Movie Review Review/Film; 'They're He-eere!' Again By Janet Maslin Published: June 10,1988

LEAD: ''Poltergeist III'' is made much ghostlier by the death last February of its 12-year-old star, Heather O'Rourke, than by anything that happens on the screen. The setting this time is an impersonally modern high-rise building complex in Chicago, where little Carol Anne (Miss O'Rourke) has been packed off to live with her Uncle Bruce (Tom Skerritt) and Aunt Patricia (Nancy Allen).
''Poltergeist III'' is made much ghostlier by the death last February of its 12-year-old star, Heather O'Rourke, than by anything that happens on the screen. The setting this time is an impersonally modern high-rise building complex in Chicago, where little Carol Anne (Miss O'Rourke) has been packed off to live with her Uncle Bruce (Tom Skerritt) and Aunt Patricia (Nancy Allen). Carol Anne, who cried out the famous ''They're he-eere!'' that earned the first ''Poltergeist'' its place in history, is still being hotly pursued by whatever it is that blamed her family for building houses on a favorite graveyard.
The high-rise, where Uncle Bruce is in charge of building maintenance, is lined with mirrors that serve as veritable breeding grounds for Carol Anne's old friends. There's hardly a mirror that doesn't contain the false reflection of one persona non grata or another. But Gary Sherman, who directed and co-wrote the film, has no notion of creating a coherent universe through the looking glass. He is content with fiery or body-shattering effects, interspersed with irritating small talk and accidental humor. ''Put dinner on a low flame, and don't forget the cilantro,'' snaps Carol Anne's psychiatrist (Richard Fire) at his wife as he goes off to make yet another house call.
''Poltergeist III,'' which opens today at the Warner and other theaters, suffers from bad casting and from the actors' having been encouraged to behave as if sampling an exciting new toothpaste; everyone smiles unreasonably, except when screaming. Zelda Rubinstein, still playing the story's diminutive, baby-voiced psychic, makes a stronger impression than anyone else in the film, or perhaps just a more peculiar one.
It is her unhappy task to educate the other characters about the restorative powers of love, uttering platitudes that are at least more articulate than the dialogue reserved for action scenes. Where is Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle), Uncle Bruce's pretty teen-age daughter? When her boyfriend, covered with icy slime, returns from the Other Side to answer this question, he replies: ''In the garage. In the garage. In the garage!!!''
Perhaps that's why they call it ''Poltergeist III.''
''Poltergeist III'' is rated PG-13 (''Special Parental Guidance Suggested for Those Younger Than 13''). It contains some grisly special effects. HIGH-RISE HOBGOBLINS - POLTERGEIST III, directed by Gary Sherman; written by Mr. Sherman and Brian Taggert; director of photography, Alex Nepomniaschy; film editor, Ross Albert; music by Joe Renzetti; production designer, Paul Eads; produced by Barry Bernardi; released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. At Warner, Broadway and 43d Street; Gramercy, 23d St. between Park and Lexington Avenues and other theaters. Running time: 97 minutes. Bruce Gardner...Tom Skerritt Patricia Gardner...Nancy Allen Carol Anne...Heather O'Rourke Tangina Barrons...Zelda Rubinstein Donna Gardner...Lara Flynn Boyle Scott...Kip Wentz Dr. Seaton...Richard Fire Kane...Nathan Davis