Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

The Freeling family have a new house, but their troubles with supernatural forces don't seem to be over.

Director:

Brian Gibson

Writers:

Michael Grais, Mark Victor

Stars:

JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Heather O'Rourke

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
JoBeth Williams	...	Diane Freeling (as Jobeth Williams)
Craig T. Nelson	...	Steve Freeling
Heather O'Rourke	...	Carol Anne Freeling
Oliver Robins	...	Robbie Freeling
Zelda Rubinstein	...	Tangina Barrons
Will Sampson	...	Taylor
Julian Beck	...	Kane
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Gramma-Jess
John P. Whitecloud	...	Old Indian
Noble Craig	...	Vomit Creature
Susan Peretz	...	Daughter
Helen Boll	...	Mother
Kelly Jean Peters	...	Young Jess
Jaclyn-Rose Lester	...	Young Diane (as Jaclyn Bernstein)
Robert Lesser	...	Kane's People

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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Plot Keywords:

psychic | native american | car trouble | cemetery | girl | 

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Taglines:

They're back.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 May 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Poltergeist II

Filming Locations:

1589 Homewood Dr., Altadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$40,996,665 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 130 min (original cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a supposed "Poltergeist Curse" surrounding the three films in the series. Actress Dominique Dunne was murdered by her boyfriend after finishing the first film. Actor Julian Beck died of stomach cancer after shooting the second film. Actress Heather O'Rourke died of a mystery case of intestinal stenosis shortly before completion of the third film. Also, many cast members' careers have suffered after appearing in the films.

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Goofs

In the scene where Carol-Anne is drying her dolls hair, Carol-Anne has wet hair, later in the scene when Steve tells Diane she never wanted Carol-Anne, Carol-Anne peers round the bathroom door with dry hair, yet earlier in the scene Diane says to Steve that she should dry Carol-Anne's hair, this clearly indicates different times when the scene was filmed.

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Quotes

Steve Freeling: Are you in cahoots with the lady in there?
Taylor: I cahoot with no one.

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Crazy Credits

In the credits, the words "Cavern and Mountaintop set materials by Foam-Tec" do not match with the rest of the closing credits. They seem to have been added on later.

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Connections

Referenced in Dr. Alien (1989)

User Reviews

Mixed bag of a sequel

In this follow-up to Poltergeist, the Freeling family call on the big Native American fella from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to help them once again defeat evil malevolent spirits that seem to not like them very much.

As with virtually all sequels this one is inferior to the original. However, the first film wasn't all that great and this one isn't a complete washout either. The story is modified somewhat from the first episode so that now the source of the poltergeist unrest is attributed to the dead followers of a cult leader, as opposed to the dead disturbed by unscrupulous property developers. The change has really only been made so that they can have a sequel to be perfectly honest, however, it does mean that the series is able to introduce the evil Reverend Kane. Kane is probably the best character in the series and his scene where he confronts the Freeling family on their front porch is the scariest and most well-crafted moment in any of the films. Julien Beck is excellent and unforgettable as the skeletal preacher. The rest of the cast play it strictly by numbers, although once again Heather O'Rourke is fab as the little girl. The other daughter is completely written out of this film with no explanation. Although it's a well documented fact that the actress who played her, Dominique Dunne, was murdered shortly after the first film was released, I still don't think it would have trashed her memory to have explained her absence; quite the opposite in fact.

The Poltergeist series was perhaps most famous at the time for its spectacular visual effects and this film is no exception. The demon Kane is a well rendered creation, and there are a number of cool 80's effects throughout. Unfortunately, though, it all ends in a somewhat underwhelming finale where the family enter some vortex or something. I think it would have been better if they had cut back on the special-effects here and simply re-introduced Reverend Kane, as he was much scarier. But I guess having a big effects-laden ending is one of the in-built rules of the Poltergeist movies sadly.

Overall, there's good stuff in this sequel but it's ultimately squandered on a rubbish ending.