Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

• Year: 1986
• Released: 23 May 1986
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 win & 5 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091778/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/poltergeist_ii_the_other_side
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/poltergeist-ii-the-other-side
• Available in: 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Horror
• Runtime: 91 min
• Writer: Mark Victor, Michael Grais
• Director: Brian Gibson
• Cast: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Heather O’Rourke
• Keywords: sequel, monster, super power, family secrets, undead,

	5.6/10
	49/100
	20% – Critics
	35% – Audience

Poltergeist II: The Other Side Storyline

The Freeling family move in with Diane’s mother in an effort to escape the trauma and aftermath of Carol Anne’s abduction by the Beast. But the Beast is not to be put off so easily and appears in a ghostly apparition as the Reverend Kane, a religeous zealot responsible for the deaths of his many followers. His goal is simple – he wants the angelic Carol Anne; but the love of her family and the power of psychic Tangina once again unite, along with an elderly native American, to fight for her life.

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Poltergeist II: The Other Side Movie Reviews

Sentimental rehash of the first

This disappointing follow-up to the classic POLTERGEIST (’82) rehashes a boring plot which in this case substitutes humour and sentimentalising in place of thrills and chills. Although the high budget means that there are lots of special effects (most of them tacky by today’s standards), once again little thought is gone into the story itself, so in the end it’s just one “shock” or “scare” after another. This does not a good film make.

The film was made four years after the original, but bizarrely is set just one year after the events of that film. Thus, we are expected to believe that the son has grown amazingly from a ten year old to a fourteen year old in that time – I think not. What makes this film so bad is the bad acting of the cast members, most of whom return from the first (aside from the teenage daughter). Most of them were passable in the first film, but they go way over the top here. JoBeth Williams has a ridiculous ’80s hairstyle and is totally forgettable in her whinging, irritating role. Craig T. Nelson, on the other hand, goes totally over the top and crazy at regular points, which is pretty funny actually. Oliver Robins has one major scene and that’s it, while Heather O’Rourke’s cuteness and creepiness had almost totally worn off by now.

Zelda Rubinstein also returns but is relegated to a cameo, “stand back and watch” type role. Also turning up are Will Sampson as a useless Native American “advisor” and Geraldine Fitzgerald as an impossibly friendly grandmother. However, the film’s biggest coup is in the casting of Julian Beck (who looks like an old version of Christopher Walken) as the evil preacher, who manages to make his evil role really creepy and scary and is by far the best thing in this film. It’s just a shame that he died halfway through production and thus vanishes from the proceedings towards the end.

Although this film fails as a whole, there are a smattering of fun scenes which stop it from being totally worthless. A couple of slimy monsters turn up (one comes out of Nelson’s mouth, the other just appears as a huge, slithering tentacled mess like something out of Lovecraft’s worst nightmares) and are good value for money. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice a few connected names in the crew; firstly effects man Steve Johnson (one of the big SFX guys in the ’80s) who made the creatures, secondly H.R. Giger being credited for the “designs” of the monsters, and who probably included the Lovecraftian element, and thirdly Screaming Mad George as a hired hand. These factors combine to make the monsters quite cool, although sadly they are seen only briefly.

Another good scare has a chainsaw levitating into the air before attacking the family (sheltering inside a car). This has some great special effects which make it a moment to remember. Sadly, another scene in which Robins’ brace comes to life and tries to smother him is laughably bad, but original, it has to be said. This time around, a plastic pink toy telephone acts as Carol Anne’s “link” to the other side, but not much is made of this plot device. The rotted corpses from the first film also pop up occasionally (out of cupboards, the ground, etc.) but don’t make a lot of impact.

Probably the worst bit of this film is the ending, which rips off an effective scene in the first film but ruins it by showing everything. Thus we get to watch the family members float around an animated world in scenes which look incredibly fake and cheesy. The low point occurs when we see Carol Anne floating around, symbolised as an angel, or when she gets rescued by the ghost of her grandmother – a moment so bursting with sugary sentiment that I was very close to being physically sick. In the end, nobody dies either, not even the dog! These things make POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE a film which is just too family-orientated, and is in desperate need of more of the nastiness of the first film.

sequel inferior

The house is gone. Tangina Barrons is digging at the site and finds the Indian burial grounds. She is joined by Native American shaman Taylor. The Freelings have moved in with Diane’s mother Jess in Phoenix (without the older daughter). It’s been a year and their insurance claim is in limbo. Steve is struggling selling vacuum cleaners. The evil spirit of Rev. Henry Kane is after Carol Anne. Jess dies after telling Diane of Carol Anne’s abilities. Tangina sends Taylor to help the family.

The death of Dominique Dunne needs to be acknowledged. Her character vanishes as if she never existed. It leaves a big hole especially since her scream is such an iconic scene. This sequel is essentially setting up for a repeat with Taylor as the new outside help. I don’t like Taylor and he’s not really necessary. Kane has a nice creepy look but he would be more effective at night. I don’t understand why his scenes happen in the daylight. It also rewrites the cause of the original. I really don’t like the retcon. The original’s idea of the cementary is far superior putting the cause down to greed. On the other hand, the best has to be the limb-less creature coming out of Steve. It’s a very memorable creature design. Overall, this could have been a functional stand alone movie. The retcon is problematic. As a sequel, the sense of inferiority is never far.

This ain’t no poltergeist through the looking glass.

While the film is blessed by the return of most of the original characters and has a few interesting new ones, it is basically a pointless follow-up to the classic original that should have been the end of it when Craig T. Nelson left the TV outside the Holiday Inn. Enough of the details of the varied bodies below the house where Nelson and JoBeth Williams lived, and now, we’re supposed to believe that there was an evil cults underneath the cemetery as well. This brings on a fascinating but creepy looking villain, a reverend played by Julian Beck who is a carbon copy of the same years Roger rabbit villain played by Christopher Lloyd. Except Beck ain’t no toon, but a demonic character out to claim Heather O’Rourke for another go-around with the undead.

There’s also Williams’ loving mother, played by the Divine Geraldine Fitzgerald whose character’s death early in the film sets up the ability for the undead to stalk the home she leaves to the family. A native American character (John P. Whitecloud) also seems to have an interest in the goings-on, having been seen with Zelda Rubinstein in an early scene where they examine what remains of the house. The plot becomes confusing and convoluted, and after a while, I simply just long for the film to get to the good special effects so I could get past the ridiculous plot.

However unfortunately, the special effects are nowhere near as good as what was in the first film, and a good majority of them are simply just gross. A disturbing scene has son Oliver Robins finding out that the wire in his braces are stretching out and strangling him, going beyond that in threatening to harm the rest of the family as well. A bottle of tequila and a vomit monster are other disturbing moments. one interesting element has an old “Twilight Zone” episode plot reuse tear with O’Rourke speaking to dead grandmother Fitzgerald on her toy phone. while there are some interesting moments, the result of the film is mainly unpleasant, and that proves that little care was put into making the sequel anywhere near as good as the original, especially since the original director, writer and producer were not involved.