Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

Directed by Brian Gibson. Starring Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Will Sampson, Heather O’Rourke, Oliver Robins, Julian Beck, Zelda Rubinstein, Geraldine Fitzgerald. [PG-13]

Once more into the supernatural wringer for the Freeling’s, as they’re stuck shacking up with grandma for the time being, since insurance won’t cover a house that up and disappeared into another plane of existence (one of the film’s few enjoyable touches). But then granny croaks, an American Indian shaman (Sampson) arrives to protect little Carol Anne, a creepy old ghost comes a-callin’, and…well, the screenplay doesn’t bother trying to figure it out, so why should I? A plodding parade of Native American mysticism, spectral apparitions, possessions, clairvoyant mumbo jumbo, manifestations of ghostly rage, etc., without any of the creativity or goosebumps that made the first film work, not to mention a dodgy family dynamic that makes the Freeling’s less worthy of empathy and affection; for example, after going through the events of the original, why is the dad so skeptical for so long? Too many of the big effects sequences are silly (an entity made out of braces wire), gross (a “vomit creature,” per actual cast billing), or just embarrassing (the depiction of “the Other Side”), and instead of building to a substantial climax, the movie coughs its way to a rushed finale that’s likely to cause viewers to check their watches/phones even though this thing is only an hour-and-a-half long. Michael Grais and Mark Victor, who scripted the first movie with Steven Spielberg, wrote and produced this one by themselves.

36/100