15. Poltergeist III
Rotten Tomato Score: 18%
Domestic Gross: $14,114,488
Place in Franchise: 3 of 3 (not counting the 2015 remake)
Years Since Last Movie: 2
Actors Replaced: The whole Freeling family save for Carol Anne
Summary: The original Poltergeist was produced (and some say ghost-directed) by Steven Spielberg. It was released in 1982 the same year a E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial. As part of his contract for that movie, Spielberg wasn’t allowed to direct another movie that year. Many believe he got around that clause by producing Poltergeist and giving the directing credit to Tobe Hooper. Watching the movie, Spielberg’s influence is pretty obvious.
The Spielberg touch helped make Poltergeist the 8th highest-grossing movie of the year. Four years later, neither Speilberg nor Hooper were around for the sequel. Most of the cast returned for Poltergeist II: The Other Side with the exception of Dominique Dunne who played the oldest daughter in the original. Tragically, Dunne was murdered by her boyfriend after the release of the first movie.
The sequel was panned by critics and grossed less than half of the original at the box office. But it was still profitable enough for the studio to attempt a cheapie follow-up. The budget for Poltergeist III was slashed by more than 50% which meant replacing most of the cast. The third movie saw Carol Anne visiting her aunt and uncle (played by Nancy Allen and Tom Skerritt). Lara Flynn Boyle, trying to find her way after the end of Twin Peaks, joined the cast. Zelda Rubinstein and Heather O’Rourke were the only returnees.
Sadly, young O’Rourke died at the age of twelve shortly following filming. The actress had been sick for several months and was receiving treatment throughout the making of the movie. But her illness had been misdiagnosed. According to the hospital, O’Rourke died in surgery. Following the tragedy, writer-director Gary Sherman had no interest in completing the movie, but obviously the studio needed to recoup their investment. The ending was changed with a double standing in for O’Rourke. When the movie was ultimately released, MGM had a difficult time marketing it. They instructed Allen and Skerrit not to do interviews so as to avoid questions about O’Rourke’s death.
None of the sequels were anywhere near great. A few were passable. I did like Rambo III better than First Blood Part 2, because it wasn’t overrun with all the jingoism that was so prevalent in that one.
My memories of Rambo III are very vague. My brother was a huge Stallone fan at the time. He couldn’t find anyone who wanted to see Rambo III with him, so he offered to pay my way in. I went, but I fell asleep. It just wasn’t my bag.
Right. Although I did like it better, It’s not a movie I feel the urge to go back to. Of the four Ramboes, First Blood is the only one I re-visit every once in a while.
I never got around to watching the 4th one. Heard it was off the charts violent. I’ll catch bits of the second one and watch along for a while to kind of laugh at it. The first one, for the most part, is a pretty good movie. But Stallone’s speech at the end is a howler.
You are correct about it being off the charts in terms of violence. It wasn’t the comic book violence of the 2nd and third either. It was stretch that R rating violence. I’d rank it lower than First Blood and very slightly ahead of III. But on the whole, Rambo could’ve stayed retired. Yeah, the speech at the end of First Blood is one aspect that should’ve been left out. It did indicate that jingoistic cartoon direction the series would take from that point on. ,
The only sequel in this whole thing that I like is THE DEAD POOL. What a year of stinky sequels!
It really was. When I did this last year, there was at least one redeeming entry to offset all the crap. Not so in 1988. We’ll see how 1998 holds up in comparison.
I count 15 sequels from 1998, with slightly better choices overall. There are quite a few stinkers though.
Several weeks ago, I compiled a list for both years and then accidentally deleted them both. So now I get to recreate the 1998 list. From memory, it wasn’t a good year for sequels, but it was at least marginally better than ’88.
I can’t wait until we do 2017 and cover its 40 sequels!
Theoretically, that’s at least 20 years off. It may be someone else’s problem by then! 😉
Ha ha! Lebeau, Jr.?
Well, I have two daughters. I can’t imagine either of them taking this thing over though. Maybe I’ll be a rambling old man still compiling lists of awful sequels twenty years from now. We’ll see!
I’m looking forward to the Movies of 2017 bracket game. My money is on Wonder Woman to take it all!
2017 had 21 sequels in the top 50 of highest box office grossers.
Now this is a really thin crop of sequels. The Dead Pool is watchable, and some people find it at least better than the previous Dirty Harry film. I will probably get to Return to Snowy River some day, as I have always liked the first film in the series. Since I’m not really into horror films none of the horror franchise installments are familiar to me. And the remainder are mostly films that would induce me to turn the TV off if I stumbled into watching them—there aren’t even any of them that qualify as cheesy-fun movies.
When I was a kid, I watched the edited-for-TV versions of all the Dirty Harry movies up to that point. I think by the time The Dead Pool was released, I had moved on from that phase. I know I have seen bits including the remote control car chase, but I don’t think I have ever sat down and watched it from beginning to end. As I said before, my brother dragged me to Rambo III and I think I have him to thank for Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. I saw Hellraiser 2 because a couple… Read more »
This might be the worst batch of sequels that I have ever seen – and the fact that they all come from the same year is mindboggling. I would agree with what a couple other readers stated before, The Dead Pool is the only film on this list that is at least watchable. Far from great, but at least watchable. Oh, that reminds me, the bandmembers of Guns N’ Roses make a quick cameo, in the funeral scene if I remember correctly. You cannot miss Slash’s black tophat in the crowd.
It’s a bad bunch. 1998 is better, but still pretty lousy.
A better year, sure, but no Guns N’ Roses cameos in funeral scenes either.
Not that I am aware of anyway! 😉
I have a deep, unbiding love for the original Arthur film; it’s such a sweetly charming comedy, and Dudley, Liza and John Gielgud are delightful in it, the Oscar wins and nominations (Gielgud, Dudley, Best Song and Screenplay) were all well earned in my eyes. Its one of those personal favorites that I always return to every few years. To be honest, I’ve always heard what a lousy movie Arthur 2: On The Rocks was and have just always avoided it like the plague. I figure why tarnish my appreciation for the original? Would it be hyperbole to suggest Caddyshack… Read more »
Caddyshack II is an abomination. There was just no reason to do a sequel. What made the original movie work was the incredibly talented cast. If you replace Ted Knight, Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray, you are no longer making Caddyshack. Not to mention Harold Ramis. Not a lot of directors can hold together a movie as loosely structured as the first Caddyshack was. You can’t just pull some guy off the streets and expect him to male it work.
I didn’t learn about the original plan for Ramis to write and Rodney Dangerfield to star until more recently, and I have to admit at least on paper I kinda do wish that had happened. Who knows, maybe it would have worked, maybe it wouldn’t have. But I do know that Dangerfield was on fire in the original Caddyshack. Also, nothing could ever be worse than the actual Caddyshack II that we got, so there’s that too. What do you think Lebeau, could a sequel starring Rodney, written by Ramis, have possibly worked? What’s your opinion on that?
Back to School turned out all right. A Caddyshack 2 from the same writer, director and star could have been in the same ballpark as that movie. I have no doubt it would have been a big improvement over what we got.
The only good thing about CADDYSHACK II was Dyan Cannon. She was sexy in it. That’s it though. It has no other quality.