Day 31 POLTERGEIST & POLTERGEIST 2 THE OTHER SIDE

Here we are, at the end of all things.

Well at least the month and this list.

Ending on a questionable high note. I say questionable because I know people have, and will question this choice. This is another from my childhood, and another fascinating drama behind the scenes film.

There’s never been a definitive documentary of any kind, or book on the movie. The most you find is something made during the filming, which is very limited in information.  The most you’re likely to find is about ‘the curse’ of Poltergeist, mostly about the actress who played Carol Anne.

There’s been a lot of debate over who actually made the movie. Spielberg had wanted to do a haunted house film for a while but never seemed to get the chance with his other projects going on. He enjoyed The Texas Chainsaw massacre and thought to work with the director of that, Tobe Hooper. The two worked together and came up with the project Poltergeist. Steven was going to direct it, but there was a looming threat of a directors strike, and it looked likely that he wouldn’t be able to do so. So the duty fell on Tobe Hooper, and Spielberg would act as producer.

This is where the stories begin…

One of the biggest rumors of the film was that Toby Hooper was out of his element. He couldn’t handle directing a big production film. He also was on the biggest cocaine bender because, the man loved the white stuff. So Steven had to step in and salvage the film, so he was spotted a few times directing the film. Which pissed off Hooper and began a war between the one time friends and split the actors on set because you had those loyal to Steven claiming it was his film, that he directed it and Tobe couldn’t hack it. Then you had others saying no it was Tobe’s film, he directed the entire thing, it’s all him and Steven was trying to claim ownership.

There was also a story about how because of the directors strike and Steven not being able to direct it, he asked Tobe to pose as the director of the film, but Steven would film it in secret and release it as Directed by Tobe Hooper.

Watching the movie, and whether you grew up watching Spielberg’s films or saw one or two of them. You could watch Poltergeist and say a lot of it has Spielberg’s signature all over it.

The sad truth is no one will know past what simply is written on the credits of the film. Because neither director wanted to really talk about the movie after its release, and given the sensitive subject around the actresses death, not many who worked on it want to discuss it. So we’ll never get an in depth behind the scenes story or definitive answer.

All I do know, is that I loved this movie growing up, Still do. I remember the scenes that scared the bejesus out of me as a kid. But I ALSO very clearly and happily remember when my Grandma babysat me one night for my parents. I brought the movie over to watch, she allowed me to watch it up until the face melting off scene which is where she decided it was time to turn it off and deemed it to scary for me.

I still vividly remember it and love that.  

Whoever directed it, whatever happened. It’s a memorable movie now, and a good one at that. Even the sequel managed. Despite the problems it also faced. Mostly running out of money. The sequel was a bit too weird for people, but it still manages the scares, and a story for the family. It went into the characters more, though it ditched the teenage daughter, which I mean even the first movie did as well. But for different reasons this time.

The sequel gave us nightmares from H.R. Geiger, made me fear ever getting braces, and also attempted adding a new layer of wickedness to the story, shows us the power of family, and despite having spent its budget and not being able to make the ending they wanted. The movie still stands today as being creepy as hell and a worthy addition to the origina.

But we will get into that as well, It’s hard to pick which of these are my favorite because they both have equal footing, and always have. But getting on a technical level, the first one still has the better story on the whole. So let’s get sucked into that one, and return to a time when televisions have beautiful white noise static.

POLTERGEIST

This movie was one of the better displays of a typical family. It’s a nice neighborhood, typical houses of the time, and there were a few relatable moments though I can safely say I grew up never having to hear the national anthem being played and seeing stoic American pictures displayed on tv when the channel went off the air.

Which still gets me thinking TV just stopped. People today would not cope well with this.

So the movie starts off with the end of an evening for this family, I am semi relating to a bag of crushed nearly empty chips being a snack of choice as a kid, and also said back being left out, but I wouldn’t have that in bed, it was on the couch…once. Anyway that’s not important! What IS, is that their youngest Carol Ann is talking to the tv static. Which is concerning. More concerning when the static is talking back to her. See like I literally told my psychologist. It’s not crazy to talk to yourself, it’s crazy when a voice in your head argues with you. But she’s not crazy. She’s just receptive.

