Poltergeist II - L'altra dimensione

JAWS 2; HALLOWEEN II; THE RAGE: CARRIE 2—all of them horror film sequels that I can only label as "curiously frustrating", in that there's enough in them to like, but just as much to be skittish about. This is also true of POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE, the 1986 sequel to the highly acclaimed and highly successful 1982 Steven Spielberg co-produced/co-written horror film classic that Tobe Hooper (of THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE fame) directed, and which ranks with THE SHINING as one of the few true horror classics of the 1980s.

The film picks up one year after the events of the original, as the Frelengs, led by Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams, have now moved off to a desert suburb of Phoenix, Arizona while trying to get a new start, living with Williams' mother (Geraldine Fitzgerald). Nelson is having a rough go of it trying to be a vacuum salesman; he had been in real estate, but the Cuesta Verde incident left him out in the cold. When Fitzgerald passes on, however, it lets open the door for some literal ghosts of the Frelengs' past to haunt them. They become terrorized all over again; and this time, getting in contact with both the famous medium Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) and an Indian (Will Sampson) well versed in the supernatural, they figure out why. Back in the 19th century, a group of White settlers were confronted by Indian warriors in what was to become the Cuesta Verde Estates, resulting in a horrific Sand Creek-type massacre that resulted in a mass graveyard that Nelson's former employers had built Cuesta Verde over. The spirits of those survivors, including especially a deranged preacher named Kane (Julian Beck), have come back to snatch O'Rourke and to lead them to the Light because they are still not at rest, but they seem to have no intention of bringing her back. Rubinstein and Sampson insist that the Frelengs must return to Cuesta Verde to confront Kane and his minions by entering the Other Side, that netherworld between life and death that Williams and O'Rourke crossed in the original. In between, though, they are confronted with a whole host of horrific things, including a "Vomit Creature", and a supernatural chainsaw that threatens to tear Nelson's station wagon apart as they head out for Cuesta Verde.

Unlike a lot of horror films, POLTERGEIST II maintains a good solid position of having five of the principals from the original film (Dominique Dunne, however, had been killed in real life shortly after the original film had been released), plus the solid special effects work of Richard Edlund, who had worked on the original. What POLTERGEIST II lacks, however, is the effective and incisive direction of Hooper and both his and Spielberg's understanding of the genre and of family. Mark Victor and Michael Grais, though they co-wrote the original's screenplay with Spielberg, somehow fail to grasp those concepts of the original; and Gibson, who directed the 1980 film BREAKING GLASS and later did 1993's WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, is not really in Hooper's, let alone Spielberg's, league. The mayhem may very well have been accelerated from the original, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

Two additions, however, do work quite well. Sampson, a real-life Native American who starred in films like ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST and THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES, is extremely good as the Indian shaman who, along with Rubinstein, assists the Frelengs in their confrontation with the ghosts. And Beck is incredibly grisly and frightening as the deranged preacher out to permanently possess O'Rourke; he comes off as a supernatural version of Robert Mitchum's role in the 1955 classic NIGHT OF THE HUNTER.

The most welcome return on POLTERGEIST II, besides Edlund's special effects, is Jerry Goldsmith's intense orchestral score. These things do keep this film from being just another Hollywood exploitational sequel. But what is there is still strangely empty; and that, in the end, is due to the absence of both Spielberg and Hooper in the basic involvement of things.

Being a big fan of the original 'Poltergeist', it's fun to see the Freelings reunited (aside from Dominique Dunne, of course, who was murdered soon after filming 'Poltergeist') in this flawed but fun sequel to the original classic.

The film introduces some interesting concepts to the Poltergeist mythos, particularly a great final performance from Julian Beck as the very creepy Reverend Kane (Beck died soon after filming due to stomach cancer - no, not the so called 'poltergeist curse' - Beck was fully aware of his condition whilst working on the movie).

Despite another great performance from little Heather O'Rourke and professional performances from the rest of the cast (albeit not as inspired or memorable as their performances in the original), the film ultimately lacks the heart, warmth and quality of the original.

As a viewer, you can't help but come away with the feeling that if a little more time, money and love had been bestowed on the production this could have been a better film.

Still, there are some memorable moments and genuine spine-tingles in this sequel.

Despite the rushed feeling to some parts of the production, for it's nostalgic revisiting of the family Freeling, the Kane character, the few memorable 'horror' moments and last but not least, the fantastic follow-up soundtrack by the great Jerry Goldsmith, I rate this film 7/10.

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.

While not as good as the first one this movie was interesting. It was well made and featured many of the same actors and actresses as well as a few new ones, who all turned out excellent performances.

The story line was solid and thought out. I particularly felt that Julian Beck's character Cane was a nice addition. He was chilling to watch on screen as a antagonist to the family. Will Sampson as Taylor was also an interesting character. R.I.P to both actors and to O'Rouke.

Overall a good film but one that can not possibly hold a candle to the original.

6 out of 10.

This film essentially begins one year after the horrors in the previous film with a new malignant force now seeking the young child "Carol Anne Freeling" (Heather O'Rourke) for the exact same reasons as in the previous film. This time, however, the evil spirit has been generated from a 19th century cult leader by the name of "Reverend Henry Kane" (Julian Beck) who led his congregation into the desert in preparation for an end-of-the-world scenario that never materialized. Not wanting to admit to his congregation that he was mistaken, he subsequently lets them all die in an underground cave that has only now been discovered-and it just happens to be located right under the same house owned by the Freeling family in the previous film. To make matters even worse, this evil spirit has more power than the previous one and recognizing this the spiritual medium named "Tangina Barrons" (Zelda Rubinstein) enlists the help of a Native American shaman by the name of "Taylor" (Will Sampson) to combat it. Yet, in spite of all of his knowledge and experience, he soon discovers that Reverend Kane is much more formidable than he realized-and he has no intention of allowing Carol Anne to escape. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I thought this was a pretty good sequel when it first came out and having just watched it recently I remain of that opinion. Admittedly, some of the situations were recycled from the first film and as a result it didn't have the same impact as before. But even so the underlying story was still entertaining enough in its own right. Another interesting facet is that--even though both JoBeth Williams (as "Diane Freeling") and the aforementioned Heather O'Rourke clearly dominated in the previous film--it was the performances of both Julian Beck and Will Sampson who rose to the occasion in this one and gave this movie an added edge. At least, that is how it seemed to me. In any case, for what it's worth I enjoyed this film and have rated it accordingly. Above average.