SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Eric Stevenson For sequel month, it only fits we'd get a sequel that's pretty pointless. This film became somewhat notorious because of the absence of the elder sister character whose actress Dominique Dunne, was strangled in real life by her boyfriend. The most entertaining bit is probably how this new villain Kane looks a lot like Fred Phelps. Fred Phelps didn't even look like that at the time the movie was made. We actually do get some pretty creative sequences. It's still just mediocre, particularly with how the pacing isn't good.None of the actors and actresses are really bad. It does expand a little on the mythology of the series, but it doesn't really amount to much. I really do praise Heather O'Rourke for her role in this. It's hard to find really good child actresses. The visual effects are quite good, given the year it came out. It still reprises too much stuff, but can be watchable. **1/2

DeuceWild_77 After the critical and box office success of the original movie, the screenwriters (this time without Spielberg) developed a sequel to further explore the secrets behind "the other side" and its connection to the Freeling family, especially the younger one, Carol Anne.Back were the original main cast: JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson as the devoted parents; Heather O'Rourke and Oliver Robins as the kids (because Dominique Dunne was murdered after the original movie, the production opted to exclude her character, Dana, who is only briefly mentioned) and Zelda Rubinstein as the eccentric psychic Tangina.English director Brian Gibson (an odd choice for director) was chosen to helm this sequel which is way more darker than the previous film, but at the same time a little more pedestrian directed.The original story was expanded here and it positively links without being too far-fetched and the inclusion of the Reverend Henry Kane, played superbly creepy by the ill-fated Julian Beck, was top notch. Reverend Kane directly entered to the pop culture as one of the most frightening villains that came out from the 80's decade and the "Poltergeist" franchise forever will be associated to his character.Will Sampson, who also died 1 year later (due to the Poltergeist "curse", if you believe in that) is very good playing straight, but with a sense of humor, the benevolent Shaman Taylor and the veteran actress Geraldine Fitzgerald used as a fill-in for the Beatrice Straight's character in the original, leaves her mark as the Motherly figure despite her less than 10 minutes on-screen."Poltergeist II - The Other Side" have its flaws, even if the original story flows well for this sequel, the novelty factor was over and Gibson couldn't reproduce the same eerie atmosphere, the mastering of suspense or the creativity behind the camera-work, and the fact that MGM butchered the movie from the initial length of 130 minutes to just 91, most of the scenes / plot extensions felt incomplete and, most especially, the ending confrontation when the audience can finally have a look on the other side, was too short and the impact was kind of dull.The effects are good and 'au pair' with the original film, even if some of them are considered too cheesy for the nowadays standards and others being too disgusting (the worm scene involving Craig T. Nelson who, strangely, acted his Steve Freeling way more over-the-top / campy here, maybe a deliberated decision between him and the director or he forgot how to play the character right or even, he was just in for the paycheck, not believing in the material).Heather O'Rourke's role is less prominent here (once again, too much Craig T. Nelson...), but the child actor still delivers, her first encounter with Reverend Kane in the Mall is unforgettable as a good piece of thrilling cinema (it helped, that little Heather was in real life scared of Julian Beck, who sported a gaunt look due to his stomach cancer).In short, it's a good follow-up film, not as exceptional or a masterwork of the genre as the first, but way more showy, visually horrifying & visceral. For fans of Horror B-movies with large budgets, this one is worth a watch !!

beetle-259-554148 WARNING: This review contains spoilers that may ruin the first movie.This movie starts with a Native American ceremony which I feel could've been cut out and just replaced with Tangina meeting with Taylor at the site of the Freelings's house.The Freelings are now living with Diane's mother while Steve is now selling vacuum door-to-door while trying to successfully file an insurance claim for their old house. The Freelings got rid of every TV in Diane's mothers house and now get entertainment from a small portable radio. One of the Freelings doesn't appear and that's Dana, the eldest daughter from the first movie.One day while at a mall, Carol Anne is separated from Diane and Robbie. A creepy old preacher keeps her company until they find her.Later that night, Diane's mother passes away in her sleep and the spirits that were after them in the first movie are after them again, except it's revealed that the spirits were not of Native Americans but instead those of members of a religious sect led by Reverend Kane, the old man from the mall, in the early 1800s. He convinced them all that the apocalypse was coming and they sealed themselves in an underground cave. When the day came and went, Kane wouldn't let anyone leave and they all starved to death in the cave which is under where the Freelings's house was. Kane was so evil that his soul became a monster and they want Carol Anne because she almost lead them into the light.Several Native Americans appear at the house and do several things to protect the house and the Freelings.Tangina shows up eventually, saying they all have to go back to the site of their house and fight Kane. Upon trying to, their car gets smashed up by the spirits while they're still in the garage but they manage to escape.The big climactic battle with the Kane Monster happens and he is defeated. Taylor says that their car wants to go with him so he drives off. The Freelings realize they need the car to get back to Diane's mothers house and they start chasing after him on foot. Roll end credits.Overall, this isn't a very good sequel for a number of reasons. First of all, Dana's disappearance. She couldn't physically appear because the actress who played her, Dominique Dunne, was murdered by her boyfriend shortly after the first movie was released. What bothers me is that she isn't referred to or mentioned even once. When Tangina says they all need to go back as a family, no one mentions contacting Dana, the siblings never talk about wanting to see their older sibling. In the script it was written that she was attending college in this movie which would've worked to explain her absence.Second, the spirits belonging to members of a cult that starved to death in a cave instead of Native Americans in a burial ground underneath the house ruins the first movie a little bit but also raises some questions; if none of the people in the cave died in a coffin, how were there coffins popping up inside the house?Third, I felt that the scene with Robbie's dentures being used to wrap up him and Diane and nearly electrocute them was too over the top.Overall, I do not recommend watching this movie. It is very inferior to the first and some of the writing ruins the first movie. Only watch if you're that much of a die-hard Poltergeist or supernatural horror fan.

Paul Magne Haakonsen While the sequel, "Poltergeist II: The Other Side", was never fully up to par with the original "Poltergeist" movie, then it has always been one of my favorites. And the reason for this was because of Julian Beck in the role of reverend Henry Kane. Man, that guy was spooky in that role, and he really carried most of the movie.Right, well the movie essentially picks up where "Poltergeist" left off, with the Freeling family, minus Dana, staying at the grandmother's house. Back at the original Cuesta Verde site, the foundation of the house has been uprooted, revealing a horrible tomb underneath, where people were lead to their deaths by a reverend who preached the end of days, and end that never came, but the reverend refused to release his congregation. Reverend Henry Kane is out to get the angelic Carol Anne and nothing can stop him.Story-wise, then "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" isn't as fully thought through as the first movie. But it was still entertaining and it does have its moments. My personal favorites are all the scenes with Julian Beck.The effects were adequate enough for a movie back from 1986, but for some reason they were outdone by the effects in the first movie. Which was a bit odd.The acting in part 2 was good, and it really carried the movie quite a long way, with most of the original cast making a return trip to the screen.Like the first "Poltergeist", I have seen "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" so many times that I have long lost count. And it will probably always be one of those movies that I keep making a return trip to, no matter how many years pass by."Poltergeist II: The Other Side" is an entertaining movie, considering it is from 1986. And it is a must watch alongside with the first "Poltergeist" movie, especially if you enjoyed the first movie. This sequel is a well worthy addition to the collection of any horror aficionado.