and i make it to the end credits, but not knowing why, I scratch my head to Razzie award winner Zelda Rubinstein (actually voted worst performance) endlessly pursuing the missing Carol-Anne, phrasing the dreadful punch line of this entire movie "Kal-Anne! Kal-Anne! Kal-Anne!". Or Lara Flynn Boyle waking up from a nightmare and yelling "Carol Aaaannnne!, Carol Aaaannne!, Could the actress not be acting, and is really traumatized from reading her script, thinking this movie will be the end of her career? Than the poorly costumed Reverend Henry Kane shows up in my memory..."Carol Anne, Carol Anne!, Carol Anne!!!" Maybe she's hiding? Has anyone ever thought that maybe, just maybe, Carol Anne jumped from the balcony of the Chicago skyscraper to her demise, after living with the most annoying relatives in recorded movie history, after hearing them say her name 100 times daily, and doesn't want to hear from any of them, like ever again? Could this be possible? Could a sequel Poltergeist 4 film be a possibilty with a plot about a much older Carol Anne faking her own disappearance in the previous movie to avoid the entire cast of idiots she's surrounded by, including a shrink you just wish you could punch in the face. Or worst yet, a three foot munchkin psychic medium who communicates with the dearly departed on a daily basis. Poor girl is around a circus of freaks!
The writers of this film who came up with the dialogue should be brought before a jury and questioned throughly on how they could have screwed up so bad. In the end, they all get sentenced to life of strictly Canadian CBC made for t.v movies that only a handful of people watch at 3.am in the morning.
I hope this movie gets put in the national archives for it's example of everything gone wrong in a major studio film. A director with no experience in Gary Sherman. What was MGM thinking? A script with no real ending. Nobody understands it to this day or where the character Scott ended up. Dialogue designed for a Teletubbies fan of just 6 years of age, who pays more attention drinking their juicebox and picking the green treasure they've discovered out of their nose. Actors that look like they're on day one of rehearsal or don't want to be there at all, including Nancy Allen. She actually looks humiliated to a part of this flop. Literally. Avoid this film at all costs!