Speaking of crazy. During this static conversation a spooky ghost hand reaches out through the television set over to the sleeping bodies in bed. One of them must’ve farted because the ghost hand suddenly pulls back and yeets out of the room through the wall, creating a scorch mark near the ceiling. Causing the room to shake rattle and roll and the family to wake up. Finding their creeping daughter standing at the foot of the bed, giving us one of the tag lines for later and a fun repeatable line, “They’re here.”

The next morning we learn she was talking to who she called “The TV people”, we also get a lesson in ye old cat calling on a minor as workers digging the families pool in the yard start cat calling and flirting with their teenage daughter.  It was a different time. Mom has a moment ours certainly relates to when she discovers the kids pet bird has died on a day her two kids don’t have school, and now has to sneak it by them. Which she does not succeed at. Giving us another relatable scene, as the daughter informs then they need to hold a funeral service for her dead bird. She conducts the service in their backyard, and near its end, her brother ask the same thing I would’ve, and have I believe. “Can we dig it up and keep the skeleton?”

It was a different time, and a good time. Mostly.

So Carol Ann worries her mother. I mean rightfully so yeah? You wake up from an earthquake to see your kid staring at you and saying “They’re here!” Talking to TV people? That’s a one way ticket to the funny farm. Or I guess now counseling.

So Dad is a real estate salesman and top of his class. His family lives in one of the planned neighborhoods his company made and setup. Where the houses look nearly identical on the outside but inside as he tells us you can have a jacuzzi if you want! Why not live it up?

So returning home after a hard days work, Dad discovers the trash cans hadn’t been taken down. Dinner isn’t ready, and his wife is acting a but more funkier than usual. It might have something to do with all the chemicals in her hair care products. Of which there are many. But it likely has to do with the fact while cleaning their kitchen the chairs at their table stacked themselves up and freaked her out. Especially once her daughter told her it was the TV people that stacked them like that.

So as Dad arrives home, Mom pulls him into the kitchen. The table and chairs now moved out of the way. A red circle drawn on the kitchen floor, and an arrow.

Its funny because you would think she was seriously freaked out over this. But instead she’s really amused. Her husband has no idea what is going on. Just that now they have a mess in the kitchen to clean.

So she grabs their daughter as a test dummy. Slaps a football helmet on her as the child demands they have pizza for dinner. Sits her on the floor and….woosh! The little girl goes scooting across the floor, pulled by unseen hands.

Dad is now freaked out to hell and back.

Which makes it even funner that his wife, moments ago was talking about how no one but him, her, and their daughter know about this, and how their teenage daughter would freak out, while their son would miss 3 weeks of school to keep sliding along the floor. They’re a fun family and it adds to the movie. So the Mother Father team head over to their neighbors house to ask them. Well. Okay how do you ask your neighbors if they’ve experienced or been experiencing any paranormal phenomena. They just can’t manage it really and they lose it laughing.

This also is a very liberal family as the mother and father shared a joint in their bedroom the previous night. It was a different time.

So as the mother and father back in their home discuss what to do about what they’ve witnessed and discovered. The mom thinking very positively about it, while the dad is wanting to keep it under wraps. Things are about to get a lot funkier and scarier for them.

Starting with poor Robby. Robby is afraid of thunder, he’s also afraid of an ugly as sin, evil looking tree in their backyard. Which the dad tries comforting him on both fronts. He told Robby that the tree was an old guardian watching over them, and the house. Keeping them safe and would do so for many years to come. He also taught him how to find out how far away thunder is, to count down between strikes to discover if it’s moving closer in or further out. Which helps immensely.

Until tonight when counting thunder and looking at the terrifying tree. The tree suddenly sprouts to life and breaks the window in his room. Quickly grabbing the boy and dragging him off, literally attempting to slide him into its newly formed mouth. Early vore from the 80’s.

The dad rushes into action the best way he can when…..fighting a…tree.

Meanwhile during this fight, Carol Ann is having her own troubles. As her room begins to brighten up. Toys come to life around her and the closet door begins to glow wickedly. Before she knows it, there’s now a portal of light opened in her room. Sucking out 10lbs of glitter. Seriously how one room could have that much glitter in it I. I just don’t know. It’s insane. But along with the glitter goes poor Carol Ann. Sucked away into this vortex.

The parents after saving their newly traumatized son, begin looking for Carol Ann but no one can find her Not in the house, not in the pool. Nowhere. But Robby establishes communication. Through the TV. He hears his sister calling out to them all and he once again freaks out after he just thought the worst was behind him. The mother is informed of this, and is no longer giggling freaking out. But absolutely terrified.

