Poltergeist III

Year: 1988
Director: Gary Sherman
Writer: Gary Sherman, Brian Taggert
Genre: Horror: Haunting

Poltergeist III takes the road less traveled in sequel land. Instead of attempting to further string the same old story out it basically is a brand new film. In fact, the entire family of the original (minus Heather O'Rourke) is absent. She is living with her aunt and uncle for some undisclosed reason in a giant business building. As one might expect, the building becomes haunted due to the young girl having some sort of spiritual connection to the other side.

The film is interesting for the huge leaps of faith it took to create. Who would think it could be creepy to have a giant corporation skyscraper being scary? How does that work? The film handles it very well. Although it sounds hilarious on paper I became very drawn into the story. However, it still falls into a bit of Hollywood excess with some effects. The film could have done without these egregious attempts at "creativity" but whatever.

The creepy guy from the last film returns as he is harassing our heroine. Although, it's a new guy since the previous actor died. The whole Poltergeist curse thing seems mostly silly, but it is creepy to think about the fates of some of the actors in these films. This was Heather's last venture into the Poltergeist world as she died the year it premiered. In fact, I think you can tell that she is not entirely well throughout the film, which makes it a lot more of a depressing watch (if you think about it, anyway).

But then you realize what a strong actress she was. For such a young person she was able to pull out intense scenes and emotions that many adult stars cannot work out at all. Overall, the film is pretty good as long as you don't try judging it against Poltergeist. But since there are almost no connection points between them there's no need to compare anyway.

Poltergeist II: The Other Side

Year: 1986
Director: Brian Gibson
Writer: Michael Grais, Mark Victor
Genre: Horror: Haunting

Poltergeist is a classic modern horror film. While there are two more films in the canon, neither of them work out as well as the original. Because of that, it's hard to really judge Poltergeist II all on its own. It mostly stands as a "part 2" to the first, but the first movie never needed a second part.

In it, we see the family has moved to a new home. Things get stirred up almost immediately when some creepy old man makes contact with our young heroine. I don't recall him being anywhere in the original film so I feel like this was just a new way to bring the scariness to the film. Anyway, he's bad news and at least everyone recognizes him as such.

The movie feels kind of disjointed. Around the same time the creepy man appears there is also a wise Native American who comes to aid the family. His Native American heritage somehow makes him a very spirtiual man with knowledge the "white family" does not yet understand. Over the course of the film he teaches them and whatnot. It reminds me a lot of Walker Texas Ranger.

If you were a huge fan of the original movie I would not suggest watching Poltergeist II. There's really no need to (although there are a few wicked effects). However, I might recommend watching the 3rd film. I'll talk about that one next and to why it is a pretty good movie.

Paranormal Entity

Year: 2009
Director: Shane Van Dyke
Writer: Shane Van Dyke
Genre: Horror: Haunting

Asylum, the people behind Paranormal Entity, are most famous for what they do, rather than the movies they actually produce. They tend to take well-established names and churn out movies with similarities (as well as very close titles). Their business method is shady if smart... it's an attempt to confuse consumers into getting their product instead of the "real deal". Probably one of their "best" non-copycat films is Mega Shark VS Giant Octopus.

So how does this film which basically attempts to be Paranormal Activity stand up? Surprisingly well. Luckily for Asylum this isn't a movie that requires lots of money be put into it. The house looks nicely furnished and even the actors aren't too bad. The scares are subdued for the most part, like the original PA.

The story is a bit more akin to the 2nd PA film... there is a family occupying the house instead of just a couple. This family is a mother and her two teenage children. It's a pretty nice little story and possibly even better than the premise for PA. I'm glad to see they didn't just rehash the story and went to try something of their own.

Later on the movie gets a little silly trying to scare viewers. It also gives us more titillation with bare breasts from time to time. It's not really necessary but I'm sure the filmmakers thought it was the perfect excuse to do so. Overall I think it's weird but this isn't a bad movie at all. I intend to watch Paranormal Entity 2 soon.

Paranormal Activity 2

Year: 2010
Director: Tod Williams
Writer: Michael R. Perry, Christopher B. Landon
Genre: Horror: Haunting

Last Halloween I watched Paranormal Activity and was pleasantly surprised. On a whim, I decided to hit up the sequel and see if it was still good. This version takes us into the lives of another family and they're a bit more interesting. You've got a mother, father, daughter, baby boy, the mother's sister, and even a dog in the cast. If there was one issue with the first movie it was that it felt a little too foreign to moviegoers with having only two main characters.

So, we've got a nice cast of rounded-out characters. The premise remains pretty similar about spirits coming after people for whatever reason... Then of course there are cameras around the house just like in the original which help you see the hauntings. It's something I liked most about the first film. Things are shown on camera but most of the time it's very minor stuff. For example, a door opening slightly or a pot falling in another room. It's all very small stuff and I appreciate it.

What I don't appreciate about Paranormal Activity 2 is that it pulls more Hollywood-styled hauntings into the mix. About 3/4th of the way through the movie I felt like I was watching Poltergeist. That's a fine movie on its own but in this one where it is attempting to be "found footage" the hauntings seem much less plausible.

The movie was still okay but felt stretched by the end. I wish they could have kept the atmosphere of the first without having to go and blow it later on. If you like this movie you should also check out REC.