While it is different in a few fun ways the third Poltergeist gave me the same level of quality as its predecessor which is unfortunately not a positive in this case, the fact that the conception wasn’t as lazy was definitely a plus and I like it more than the second for that reason but the same poor script quality and uninteresting narrative and filmmaking keeps it a similarly large distance away from the first. I thought bringing back the two parents from the first movie for the second would lock them into a Conjuring type format (except we’re just watching the same family get tormented and not following ghost hunters) but they just ditched JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson for this one and while I appreciate the attempt to switch it up I think the time for that switch up was with 2 and doing it here kind of throws a fork in the family vibe so important in the first two of the trilogy. The parental replacements in Nancy Allen and Tom Skerritt weren’t bad at all, Skerritt was especially fun and I believe these two getting casted, at least Skerritt, in the first could’ve made it a better movie (although i’m not sure if Skerritt could pull off the weak father figure that Nelson’s perfect for). Like the second entry the cinematography was decent and the vfx, although more sparing in this one, looked good once again, the visual experience although neither of the sequels can compare to the original has been the only consistently good part of this trilogy and it’s the biggest reason why these two movies haven’t ended up with lower ratings. In the end the weak script and story definitely keep it down but I’m at least somewhat happy to say it defied the average ratings on here and ended up better than the second, the overarching issue of the continuation of this story being completely unnecessary still rings loudest though and even though my heart is satisfied with having completed this trilogy watching Poltergeist II and III was probably just a waste of my three hours.
While it is different in a few fun ways the third Poltergeist gave me the same level of quality as its predecessor which is unfortunately not a positive in this case, the fact that the conception wasn’t as lazy was definitely a plus and I like it more than the second for that reason but the same poor script quality and uninteresting narrative and filmmaking keeps it a similarly large distance away from the first. I thought bringing back the two parents from the first movie for the second would lock them into a Conjuring type format (except we’re just watching the same family get tormented and not following ghost hunters) but they just ditched JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson for this one and while I appreciate the attempt to switch it up I think the time for that switch up was with 2 and doing it here kind of throws a fork in the family vibe so important in the first two of the trilogy. The parental replacements in Nancy Allen and Tom Skerritt weren’t bad at all, Skerritt was especially fun and I believe these two getting casted, at least Skerritt, in the first could’ve made it a better movie (although i’m not sure if Skerritt could pull off the weak father figure that Nelson’s perfect for). Like the second entry the cinematography was decent and the vfx, although more sparing in this one, looked good once again, the visual experience although neither of the sequels can compare to the original has been the only consistently good part of this trilogy and it’s the biggest reason why these two movies haven’t ended up with lower ratings. In the end the weak script and story definitely keep it down but I’m at least somewhat happy to say it defied the average ratings on here and ended up better than the second, the overarching issue of the continuation of this story being completely unnecessary still rings loudest though and even though my heart is satisfied with having completed this trilogy watching Poltergeist II and III was probably just a waste of my three hours.
