Poltergeist III (1988)

By the time Part III came along Heather O'Rourke had made the transition from a kid in a movie doing what adults asked of her into a fully-fledged young actress acting. She's accompanied by a stand-in big sister because Carol Anne's parents are nowhere to be seen.
There are creepy happenings from the very beginning that get more and more bizarre as the story nears the end.
Like the first film it takes place almost entirely inside an enclosed space; it's a bigger space but it's still confined. In many ways it feels more like an Elm Street story with slight script revisions than a Poltergeist one.

2½ cracked mirrors out of 5

Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

After relocation the Freelings have returned to happy family mode, but the memory of the ordeal remains and the evil isn't finished with Carol Anne just yet because sequels make easy money.
The addition of a creepy old guy, the fork-tongued Rev. Kane (Julian Beck), gave us someone to fear and enabled the back-story of Cuesta Verde to be expanded. Adding ‘The Other Side’ to the title was another good move; it provided intrigue and teased the notion that we might actually get to see it this time. We do, but it's the epitome of anticlimactic.

3 grabby hands out of 5

Poltergeist (1982)

The 80s had an abundance of supernatural movies and Poltergeist is one of the best. It takes the typical 'two point four with dog' and puts them through a well-paced hell of missing child, evil controlling entity and flying toys. There's a good balance of atmosphere and visual effects and the little girl, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke), is excellent in her role.
There’s no doubt the framing and camera movements are more a product of Spielberg's vision than Hooper's, but the end product is what counts.

4 frequencies out of 5

BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON [2006]

Scott Glosserman's comedic-horror mockumentary Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon is set in a world where Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees & Michael Myers are very much real.  

It focuses on aspiring masked serial killer Leslie Vernon as he sets up an old farm house ripe for a group of partying teenagers and a night of murder & mayhem.  It hilariously dissects the teenage slasher flick, in a similar fashion as Scream did a decade before it and takes a deadly serious turn during it's grand finale.  Like Scream, serious horror film fanatics will probably hate their beloved films being torn apart before their very eyes, however anybody who's in it for the pure fun will love the energy and passion put into the violence and humour.

3 virgins out of 5