At this point the only thing the family can think to do, is to contact paranormal experts. An older woman and two of her assistance. They interview the father about the house, his family, their daughter. He makes it very clear they don’t want any  news reports, fame, money. Anything. They just want their daughter back and to find out what’s going on.

It’s another funny scene as the research team enter the house and tell the husband and wife about things they’ve seen, miracles they witnessed. Mainly how they used time lapse photography  to show a toy car being moved a few inches and it taking several hours for it to do so. The dad is unimpressed and delivers them to their daughters former room. Which when the door opens contain flying toys, spinning records, and threatening protractors.

It visibly shakes the team, while the family? For them? It’s just a Tuesday.

The ghost team decides to stay and document events. Which begin with the family using their television set as a spirit box of sorts to talk to their daughter. Which works much to the mothers hopes, while freaking out their teenage daughter immensely. Seriously she is 10 seconds from running out the door.

But as mom tries coaxing Carol Ann to come to her and find a way out. The daughter informs them something is after her and she runs off screaming. Even taking off running toward her mother causing her to feel it in the living world, and swearing she felt their daughter pass through her.

As this activity is going on, one of the unluckiest investigators takes off for the stairway to take readings from the girls room. Only to return displaying what looks like the imprint of a bite mark. Which leads us into one of the more memorable, and the single grossest scene in the film.

As night comes on, the unlocky man who was bit, decides he could do with a small snack. So he takes off for the kitchen, missing out on a spike of ghost activity on their monitor. He famously raids this poor families fridge. Digging out a piece of chicken for himself to eat, and claiming one of their steaks! But before he can cook himself up a steak. He discovers the steak crawling across the counter. Which then begins to take itself apart at the core, and soon begins spitting out more torn up meat. He drops his chicken to the floor, glancing down at it, only to discover the meat covered in maggots. So he takes off to splash his face with water. As he does so. Something snaps and the lights begin to grow increasingly hot. This is where my grandma turned the movie off on me. He begins pawing at his face. His skin feeling weird, and before he knows it he’s clawing off his own face. Right down to the skull.

Meanwhile in a part of the house NOT taring itself apart in morbid visions. The other investigator begins playing back the tape they recorded of the earlier activity appearing on their monitor. We see a parade of spitirs walking down the families stairwell. Each of them looking to be from various time periods.

We also get a nice chat on life and eath from the female investigator leading the group. Describing to little Robby what it’s like when we die, what’s waiting for us, why some people stay behind. We also get Robby sharing with them his own thoughts on bringing his sister back. Thinking that if he died. He could find her and bring her back. Then realizing it means he wouldn’t be able to come back. Decides maybe they could tie a rope around him and he could use that to get her and come back.

All plausible and efficient ideas.

As morning rises, the woman leading the group informs the mom that she will be getting someone to help them out. A well known and powerful medium. Promising they will get their daughter back. She also informs us that Mr Get bitten rip your face off, will not be returning to the house. But that she will be, and will refill her flask while she’s at it.

Meanwhile dad gets a visit from his boss. His boss is worried he might be being courted by another real estate company, so they offer him partnership. A raise and a new home. He even takes him out to the site of these future homes. Which the dad entertains the offer for a bit, but informs him the fact it’s right beside a graveyard makes it a bit morbid. But his boss informs him those won’t be a problem soon.

This raises a good question from the dad. How would that not be a problem? Well. The boss informs him that they moved the cemetery before. They’ll do it again. Telling him that they moved the cemetery once before, from the very spot where their home sits in fact. This troubles the dad, as it rightly should. But he’s calmed by the boss who informs him “It’s not like its ancient tribal burial ground or something.” Yeah, about that….

This brings another scene I really enjoy. The introduction of Tangina. A cute little old lady who has come to kick ghost ass and knite cat tea cozies, and she’s all out of yarn.  She comes to investigate the state of the house, the powers within and if, how she could be able to help. The dad is skeptical, mostly because he judges her by her size. As he should not. For she has the force as her ally, and a powerful ally It is.

It’s fun because she lays down for the family what it is that’s happened. How the dead there see their daughter as a shining beacon, distracting them from the light, because they believe that’s what she is. A light that’ll guide them to the afterlife. But there’s something else there with her. A power and dark being, lying to her, gaining her trust, getting her to control the other spirits. Making her believe she is the light. It knows what the family is afraid of, it will use those fear to drive them away and kill them if it can. It’s scary and bad ass because even after telling the family about the horrors that await, she takes the moms hand and tells her with absolute certainty and confidence “Now let’s go get your daughter.”

