Poltergeist II: The Other Side (Collector's Edition)

This is the sequel to the hit movie produced by Steven Spielberg. This film does not have the power that the first had, perhaps because the production crew was not the same and, therefore, did not have the same vision. It is a year later, and the family that was terrorized by the supernatural in the first film is now living with the wife's mother. While the mother, who is clairvoyant, is alive and with them, they are safe. However, after her unfortunate death in her sleep one night, the ghosts that tormented them previously return with a vengeance. The medium that helped them before sends a Native American medicine man to help them fight the evil that has birthed much more than just restless spirits brought on by a cost-cutting real estate company.Most of the original cast returned to their roles for this installment, with the obvious exception of Dominique Dunne as the oldest daughter. The young actress was unfortunately murdered by her boyfriend shortly after the first film was released, and the screenwriters did not have the heart to replace her with another actress. There are new faces, namely Will Sampson as the medicine man, Taylor, and Julian Beck as the evil preacher, Kane. The special effects are still top-notch, and the scary sequences are just as good as the first, but the dynamics still lack a certain cohesion. The script tries to take the viewer through a world of not only spiritualism (something the first did quite effectively), but also Native American mysticism. However, it comes off as somewhat superficial in both areas.As always seems to be the case dealing with films of this subject matter, there were rumors of a curse being connected with the filming of this movie. There were reports of accidents and creepy happenings on the sets and even in the actors' homes. In fact, the problem became so pronounced that Will Sampson, who was also a full shaman to his Muscogee tribe, volunteered to stay on one set overnight to cleanse and bless it. While this reportedly did help matters, it did not stop all the unusual occurrences. Many of the actors refused to work on the tomb set (where several bones and decayed bodies were positioned in what was supposed to be a cave) when it was discovered that some bright light in the crew had somehow managed to dress the area with actual human cadavers. Julian Beck was diagnosed with stomach cancer just before filming was to begin, and his emaciated appearance due to the disease, while adding significantly to his character, caused young Heather O'Roarke (the youngest daughter) to break down into tears when she first saw him. And there were many deaths surrounding the cast and crew. Beck succumbed to his illness before the movie was even released, Sampson himself would die of kidney failure a year later, and, most tragic of all, Heather O'Roarke would pass away at the age of 12 from a misdiagnosed intestinal blockage.

The Freelings returned for Poltergeist II only to find out they’re being haunted by a creepy old man, Julian Beck as Reverend Kane. Like the first film it’s the young daughter Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) who first sees the ghosts. Unlike the first release the mother Diane (JoBeth Williams) also has psychic powers now and envisions what’s going to happen to them. Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein) returns from the first movie as well this time assisted by Taylor (Will Sampson), a Native American shaman. It turns out the old man believes that he can bring his world into the present through Carol Anne. The movie was thus just a variation of the first time pitting the Freelings up against the occult one more time but was still very enjoyable.The make-up they did on Kane was great. He really does look like a living ghost. It’s a great part.The special effects are better this time as well. There’s one scene where the husband Steven (Craig T. Nelson) gets possessed by Kane and then spits him out like a giant worm that transforms into elements of a human body and then into a giant monster.The movie is a lot of fun just like the first. You have the goodness of the family pitted against the evils of the spirit world, lots of haunting scenes, etc, which made the first movie such a hit.

This movie has some really dull moments, but the pure poltergeist insanity sort of makes it worth watching once. For example, a set of murderous mouth braces attacks the Freeling family. That's just bizarre. And Steve Freeling tangles with an evil mezcal worm. It's quite the showdown. Perhaps the highlight of the film is Reverend Henry Kane. The real-life actor was so creepy he almost looked like a special effect. Any time he was on screen, things were tense and scary. The rest of the "scares" weren't frightening though... they were just weird and goofy. The quality of the effects were great, however, so they were fun to watch. If you're bored, give Poltergeist 2 a shot... just don't expect a 5 star movie (and prepare yourself for the world's dumbest ending).

'Poltergeist II' made exactly one lasting contribution to popular culture (and hey, that's more than most movies!): the line "They're baaaaaaack," which became one of the most oddly ubiquitous catchphrases of the 80s & 90s, a meme before we called them "memes", one that people repeated long after they'd forgotten where it came from... in fact, it's only really famous because of the ads (the movie uses a different take), so if you just want to see this film's legacy, look up the trailer and you're good to go.If you actually watch 'Poltergeist II' you'll discover pretty quick why nobody remembered or cared where the line came from. It's a frankly tedious sequel that runs down the checklist of obligatory supernatural horror sequel tropes: tension-killing start-and-stop pacing, optical effects that absolutely cannot cash the checks the script writes, and a series of increasingly contrived plot revelations that detract more than they add to the story. Oh, and then they just up and act like the eldest daughter from the previous film never existed!On the bright side, the cast (mostly inherited from the original) makes the most of the script. I've read more than one user review here that mentions the impressive "makeup" on the Reverend Kane character, and... sorry to say, that wasn't makeup. He was dying of cancer, it's what he actually looked like. Gotta admire the guy's spirit to be working in his condition, to obviously good effect (to the point of being uncomfortable!). Finally, the H.R. Giger-designed "vomit creature" is striking enough that it probably deserved a whole movie on its own!

First off, the five stars are for the movie which I've seen many times previously, I just wanted to inform others that this may not play on your Blu Ray player if you are in the UK.I realised this was Region A but some of the reviews said it played fine in the UK, I have two good Blu Ray players; a Denon and a Yamaha, and neither would play the disc as it came up 'Invalid Region'. So please beware, I'm sure the reviewers who said it worked had no problem, but it's possible that you might.The main reason for buying the Poltergeist II: The Other Side Collector's Edition was due to the superior artwork on the cover, much better than the dull UK one. It has a nice slip case and reversible cover so you can chose between the new artwork or the original. What I'll probably do is get a cheap region B and swap cases, just means I'll miss out on the extras.

I’ve been on a bit of a nostalgic 80’s horror vibe and recall only ever seeing this on pirate VHS about a year after it was released, all I could really remember was the creepy as hell minister guy (also on the cover of Anthrax’s Among the Living) and the tequila worm/vomit monster.I remembered it fondly as being quite scary and a good sequel to the classic Poltergeist.It’s not.It’s awful, truly awful.The effects are poor, certainly not a patch on the original (which to be fair haven’t held up ALL that well but still look amazing compared to this) - creepy guy is still creepy, and the tequila worm/vomit monster is laughable.The story is stupid, and I’m stupid for watching it.

Curiosity got the better of me as I remember Kane being creepy as hell. And then you see the effects they used in the early 80's and you sigh... the creepiness is dissipated. Almost. This film suffers from an obvious butchering in the cutting room. Originally 130 minutes long - perhaps an assembly more than a cut - but I think they cut this back too far. There's far too much annoying screaming going on in this film, mainly from the mother but also the father. There are some good ideas here, but it's been lost in too many cuts and a generally displeasing resultant film.

This was a birthday gift for my husband and he is delighted with it.I was very pleased that I managed to get this on DVD as its quite a hard title to get and I was very happy to also get prime delivery. Nothing I was unhappy with. Can't fault anything at all. 100% happy.

A brilliant sequel which is almost as good as the first. Preacher Kane (Julian Beck) is a really mean baddie and Taylor the Indian is comical. I liked the very supernatural ending. This is still a very clever film and any fans of POLTERGEIST should get this.