It’s always a shame when a house recently proclaimed “clean” by a spiritual clairvoyant suddenly implodes upon itself leaving its former plot vacant, or as vacant as a Native American burial ground can be. You just hate to see that, but it’s exactly what happened to the Freelings in Poltergeist after their intense battle with phantasmal fiends fighting for the very soul of their daughter Carol Anne. And so, it should come as no surprise that in Poltergeist II the Freelings decided to hit the road and start a new life elsewhere free of the cursed house they’ll never be able to forget. Unfortunately, it turns out the house wasn’t the problem; it turns out their daughter is desired by the afterlife and they’ll stop at nothing to get her, and so their new life quickly devolves into the same ghastly carnage they thought they’d put behind them.
Director Tobe Hooper’s follow up to Brian Gibson’s original has a higher pedigree thanks to Steven Spielberg’s collaboration on the screenplay, but the film never reaches the same fever pitch of creepiness from the first time around. What Poltergeist II lacks is the same spooky buildup, but it could never have had that anyways since the family now believes in ghosts and no longer tries to explain away the odd bumps in the night. When the crazy stuff starts going down, they react with absolute certainty that it’s the ghoulies back again. Where the sequel does improve upon the original is in the effects department, using some very crazy visual effects work, the attacks by the poltergeist look fantastic with practical methods instead of dated CGI (though there is a little bit of that).
Blu-ray Bonus Features
There are none.
"Poltergeist II: The Other Side" is on sale September 13, 2011 and is rated PG13. Horror. Directed by Brian Gibson. Written by Michael Grais, Mark Victor. Starring Craig T Nelson, Jobeth Williams, Heather Orourke, Oliver Robins, Zelda Rubinstein.