This begins our battle of the souls. The only member of the original team and the lady in charge busy themselves numbering tennis balls and gathering rope. Tangina believe, if they venture into the childrens room, the room the ghost are trying to keep them all from. That inside the room is a portal. And if they can get to that portal that claimed their daughter. They can find where it exits out of and possibly rescue her. They begin tossing tennis balls through the portal and discover them falling down from the downstairs ceiling. They mark the exit and ready for the final stage of their plan. Entering into the portal and finding Carol Ann. Another fun seen as Tangina declares she will go through. But the mom volunteers herself. Tangina tells her “You’ve never done this before!”, to which the mom snaps back at her “Neither have you!” Tangina thinks about it and nods “Your right, you go, you go!” It’s reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark when Sala tells Indy “Asp, very dangerous. You go first.”

So mom goes boldly where no mom has gone before. Giving us one hell of a fright as the dad panics at one point worrying his wife is in danger and he might lose her, begins pulling on the rope to retrieve her. As he does so, the ghost in the portal fight back. A large ghastly skull with rotting flesh growls out at him. Dropping the rope in utter terror. Fearing he just let his wife go into a void of the dead. But she pops through downstairs! Covered in parfait and clutching their daughter. He grabs them up and takes them both quickly to the bathroom and a waiting tub. Where moments later after being cleaned up they breath again and are once again with us and safe. Allowing Tangina another famous line from the movie, “This house, is clean.”

But, is it?!?!

Nope, we still have 30 minutes left.

Enough time to see the family packing up to move out and move on

Mom decides to dye her hair as it’s become streaked with gray from her afterlife experience. Robby and Carol Ann are readying for bed, Dad is going to work so he can quit and gather a few last minute items. Their teenage daughter is still largely absent here.

Just as Robby is ready to sleep, he tosses a blanket at the creepiest clown toy in any movie ever. Which raises the question of, if it creeps you out that much, why keep it around? Well he ask himself that very question once he realizes the doll is no longer where it was sat and is now missing. Even worse, realizing it is now behind him and squeezing his neck.

Mom while blow drying her hair, lays back deciding it’s time for a bit of mommy ‘alone’ time. No I’m not joking about her masturbating. It literally was what the movie setup and was in the script. That the mom stops brushing and caring for her hair, scoots up to lay back on the bed, and was about to masturbate. It’s in the script!

Just as she’s about to rev things up. She hears her children screaming. But before she can react. Unseen ghost hands are holding her down and tugging her night shirt up. Dragging her across the ceiling even. It’s creepy and scary.

But it’s the mildest thing she’ll face. Next she’s tumbling around trying to get back into the house to save her kids. Slipping into a muddy hole where the pool will eventually be built. Prompting the scariest thing you could ever want to NOT IMAGINE GOING THROUGH! Coffins and decaying bodies begin popping from the mud and filled pool. The corpses almost seeming alive and crowding her, trying to take her down. But thankfully for her and her soiled underwear, her neighbors come to her rescue. Digging her from the pool of death. Only to head BACK INTO THE HOUSE! It can only go well right?

Especially once she frees herself and attemps getting to her kids. Trying to run for the doorway a monster appears and scares her bad enough she tumbles down the stairs. When trying to grab onto the railing of the stairs to run up, she’s jolted back by a burst of electrical current! But she soldiers through and runs up the stairs like a mommy freight train. Leading to a super creep shot of the hallway with her kids door at the end of it. As she begins to take off running toward it. The hallway begins extending, and extending, and extending. Until finally it stops and she burst into the room. Nearly getting pulled off into the newly formed pit of afterlife. Complete with tentacles and slime.

She’s all but cussing out the ghost and screaming profanities at them. Reaching out for her kids trying to create a kid chain. Outside the house, her husband is driving home, fiscovering the house has become an active holiday light show for the neighbors. His boss is not far behind and discovers the horror show. Including caskets bursting from the ground. Which prompts Dad to grab him by his suit and begin laying into him for only having moved the headstones, but not the bodies. Figuring this had to be WHY his house was spook central and the ghost were so pissed off (That is until the sequel)

Mom succeeds in getting her kids and herself out of the house and into the family roadster. Leading to one of the last two funny scenes. The family is loaded up in the car. Their teenage daughter is being dropped off by her friends. Discovering what’s become of the house and the fact it seems to be imploding, screaming “What’s happening!’ The son begins telling the dad “Just leave her!” They keep trying to get her into the car but she just wants to keep freaking out. I’m team Robby here lol.

