Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Brian Gibson

Writers:

Michael Grais (written by)
Mark Victor (written by)

Release Date:

23 May 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

They're back.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Native American | Psychic | Afterlife | Giant Worm | Stop Motion

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

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 Bernstein	...	Young Diane
Robert Lesser	...	Kane's People

Also Known As:

Poltergeist 2 (Australia) (TV title)
Poltergeist II (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Chinle, Arizona, USA

Trivia:

Unbeknownst to most of the cast and crew several of the cadavers were real skeletons. Upon learning of this, the crew demanded an exorcism be held on the set to ease the rising tensions, which happened soon after.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Carol Ann is in the rain scene, the preacher comes up on the porch. He is totally soaked, but when he is talking... he is totally dry until he starts down the driveway, where he immediately starts getting wet again.

Quotes:

Taylor: Children have fought wars, have built nations. They are strong and have courage, don't treat them any less THAN that because they're young.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Killing Floor (2007)

Decent sequel overshadowed by poor post-production

I have seen this sequel to "Poltergeist" many times and have always enjoyed it as much as I did the first movie. You will find that most people who dislike this sequel do so for the simple fact that it's a "SEQUEL" to the original 1982 "Steven Spielberg" produced hit (surprise surprise!) and "Spielberg" was nowhere in sight this time around (so what!), not everybody cares about whether a big director is involved with a movie/sequel or not including myself.

The sequel is written & produced by "Mark Victor" & "Michael Grais" who co-wrote the original with "Steven Spielberg" and follows the doomed Freeling family four years after the original classic left off...

I have always regarded "Poltergeist II" as a worthy follow up with it's flaws (which it is) and can still not understand how this movie made it's way from a running time of "130" minutes down to a mere "91".

Its obviously down to MGM rushing the movie's production and ordering pathetic cuts. Some of this movie's editing is really poor and it's a shame because the movie is actually pretty good and only really falls apart at the end when you can see how bad a hack job this movie really received. They should have dropped "The Other Side" from the title because you only get to see it in the movie for about 2 minutes and what you do get to see is a rushed not-finished mess of a finale.

The Poltergeist franchise should have been sold to UNIVERSAL (The company "Steven Spielberg" first approached about the original). They would have given this movie the justice it deserved. As for the third movie "I really don't care" nothing could have saved the third movie from being bad". Even with it's problems, I still loved the character's from the first movie, the plot was on the right track and introduced us to one of the most memorable villains in horror sequel history, the evil "Reverend Kane" brilliantly portrayed by "Julian Beck", and while not being as productive as the original, the special effects held up too.

Wrapping everything up, this movie is a decent sequel and has the advantage of retaining most of the original cast from the first movie (minus "Dominique Dunne" who was murdered by her boyfriend shortly after filming the first movie) and there are some really good classic moments in this sequel, one being... "The Vomit Creature!"...check your Tequila for strange worms swimming around in it next time!.

7/10