The Freeling family have a new house, but their troubles with supernatural forces don't seem to be over.The Freeling family have a new house, but their troubles with supernatural forces don't seem to be over.The Freeling family have a new house, but their troubles with supernatural forces don't seem to be over.
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
27K
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- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 5 nominations total
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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. —Rhino <rhino@blueyonder.co.uk>
- Taglines
- Spectacular special effects and excellent ensemble acting.
- Genre
- Certificate
- PG-13
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaHeather O'Rourke was so afraid of Julian Beck (Reverend Kane) the first time she saw him that she burst into tears.
- Goofs(at around 38 mins) When Kane walks up the lawn toward the house, it begins to rain. As Diane runs out to get Carol Anne, Diane's hair is already wet. Then moments later when she talks to Kane on the porch, her hair is dry. The next scene shows her walking into her bedroom, and her hair is damp again.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits take nearly five minutes to play out.
- Alternate versionsDuring post production, at least 15 minutes were cut from the film during the final editing stages, and some of the remaining scenes were re-arranged chronologically. Scenes rumored to be cut included: 1. A line mentioning "Dana," (the eldest daughter from the original film) being away at college. 2. A scene involving JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson and a floating toaster oven in their kitchen. 3. A scene in which the "Rev. Kane" appears at the house again and is confronted by "Tangina" right before she is about to leave after visiting "Diane" (Zelda Rubinstein was said to be very upset that this sequence was cut, as she felt it was one of her best scenes). 4. A longer "other side" sequence at the end featuring the family's battle with the Beast. 5. Longer versions of existing scenes featuring additional dialogue. Publicity stills from some of these scenes can be seen at: the fan site: http://www.poltergeistii.poltergeistiii.com/deleted.html
- ConnectionsEdited from Poltergeist (1982)
- SoundtracksIf I Fell
(uncredited)
Written by John Lennon (uncredited) and Paul McCartney (uncredited)
[sung by Craig T. Nelson (uncredited) to JoBeth Williams]
Top review
Sometimes it's amusing, but mostly it's just lame.
Here we have yet another belated, completely unnecessary sequel that only barely gets by. After their otherworldly encounters, the Freeling family has relocated and are now living with Dianes' (JoBeth Williams) mother (Geraldine Fitzgerald). They don't get much of a breather before supernatural forces again begin to plague them. And these forces still want to get their hands on little Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke). Diane, Steve (Craig T. Nelson), Carol Anne, and Robbie (Oliver Robins) this time receive assistance from a wise Indian (Will Sampson), while Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein) makes an encore appearance.
Technically, "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" is reasonably well made. But it's so lazily conceived that it's very hard to care what happens here. Making things tolerable are a still very likable bunch of actors, but they have some pretty bad material to work with this time around. A lot of the dialogue is simply abysmal. Attempts at humor largely fall flat. Director Brian Gibson is no Steven Spielberg, or Tobe Hooper, and can't generate any suspense or excitement at all. The efforts of a very talented visual effects team (supervised by Richard Edlund) can only do so much to help. It's hard to believe this was written by the same guys who wrote the first film.
This is not to say that this sequel is devoid of highlights. One pleasure is in watching the supremely creepy Julian Beck as a malevolent "reverend" who puts a human face, of sorts, on the antagonistic spirits. One ingenious moment involves Robbies' braces; the other is a sequence many people do enjoy about this sequel. That would be the "vomit creature" sequence. It turns out there are consequences for swallowing the worm at the bottle of a tequila bottle.
The family is still worth rooting for; young O'Rourke is as adorable as before. It's just too bad they're stuck in such a blah story.
H.R. Giger ("Alien", "Species") is credited with conceptual design.
Sadly, the final film for both Beck and Sampson.
Five out of 10.
Technically, "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" is reasonably well made. But it's so lazily conceived that it's very hard to care what happens here. Making things tolerable are a still very likable bunch of actors, but they have some pretty bad material to work with this time around. A lot of the dialogue is simply abysmal. Attempts at humor largely fall flat. Director Brian Gibson is no Steven Spielberg, or Tobe Hooper, and can't generate any suspense or excitement at all. The efforts of a very talented visual effects team (supervised by Richard Edlund) can only do so much to help. It's hard to believe this was written by the same guys who wrote the first film.
This is not to say that this sequel is devoid of highlights. One pleasure is in watching the supremely creepy Julian Beck as a malevolent "reverend" who puts a human face, of sorts, on the antagonistic spirits. One ingenious moment involves Robbies' braces; the other is a sequence many people do enjoy about this sequel. That would be the "vomit creature" sequence. It turns out there are consequences for swallowing the worm at the bottle of a tequila bottle.
The family is still worth rooting for; young O'Rourke is as adorable as before. It's just too bad they're stuck in such a blah story.
H.R. Giger ("Alien", "Species") is credited with conceptual design.
Sadly, the final film for both Beck and Sampson.
Five out of 10.
helpful•63
- Hey_Sweden
- Apr 19, 2017
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $19,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $40,996,665
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,357,190
- May 26, 1986
- Gross worldwide
- $40,996,665
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) officially released in Japan in Japanese?
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