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.

Yeah, I get it, the original Poltergeist is incredible and the real enemy is the greed of the Reagan 80s, but that movie has real skeletons in a swimming pool and this one has H. R. Giger-designed monsters and a villain in Rev. Henry Kane that still frightens me because he could be real -- well, you know, before he became a ghost -- as he led his entire apocalyptic cult into a cave and sealed them inside to die at his side rather than face his end times prophecy being incorrect.

Supposedly, the first time Heather O'Rourke saw Kane, she burst into tears.

Whether he's singing "God is in His Holy Temple! Earthly thoughts be silent now!" or screaming at an entire horrified family "You're gonna die in there! All of you! YOU ARE GONNA DIE!" Kane is everything perfect and awesome and unholy about horror movie villains all wrapped up in the sinister form of a preacher. He was played by Julian Beck, the co-founder and director of The Living Theatre, which seems to be pretty highbrow origins for a scary movie bad guy. Then again, he was influenced by Antonin Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty, much like Lucio Fulci. Sadly, Beck died of stomach cancer before this movie even came out; his real life persona was not a holy man, as he was charged dozen times on three continents for crimes including disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, possession of narcotics and failing to participate in a civil defense drill.

The Freelings family are all back -- Diane (Jo Beth Williams),Steve (Craig T. Nelson),Robbie (Oliver Robbins) and Carol Anne (O'Rourke) -- except for their daughter Dana, as sadly Dominique Dunne was murdered shortly after the first movie played theaters. It's said that she is away at college.

Kane comes into the story when it turns out that Carol Anne is one of the few living beings who has been to the world of the dead and came back. Kane wants to use her to come into our world, where he can show up for limited periods, doing absolutely terrifying things* such as calling people on toy phones and making Steve throw up a gigantic worm, which is played by Noble Craig, a Vietnam vet who lost lose both of his legs, his right arm and most of the sight in his right eye. He turned that horrible moment in his life into the ability to become a living and breathing special effect in Sssssss, the remake of The Blob, Bride of the Re-Animator, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and Big Trouble In Little China.

Luckily, they have some help this time from Will Sampson from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as a magical Native American, a returning Zelda Rubenstein as Tangina Barrons and Geraldine Fitzgerald as the recently passed Grandma Jess.

As for that supposed curse, well, Sampson also died from open heart surgery not long after this movie. Supposedly, he came in late at night and did an exorcism on the set after some film was ruined.

We can agree or disagree on that film legend, but nobody at all debates who made this one: Brian Gibson.

This movie by all rights should be horrible, but I can watch it again and again. It just hits the right notes and has one of the ultimate in horror film villains. If you haven't seen it, don't let the number after the name hold you back.

*He also sings "Leaning on Jesus," the same song Robert Mitchum sings in The Night of the Hunter.

This disappointing follow-up to the classic POLTERGEIST ('82) rehashes a boring plot which in this case substitutes humour and sentimentalising in place of thrills and chills. Although the high budget means that there are lots of special effects (most of them tacky by today's standards),once again little thought is gone into the story itself, so in the end it's just one "shock" or "scare" after another. This does not a good film make.

The film was made four years after the original, but bizarrely is set just one year after the events of that film. Thus, we are expected to believe that the son has grown amazingly from a ten year old to a fourteen year old in that time - I think not. What makes this film so bad is the bad acting of the cast members, most of whom return from the first (aside from the teenage daughter). Most of them were passable in the first film, but they go way over the top here. JoBeth Williams has a ridiculous '80s hairstyle and is totally forgettable in her whinging, irritating role. Craig T. Nelson, on the other hand, goes totally over the top and crazy at regular points, which is pretty funny actually. Oliver Robins has one major scene and that's it, while Heather O'Rourke's cuteness and creepiness had almost totally worn off by now.

Zelda Rubinstein also returns but is relegated to a cameo, "stand back and watch" type role. Also turning up are Will Sampson as a useless Native American "advisor" and Geraldine Fitzgerald as an impossibly friendly grandmother. However, the film's biggest coup is in the casting of Julian Beck (who looks like an old version of Christopher Walken) as the evil preacher, who manages to make his evil role really creepy and scary and is by far the best thing in this film. It's just a shame that he died halfway through production and thus vanishes from the proceedings towards the end.

Although this film fails as a whole, there are a smattering of fun scenes which stop it from being totally worthless. A couple of slimy monsters turn up (one comes out of Nelson's mouth, the other just appears as a huge, slithering tentacled mess like something out of Lovecraft's worst nightmares) and are good value for money. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice a few connected names in the crew; firstly effects man Steve Johnson (one of the big SFX guys in the '80s) who made the creatures, secondly H.R. Giger being credited for the "designs" of the monsters, and who probably included the Lovecraftian element, and thirdly Screaming Mad George as a hired hand. These factors combine to make the monsters quite cool, although sadly they are seen only briefly.

Another good scare has a chainsaw levitating into the air before attacking the family (sheltering inside a car). This has some great special effects which make it a moment to remember. Sadly, another scene in which Robins' brace comes to life and tries to smother him is laughably bad, but original, it has to be said. This time around, a plastic pink toy telephone acts as Carol Anne's "link" to the other side, but not much is made of this plot device. The rotted corpses from the first film also pop up occasionally (out of cupboards, the ground, etc.) but don't make a lot of impact.

Probably the worst bit of this film is the ending, which rips off an effective scene in the first film but ruins it by showing everything. Thus we get to watch the family members float around an animated world in scenes which look incredibly fake and cheesy. The low point occurs when we see Carol Anne floating around, symbolised as an angel, or when she gets rescued by the ghost of her grandmother - a moment so bursting with sugary sentiment that I was very close to being physically sick. In the end, nobody dies either, not even the dog! These things make POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE a film which is just too family-orientated, and is in desperate need of more of the nastiness of the first film.