Review of Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) by Arny B — 13 May 2011

Sequel to one of the best horror movies from the 80's, "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" tries to expand the story from the first movie, and offers a more detailed explanation as to why the evil spirits have targeted Carol Anne (played again by Heather O'Rourke), the little girl that was taken into another dimension in the first Poltergeist.

The film follows the story of the Freeling family, as they are being stalked again by the entity called the "beast", this time in a human form named Rev. Henry Kane, played by Julian Beck. Poltergeist II gives a new explanation for this demon's origin. Now it is said that he was once an evil human, whom after dying transformed into the beast. The origin approach greatly diminishes the impact of the entity in the first movie, where he was thought to be an actual demon, maybe even "the" demon himself.

But Henry Kane's introduction into the story isn't all bad, in fact Julian Beck gives a very creepy and memorable performance as the evil reverend. But it is arguably the only good thing about Poltergeist II. While the first movie wasn't realistic at all, at least it played its cards right. It was subtle when it needed to be, and it wasn't when it didn't need to be, but this sequel is just plain cartoonish and ludicrous in almost every supernatural or "scary" scene.

The cast is almost as good as in the first film. By now the actors are familiar with most of the themes in the movie, but they can't do much with the script, which is surprisingly boring for a movie about ghosts and demons.

"Poltergeist II: The Other Side" is just a mediocre horror movie that benefits from having Julian Beck as a very creepy and well acted evil reverend. But if it wasn't for him, I would have probably given this movie 2 stars.