Poltergeist II: The Other Side

The majority of the central cast of the original Poltergeist reprised their roles, including Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams as parents Steven and Diane Freeling,[2] as well as Heather O'Rourke and Oliver Robins as Carol Anne and Robbie, respectively.[3] Dana, the eldest daughter of the Freeling family, was intended to appear in a sequence while away at college, but the sequence was scrapped as Dominique Dunne, the actress who portrayed her in the original film, had been murdered in 1982.[4] Zelda Rubinstein also reprised her role as Tangina Barrons, the psychic who assisted the Freelings in the original film.[3] JoBeth Williams commented that she was skeptical of making a sequel, but became convinced upon reading the screenplay.[2] Beatrice Straight was asked to reprise the role of Dr. Lesh from the first film, but she was ill and not willing to work at the time. Richard Lawson was also asked to reprise the role of Ryan, but his schedule clashed with MGM because he was busy filming the TV movie Under the Influence (1986) with Andy Griffith and Keanu Reeves.

The Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona appears in the film's opening sequence

Principal photography of Poltergeist II began in May 1985[5] in Los Angeles.[3] The original production schedule spanned 64 days.[3] A private residence in Altadena, California, served as Grandma Jess's Phoenix home, while tract homes in Encino served as a stand-in for the Cuesta Verde neighborhood.[3] The opening desert scenes featuring Will Sampson involving the Hopi obelisk were filmed at the Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Chinle, Arizona.[3]

For interior sequences that required elaborate effects, replicas of the Altadena residence were constructed on Stage 30 of the MGM Studios in Culver City, California.[3] The studio's Stage 27 was used to construct the desert sweat lodge visited by Craig T. Nelson and Will Sampson's characters, as well as the cavern in which the film's finale takes place.[3] Commenting during the shoot, JoBeth Williams said: "It hasn't been as physical as the first film. We don't have as much mud and goo; there is more of the sort of psychological terror, although certainly there will be a lot of effects."[2]

Swiss surrealist artist H. R. Giger was commissioned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to create several designs for the film,[5] specifically the "Great Beast" manifestation of Kane that appears in the astral plane during the film's finale.[3] Because Giger did not want to leave Zurich for long periods of time, his colleague Cornelius De Fries was hired to represent Giger at the studio during production.[6]

Giger was ultimately disappointed with the end result, later attributing the failure to his lack of presence. "When the movies eventually came out I thought, 'Oh shit.' But I couldn't change it," said Giger. "There was no more time. So I thought that was the wrong way to work. If you work on a film you have to be there all the time and be always looking at what they're doing otherwise they'll do what they want."[7] Only two of Giger's designs appear in the final cut of the film, including "The Great Beast" version of Kane.[3]

After actor Julian Beck's death, voice actor Corey Burton was brought in during post-production to loop some of his lines.[8]

The musical score for Poltergeist II: The Other Side was composed and conducted by composer Jerry Goldsmith, who had written the Academy Award-nominated soundtrack to the first film. Though "Carol Anne's Theme" returns from the first film's soundtrack, the score for The Other Side consists of mostly new material blending traditional orchestral elements with new electronic sounds. The soundtrack album has been released five times: through Intrada Records and Varèse Sarabande in 1986, Intrada in 1993, a deluxe edition by Varèse Sarabande in 2003, a 2-CD set from Kritzerland in 2013, and a 3-CD set from Intrada Records in 2018.[9]

Released theatrically on May 23, 1986,[3] Poltergeist II grossed $40,996,665[10] at the United States and Canadian box office. Internationally it grossed $33.9 million for a worldwide total of $74.9 million.[11]

Nina Darnton of The New York Times wrote that "the movie, like most sequels, has no reason for existing beyond the desire to duplicate a financial success. There are no hanging threads left over from the first tightly woven script that can be pulled out and reworked. Instead, the film seems like a string of special effects held together by a far-fetched storyline with an unsatisfying sticky-sweet ending."[12] Variety stated, "Script has enough humorous breaks and high-wire moments to make up for some of the expository sections in the dialog. While the payoff is a bit weak and less tension-filled than would be expected considering what the Freeling family has just endured, tech credits from beginning to end look like they cost a mint, and filmmakers probably figured they had to stop somewhere."[13] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1 star out of 4 and wrote that director Brian Gibson "simply runs the family through a maze of Indian rituals, ghostly vapors, and astral projections. Lots of sound and fury signifying you know what."[14] Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times stated, "The trappings of 'Poltergeist II' are fairly effective: Jerry Goldsmith contributes another eerie score, and H. R. Giger ('Alien') has dreamed up some loathsome monsters ... But the second film never has the hardness or urgency of the first."[15] Paul Attanasio of The Washington Post wrote, "There are movies that make you want to mince words, and then there's Poltergeist II: The Other Side, a movie so ineffably bad, you can't even find the words to mince."[16]

As of November 2021, the film holds a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 54 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "They're back, but this hollow sequel retains none of the charm or suspense that made the original Poltergeist such a haunting specter".[17]

MGM released Poltergeist II on DVD on August 26, 2003, in a double feature collection along with Poltergeist III. To date there has been no standalone DVD release of the film in Region 1. On September 13, 2011, MGM released the film on Blu-ray.

MGM has also released the film on DVD in Region 2 and Region 4. It was released in the UK on October 23, 2000, and in Australia on September 1, 2006. A double feature pack containing Poltergeist II and III together was released in Region 4 on November 8, 2010.

On January 31, 2017, Scream Factory released a Blu-ray Collector's Edition of the film including new commentaries and featurettes.[19]

The novelization, titled Poltergeist II: The Other Side, was written by James Kahn and published by Ballantine Books in 1986.[20] The cover features an image similar to the film's poster.

The book also better explains many of the unexplained things in the film. The older sister Dana is said to be away at college. There is a better establishment of the psychic powers in Carol Anne, Diane, and the grandmother, which is what attracts Kane.

The absence of Dr. Lesh is explained. Tangina spent time post the first film exploring the plane between worlds and encountered Kane. She reached out to Lesh in her dreams who was drawn in and died. Making Tangina's guilt over her failure double. Thus Tangina reached out to Taylor for assistance. Taylor was a descendant of a former member of Kane's cult that left before they sealed themselves in the cavern. Thus explaining his connection and inside knowledge of Kane.