Poltergeist II: O Outro Lado

"Poltergeist II: The Other Side" is a very interesting movie despite the fact that the plot was rather subpar. My favorite movie of all time is the original "Poltergeist," and this movie is a respectable sequel. I like it because of the character Kane, for one, who gives the movie another ghostly dimension. Julian Beck was wonderful in the film as Kane. Also, the children remained good actors, especially the late Heather O'Rourke, who played Carol Anne. This is another strong performance by the young actress, and would have gone on to be a wonderful adult actress later in life had she lived. All in all, I give it a 7.5 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.

The magic from the first one was definitely missing but this was watchable. I always cringe when a movie portrays a Native American and their spiritual ways. It just seems stereotypical anymore. There was a lot of it in this movie. The ending was kind of quick and silly.

How these kids haven't lost their minds yet is beyond me.

Definitely a lot worse sequels to hit movies out there.

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.

This sequel was okay at the theater when I saw it, but it wasn't great. Kind of an average film that adds plot points that really are a bit weak. We find out in this one that it was not necessarily the fact the little community was sitting on an old cemetery that was the problem in the first one, but rather that the house was over some burial ground of a cult. There is also this really old man that is a bit creepy wandering around looking for Carol Anne and the Freeling clan. I just think they wanted to add a more physical enemy, someone you could focus on. The family is now living with grandma, but strange stuff starts happening again. For some reason they want Carol Anne. An Indian guy comes to their aid and gives them advice and there are a series of happenings, but this one just isn't as good as the first one as it is very slow in places. The ending was just plain lame and only makes this one worse than it is. As not good as this is though, the next Poltergeist makes this one look a lot better. Some good scenes here and there, but ultimately this one disappoints. Though there is that memorable scene with the worm.