Poltergeist II: The Other Side *** (1986, JoBeth Williams, Craig T Nelson, Heather O’Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein) – Classic Movie Review 2502

Those pesky unfriendly Poltergeist spirits come back to haunt the Freeling family from Tobe Hooper’s 1982 hit Poltergeist, in director Brian Gibson’s fair-to-middling, entirely satisfactory 1986 sequel, with some good scares.

The main stars are all back to re-create profitably their original performances: JoBeth Williams and Craig T Nelson as the much troubled parents, Heather O’Rourke as Carol Anne their haunted daughter, and little Zelda Rubinstein as the medium Tangina Barrons. The family have found a new house, but the Poltergeist supernatural forces seem have followed them there, otherwise there wouldn’t be a movie.

The movie is worthwhile for the same reasons as part one: the rousing, engaging performances, kept at a realistic believable level, providing an anchor for the script’s gothic excesses, some very scary scenes and the top-grade trick work (by Richard Edlund and H R Giger). Julian Beck is showcased in a fine, scary turn as the spirit of evil, the preacher Reverend Kane.

Part three Poltergeist III appeared in 1988, with O’Rourke and Rubinstein the sole survivors of the cast, and it ended the series as a box office and critical flop.

Also in the cast are Oliver Robins, Will Sampson, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Susan Peretz.

O’Rourke died on February 1 1988 of cardiac arrest and septic shock caused by a misdiagnosed intestinal stenosis, barely a month after her 12th birthday.

Dana, the eldest daughter from the first film and played by Dominique Dunne, was originally intended to be away at college in the plot of the second film. But her scene in the film was not shot as Dunne was strangled by her former boyfriend shortly after the first film was released. Due to the death of Julian Beck, the film-makers got the help of H R Giger (who created the Beast version of Kane) to replace Beck’s remaining scenes.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2502

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