But the family take off, never once looking back. Which is a shame as we see the house being swallowed up whole by the portal from the other world.

Ending with one more funny scene. The family checking into a hotel room for the night and closing the door. A few moments later the door opens and the dad is seen wheeling the tv out of the room leaving it outside, glaring at the TV then heading back inside to try and sleep. Music begins to play and credits roll.

It's a beautiful movie from start to finish. The music is great. The setting, family dynamic. The characters. All of it are well done, written and played out. You believe they’re a family and they don’t act like a typical Hollywood family, which is a good change. It’s also another point of comparison for people to state the family SHOWS you that Spielberg directed it. But again, who can say. What I can say though, is. It’s time to bring on a living dead man who manages to beat out Angris Scrimm as a creepy person in films. We’ll talk more about that shortly.

POLTERGIEST 2 The Other Side

This film immediately sets off on an adventure. Taking us from two native americans in the desert, holding a spiritual calling, setting in line events to come, and sending off one of the two, out to California. Off to the now destroyed site of the former Freeling house. Now looking more like a dig site.

Once there, Taylor our native friend meets with a familiar face. Tangina. Who begins showing him just what they’d uncovered from beneath the land where the house once sat. After the events of the first film, they began setting to work trying to determine how the house had so much power built up inside it to punch a hole from the other side, into our world.

The respect Tangina shows to Taylor gives the impression he’s better equipped to deal with what’s to come. She did after all(Though the film doesn’t say so) sent for him. He knew the call was coming as he’d had visions of the house and the bodies below it.It’s made very clear the two know a lot more about what happened there, and scarily enough, that it’s not done yet with the family. Even after they moved out.

Speaking of, the family is now living with the moms mother in law. The dad, no longer a sales person, finds himself struggling for work to support his family and decides fixing appliances, possibly selling them! Is his new calling. Which it isn’t. At all. Carol Ann wants to be an artist, while Robby is interested in baseball, as most boys apparently are in America at that age. I wasn’t. I was a gamer.

The family still religiously practices the ‘No-TV’ life style. Much to Robby’s disapproval. He’s actually convinced he will, as he says “Grow up retarded” without a tv. Which his dad tells him “You won’t grow up to be retardo” It was a different time…

It’s pretty funny, especially them dealing with the reality of what happened. The mother and father discuss how they should’ve lied on their insurance claims for the house to get money. Because being honest not only made them look like crazy people but, as the mom informs us. “The house isn’t there anymore, so it’s classified as missing.” So the Dad logically ask the question “How the hell can a house go missing?! Are they expecting it to come back?!” The mom is worried because she wants the family to return to a normal life. But the dad is convinced a new start is good for them. He’s bought into selling appliances and vacuums. He’s also stopped cutting his hair and decided to have a mid life crisis. We learn that The mother Diane, her mom is Clairvoyant. Which Carol Ann is as well. We also learn from their talking that their teenage daughter moved out and is on her own. The whole house situation having taken its toll on her and skipping out to college to live on her own, a year after what happened.

There’s a scene, I could skip over. Probably should skip over honestly. But I would hate myself for it if I did. It’s a quick meaningless to most scene. But it’s one I can relate to down to my core. The movie skips to the next day and the family is out shopping at the mall. Carol Ann and her mom are passing through a pet shop. Of which Carol Ann says to her mom “Mom, I talked to the kittens, and they want to come home with us.”

This speaks to me. As I too hear this from kittens everywhere, and I would take them home. All of them.

This also is worth noting actually. Not for the kittens alone. But because we meet a new character at this point. A man that materializes into our world. Carol Ann is the first to spot him and is immediately freaked out.  We all should be. The actor playing thie very old looking, nearly ancient preacher, Is the epitome of creepy. He ends up sneaking up on Carol Ann, leaving her frightened and speechless. Giving her  a genuinely creepy speech me and my sister used to memorize and still say to one another, and sing. The song is the creepy part, but also funny given it was parodied in a scene from the movie Scary Movie 2. He tries to calm Carol Ann, telling her he’ll sing to her until her mother comes. He takes her hands in his and begins swaying them as he sings “God is in his holy temple. Earthly thoughts, be silent now.  While with Rev’rence we assemble. And before his presence bow. He is with us, now and ever.”

