565 Poltergeist III (1988)

 The  third  and  final film in  the  original Poltergeist  franchise  and  by  far  the  worst. Only  Heather   O Rourke  and,  regrettably,  Zelda Rubinstein return from the first two films and the  absence of  the  rest of  the  family is  circumvented by having Carol Anne  relocated  to  Chicago to attend a  special school. Her  psychiatric treatment  unleashes the  evil force of  Kane from  the  second  film  once  more. In  casting terms, the  absentees are more than adequately replaced and  the  special  effects, all  achieved  through prosthetics  and live camera work are  impressive. The  real problem is the script. It  starts  promisingly allowing Carol Anne some  personality  then completely  abdicates in  favour  of  the  effects with  the  dialogue  largely  consisting of  characters shouting each  others' names. The ending, which  could have occurred at any point in the last hour,  is really  tame.

Heather O' Rourke ( as Carol Anne )

Sex : n/a

Death : Survives

The whole film was  overshadowed by  the  tragedy of  Heather's death before  the  film  was  released.  Although the  film  was  already in  the  can , the ending was re-shot, because she  originally appeared to be lying cold at one point, with a  substitute looking away from the camera. As it was, Heather was only in the first half of  the  film with  her face  puffy  from the misprescribed drugs she  was  taking which  adds to the  difficulty in watching it.

Nancy Allen ( as Trish )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was Nancy's  first  horror  film  since  Carrie.

Lara Flynn Boyle  ( as Donna )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Lara  was  born  in  Iowa  and  this  became  her  first  film  role  after  her  scenes in Ferris  Bueller's Day Off were  culled. She  made  her  name  as  good  girl  Laura  in  Twin Peaks  and  had  some  good  film  roles off  the  back of it  without  becoming a  true  star. She  had  another  TV  triumph in THe  Practice  between 1997 and 2003 for  which  she  was  nominated for an Emmy. She  has  been  married  twice  and  romantically  linked with Kyle McLachlan and Jack Nicholson.

Meg Weldon ( as Sandy )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was  the  first  of  Meg's  two screen apppearances.

Stacy Gilchrist ( as Melissa )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was  Stacy's only  screen appearance.