The Freeling family have a new house, but their troubles with supernatural forces don't seem to be over.The Freeling family have a new house, but their troubles with supernatural forces don't seem to be over.The Freeling family have a new house, but their troubles with supernatural forces don't seem to be over.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 5 nominations total
JoBeth Williams
- Diane Freeling
- (as Jobeth Williams)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe only family member absent from the film is Dana, who according to the script is off at university, but a scene explaining away her absence was never filmed. Dominique Dunne was murdered by her boyfriend John Thomas Sweeney (who later changed his name to John Maura and disappeared) shortly after "Poltergeist (1982)" premiered. Ultimately, no mention is made of Dana in the final film, or of her being in college. It was decided by the filmmakers to retire the character and not recast her out of respect for the deceased actress and her family.
- Goofs(at around 38 mins) When Kane walks up the lawn toward the house, it begins to rain. As Diane runs out to get Carol Anne, Diane's hair is already wet. Then moments later when she talks to Kane on the porch, her hair is dry. The next scene shows her walking into her bedroom, and her hair is damp again.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits take nearly five minutes to play out.
- Alternate versionsIn the post-2003 prints, the MGM logo is plastered with the 2001 variant and also features the closing MGM logo.
- ConnectionsEdited from Poltergeist (1982)
- SoundtracksIf I Fell
(uncredited)
Written by John Lennon (uncredited) and Paul McCartney (uncredited)
[sung by Craig T. Nelson (uncredited) to JoBeth Williams]
Featured review
In this follow-up to Poltergeist, the Freeling family call on the big Native American fella from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to help them once again defeat evil malevolent spirits that seem to not like them very much.
As with virtually all sequels this one is inferior to the original. However, the first film wasn't all that great and this one isn't a complete washout either. The story is modified somewhat from the first episode so that now the source of the poltergeist unrest is attributed to the dead followers of a cult leader, as opposed to the dead disturbed by unscrupulous property developers. The change has really only been made so that they can have a sequel to be perfectly honest, however, it does mean that the series is able to introduce the evil Reverend Kane. Kane is probably the best character in the series and his scene where he confronts the Freeling family on their front porch is the scariest and most well-crafted moment in any of the films. Julien Beck is excellent and unforgettable as the skeletal preacher. The rest of the cast play it strictly by numbers, although once again Heather O'Rourke is fab as the little girl. The other daughter is completely written out of this film with no explanation. Although it's a well documented fact that the actress who played her, Dominique Dunne, was murdered shortly after the first film was released, I still don't think it would have trashed her memory to have explained her absence; quite the opposite in fact.
The Poltergeist series was perhaps most famous at the time for its spectacular visual effects and this film is no exception. The demon Kane is a well rendered creation, and there are a number of cool 80's effects throughout. Unfortunately, though, it all ends in a somewhat underwhelming finale where the family enter some vortex or something. I think it would have been better if they had cut back on the special-effects here and simply re-introduced Reverend Kane, as he was much scarier. But I guess having a big effects-laden ending is one of the in-built rules of the Poltergeist movies sadly.
Overall, there's good stuff in this sequel but it's ultimately squandered on a rubbish ending.
As with virtually all sequels this one is inferior to the original. However, the first film wasn't all that great and this one isn't a complete washout either. The story is modified somewhat from the first episode so that now the source of the poltergeist unrest is attributed to the dead followers of a cult leader, as opposed to the dead disturbed by unscrupulous property developers. The change has really only been made so that they can have a sequel to be perfectly honest, however, it does mean that the series is able to introduce the evil Reverend Kane. Kane is probably the best character in the series and his scene where he confronts the Freeling family on their front porch is the scariest and most well-crafted moment in any of the films. Julien Beck is excellent and unforgettable as the skeletal preacher. The rest of the cast play it strictly by numbers, although once again Heather O'Rourke is fab as the little girl. The other daughter is completely written out of this film with no explanation. Although it's a well documented fact that the actress who played her, Dominique Dunne, was murdered shortly after the first film was released, I still don't think it would have trashed her memory to have explained her absence; quite the opposite in fact.
The Poltergeist series was perhaps most famous at the time for its spectacular visual effects and this film is no exception. The demon Kane is a well rendered creation, and there are a number of cool 80's effects throughout. Unfortunately, though, it all ends in a somewhat underwhelming finale where the family enter some vortex or something. I think it would have been better if they had cut back on the special-effects here and simply re-introduced Reverend Kane, as he was much scarier. But I guess having a big effects-laden ending is one of the in-built rules of the Poltergeist movies sadly.
Overall, there's good stuff in this sequel but it's ultimately squandered on a rubbish ending.
- Red-Barracuda
- Mar 16, 2010
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Poltergeist II. Juegos diabólicos II
- Filming locations
- 1589 Homewood Dr., Altadena, California, USA(Gramma-Jess's house)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $19,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $40,996,665
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,357,190
- May 26, 1986
- Gross worldwide
- $40,998,097
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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Top Gap
What was the official certification given to Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) in Brazil?
Answer