Not exactly a charming cheerful song to calm someone but you know hey, why not?

Needless to say it creeps her out, and though it’s made somewhat clear from the first film. Carol Ann doesn’t have many memories of what happened while she was on the other side in the first film. But she does recall some moments. And this guy definitely is triggering one of those. His teleporting and dead look stare don’t help either.

What’s a bit sad as well in this story, is the mother and her relationship with her own mother. She never liked that her mother was clairvoyant. Let alone that she felt it was normal to be one. She liked it even less that she’d suggest to her that her daughter is one too and it’s  gift that should be nurtured. She is afraid Carol Ann will grow up teased and made fun of like she was, and she doesn’t want that for her. Especially after all she’s gone through.

The two end the talk on someone uneven ground and go off to sleep. That night Carol Ann hears her toy phone ring and answers it. On the other end is her grandmother. Telling her she’s passed on, telling her to be careful and be a good girl.

The next morning the kids wake up and find their mother crying as she learns her mother passed in the night after their argument.  Diane finds herself thinking back to her supportive and loving her mother had been toward her growing up and her own wishes to be the same for Carol Ann. But things are cut short as she finds herself dreaming and the dream turns dark. The once bright looking grass and flowerbeds, now replaced by darkness and bodies coming up from the ground to pull her down into the dirt with them. Waking up gasping from the dream.

Just in time to wake as Carol Ann receives another call on her toy phone. This time not from her grandma. But the spirits and their master from the other side. Immediately drawing clouds over the house and with it a tornado of ghost orbs in the house, all targeting and swarming over Carol Ann. The family goes on high alert and Carol Ann turns back to them to state the obvious, “They’re back”

The family readies to move out again, But they run into Taylor. Freaking the dad out and not stopping them from leaving to a nearby Diner to try and figure out what to do. During this scene the recently passed grandma decided to make her presence known. Talking through another Diner patron to tell her daughter they need to bond together, stay and fight it through. Which the dad does not care to hear what so ever. Returning to the home they were ready to leave, they find Taylor waiting and the dad grows more upset, not wanting to hear anything from him. The mother on the other hand wants to know why he’s there and not Tangina herself. He simply tells him that this? Is his kind of job. Nuff said.

Taylor may not be making friends. But he is a damn site less racist than the Freeling clan.

The dad has never seen or interacted with a native American, but he tries coming off as worldly and understanding. Telling his wife “I mean, I’ve read Bury my heart and wounded knee” I may have skipped a few chapters but I respect those people” Taylor also sleeps in their backyard, in a teepee. The mom finding Taylor applying paint to his face, to mark him as a man and to protect the house informs him that ‘wearing paint on your face doesn’t make you a man. That she wants to raise her son to belong and fit in, with a normal world. It was a different time.

Well it’s about time we checked in with the creepy preacher right? Right. So as rain begins to pour down like mad. Robby tries dragging Carol Ann into the house, But she’s not having it. She spots the singing smiling corpse of a man making his way up their driveway to the door. Greeting the family who somehow seem to have forgotten him. But he hasn’t forgotten Carol Ann. It’s here we learn his name is Kane. The Reverend Kane. The family takes off for the house. But the dad stays behind to hear out the Reverend before sending him off. He keeps trying his best to get into the house, constantly asking him to let him into the house. Wanting to discuss things inside he can’t from outside. But the dad sends him on his way. Not however before the mom begins having visions of the reverend and his apocalyptic cult. Singing his famous song while underground. In a cave, that seems to mirror the same one under their home. He’s seriously a genuinely creepy man, Before he was sent off by the dad he tried clouding his mind. Like a vampire the guy just wants to be invited into the house, past the protective barrier Taylor put up to keep them all safe. But he’s unsuccessful. For now.

After this week, the dad needs a break. So he breaks out the Tequila. Only to receive a lecture from Taylor, about being a man. Being strong to save his family, and needing to accept responsibility. For everything and his family. The dad doesn’t really care to hear it that much as he’s focused on the mezcal tequila in his hand.

Here comes the big spook of the movie. Lord has It stayed with me more than the melting face of the first film.

