YMMV / Poltergeist III

• Narm:
  • Even though Dr. Seaton is trying to remain calm and rational with Arbitrary Skepticism as part of his scientific mindset, it becomes laughable when he keeps Moving the Goalposts despite witnessing a ghostly hand in a mirror throw a coffee mug and shatter a 1-way mirror window while the "real" coffee mug never moves. His theory of Carol Anne performing "mass hypnosis" becomes a mania.
  • Kane's Large Ham tendencies can make it hard to take him seriously. He frequently and playfully calls Carol Anne's name which sounds more like he's playing a prank rather than being menacing. When he catches Carol Anne, the way he says "I gotcha'!" repeatedly can also sound hammy.
  • While Tangina's "death" scene can be unsettling, after Kane reaches through the mirror and turns her body into an instantly rotted corpse, Bruce feels the need to quickly grab her and lay her on the floor. This is to set up the next practical special effect, but the corpse model has so little weight and Bruce's actions seem out of left field.
  • One of Kane's manifestations is decapitated (though this moot as he's already incorporeal), but the head comes off like it's a lightweight, cheap toy and the accelerated decay can come across as cheesy. Not only that, but Kane's dialogue beforehand is rather hammy with overacted gems such as "The necklace, THE NECKLACE!!" When Tangina finally confronts Kane, her line "I HAVE the power!" feels just as hammy, especially because He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983) has the same catch phrase.
• Sequelitis: The second film was well-received for some... but the third? Not so much.
• So Bad, It's Good: Even though it wasn't considered a stellar sequel, that doesn't mean it isn't unintentionally amusing. Dr. Seaton's Arbitrary Skepticism is taken to absurd lengths, with him even denying paranormal activity right before his eyes and he even unethically antagonizes Carol Anne in direct opposition to his job as a psychiatrist. Carol Anne's name alone is spoken more than 100 times in the movie. Also, when Tangina "dies", Bruce inexplicably grabs the now-lightwight cadaver and slams it onto the ground. There's also a scene on the otherside where Bruce and Pat are in a frozen-over parking structure and are attacked by ghost cars in a sort of cartoonish demolition derby. Reverend Kane is even driving one!
• Special Effects Failure: Some of the effects look cheaply done, such as some of the corpse dummies having a comical lack of mass. This is especially noticeable with Bruce grabs Tangina's cadaver model and quickly lays it on the ground like it has almost no mass to it. Again, as mentioned above in Narm Kane's corpse model is decapitated by a shovel with almost not resistance.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: When the film is at its best, it pulls off some impressive feats like the mirror reflections breaking the laws of physics and acting like magic mirrors, and a very detailed magic puddle of water that pulls Carol Anne, Donna, and Scott into the Otherside. Kane's appearances in reflections before the haunting truly kicks off add to the creep factor. Especially impressive considering that mirrors are very problematic to work with in film (it can be difficult to hide the cameras and crew) but the director pulls it off nicely using a lot of practical effects.

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