The setup is bed time. Robby is wanting to be alone in the bathroom to practice shaving, but without Carol Ann interfering or possibly mocking him. The dad is with Carol Ann and his wife, when a familiar event takes place. Robby is in danger, again. This time it’s not a tree. It’s his braces. His braces sprout wires that begin wrapping around his entire body and soon trap him holding him up to the ceiling. The wires reaching for a nearby power outlet. Nearly killing Robby and his dad. But they manage to find safety.

The dad charges down the stairs holding his son, shouting out for Taylor who was nowhere to be found to help them during this encounter. Instead they find him downstairs holding Carol Ann. Protecting her. He informs them of the obvious, which is a bit sad considering the family had a literal tree try to eat their son as a distraction to get at their daughter. He explains the same is happening now. That it wants Carol Ann. That is its ultimate goal. It wants to possess her and live again. Gathering more people to its death cult. I mean we can assume at least.

Thankfully Taylor has some backup to help his case. Tangina shows up! Here to have a chat with the mother, helping make sense of her visions of the Reverend and the people in the cave. We discover the Reverend was a medium, who lead his followers to California. Using his gift to get into peoples minds, make them belief he was a prophet and ultimately leading them to their deaths inside a cave. They tried leaving but he’d sealed the cave, fearing the loss of his followers. Carol Ann when she got pulled in through the television, was the brightest light those people had seen from The Other Side. They saw her as the true light that would lead them to salvation and the afterlife. Kane did not like this. He grew close to Carol Ann and tricked her to thinking he was friendly. Using her to keep his followers from the real light. Using her to keep them close to him, giving him back the hold he had on them before death. Giving us finally reason as to why she was taken and so important to these ghost.

 It’s a pretty scary though and knowing that spirit was so ticked about this that it’d punch through their world to ours to get her, and now it wants her back. Knowing he can get to them now. It has every reason to put the family on edge.

Taylor is doing his best to try and prepare the father to protect his family. But he’s on the sauce train and only half buys into what’s happening. Even after a spirit journey inside a sweatbox with Taylor. He still only half buys into things.

But it gives us a fun scene. The family attempting a normal dinner after Taylor and Tangina leave them. Feeling the dad has all he needs to keep the family safe. He tries cheering them up at the dinner table but everyone feels defeated. Funniest of all is his son Robby sitting at the table wearing a football helmet carrying a bat. Love this guy. He’s ready for shit to go down.

Speaking of. It’s about to go down, and in a truly creepy way thanks to the help and input of H.R. Geiger. The dad still can’t deal with failing his family in even trying to cheer them up. So he returns to drinking his tequila. At which point we learn the worm in the bottle, is alive and evil. Which had he looked to know, would’ve kept him from drinking it down. The moment he does. The worm begins to grow, and possess him. The Reverend Kane is now in their house.

No one seems to buy the dads behavior. Which is good. Given how rapey he gets with his wife, who accuses him of being drunk. He tries once more unsuccessfully. So he decides to begin preaching to her about her inner most darkest thoughts. Trying to tell her how he knows she thinks about how all their problems would go away if they’d gotten rid of their daughter. That she even thought about it when she was pregnant, upsetting her the more he talks. A true lesson of a man needing to know when to shut the hell up. But somehow she still has no idea something is wrong with him, Even when he’s on top of her smothering her in hurtful kisses and gropes, talking about god being in his holy temple. SHE HAS NO IDEA. THAT THIS MAN. IS NOT HER HUSBAND.

SO THIS IS CONSIDERED NORMAL?!?! It was a different time…

Thankfully she keeps repeating to him she loves him and it seems enough for the Dad to begin fighting back and pushing out the evil worm. If Robbies braces were the creepiest thing in the movie I remembered as  a kid freaking me out. Leave it to Geiger to give me nightmares with the creature that grows from the worm. An armless, legless skeletal monstrosity that crawls along the floor hurrying to get to Carol Ann, Taking the time to turn around and grin at the shocked parents.

Thankfully their daughter knew enough to seek safety and lock herself away. Especially given that creature did not evolve into a man beast. But a pillar of flesh and limbs, fighting and strangling the father. Until the dad remembers swallowing Taylors magical smoke and coughing it out on him. It might be a homage to Dune and The duke nearly dying thanks to a trap with a poisoned tooth. Or it’s just a creepy thing all together. Likely creepy all together.

The family faces a variety of scares and fears on their trek to discover their well protected and locked away daughter waiting in the family car. She is far from okay, and not ready to trust anyone. Good for her.

But family prevails in the end and they all get in the car, escaping for what is to be our final epic battle. I’d also before that like to comment on what a damn four star hero their dog is. That dog has survived two films, bravely bit into a power line to protect the family and keep it from shocking them, and STILL managed to SURVIVE and leap into the car for protection. The dog is a damn legend and deserves every good boy pat and hug possible.

You go dog.

So the Freeling family has returned to the site of their former home. Finding Taylor already there and waiting. Tangina too. But they are there for moral support. Mostly. It’s an odd choice given the first film Tangina knew how to handle things, seemed pretty in charge and how they went in the families favor. Then add to that the calling of Taylor to help them as well as this proved to be more than she could handle.

It’s interesting because it adds to the story and also gives it a bit of explanation to their choice on going with, the true power here being the family itself. They are experts in their field but Tangina, even with her skill and abilities. Only managed in helping the Freelings to discover how to bring back their daughter. But could not close the portal. Taylor was the next logical choice. He’s just as if not more powerful than Tangina. But in different ways. But even he admits. He cannot go save them. This is something the family must do. Only they can do. The father is key. He has to come to the rescue of his family, bring them together. He was the one that grew distant from them to begin with in this film. The first movie the mother was the hero. Only she could rescue her daughter. But to keep them safe the father needs to join back with his family and protect them. It’s something that grew through the films as they progressed, even if part 3 was a raging piece of shit. The message had always been about family, and the strength the parents played in it.

This is where the movie sadly fell flat. The ending.

The film ran out of its funding. So the original planned ending was never to be. Instead we get a very slapped together overly sweet fluffy ending. Which is sad considering everything that had been built up to this point. But it had its ending and we have to cover it. The family enters the cave and final resting spot of the cursed cult. Once entering the mother and daughter are swallowed up by Kane and his power, brought back to The Other Side. Taylor bow has to prepare the father and son to leap through a gateway he’s opened for them to find their family. But he warns them. Not to lose sight of one another or let go. Otherwise they risk being lost in an eternity within the Other Side.Father and Son leap in and struggle to find their mother and sister. Being thwarted by a giant semi badly puppeted stop motion ‘beast’ figure of Kane. The other side is made up to look like….distorted stretched out colors and light. Clouds and. Well watch Wrath of Khan and look at how the Nebula is shown in the film. That’s what the other side looks like.

So the family find one another but thanks to a tackle by Kane the monster they all go flailing off into the eternity. Only to be rescued by Grandma who is now an angel guiding the family together. Arming them once more with a powerful soul spear Taylor gave them. The family thrust the spear out to Kane the monster, as a single unit and their love destroys the monster. The Freelings return to the land of the living and Taylor is pleased as punch to find them.

The ending that was originally intended? Well allow me to share.

Once in the otherside realm. The father and son would’ve encountered the cult members that followed Kane to their deaths. The dad stands up to them and shouts out that they were all lied to. That Kane holds no power over them, that he didn’t know how to guide them into the light, He in fact tells them where the light is. Guiding them to it. Angering Kane and sending him out attacking the Father. Which is how the spear ended up missing in the first place. Kane moved to attack the son and claim him. But the father was able to guard him and take off for safety. The three go back and fourth running from Kane and Kane chasing them down. His power growing thin as his followers are gone and Kane focuses his attentions on Carol Ann. Solely on her. A battle breaks out between the family and Kane. Eventually ending with the mother, Carol Ann and Robby all about to be struck down, but the father reaches them in time, using the guardian smoke Taylor blew into his lungs earlier. Catching Kane off guard giving the family a moment of strength to stab at the beast and send it to its rest in the eternal. Tangina is there waiting above the cave to hug the mother and family. Telling her that she believes their lives will improve now. That they should know the cave is being closed off. The entire site where the house stood is being condemned and marked as a health risk. The mom ask Tangina if that means Kane is gone for good. She smiles and shrugs before going off in her car. Leaving the family hugging together and credits roll.

Instead we got what we got, and it ends with the family hearing from Taylor how their car is not happy, and would be happier with him. So the dad gives Taylor the keys to the car, and Taylor drives off. Leaving the family out stranded on the road. Chasing after Taylor needing a ride out of there.

I still count the sequel as being held right up there next to the original. Even if the ending dropped the ball because of reasons out of their control. It still built up to that moment a good story and film. We learned more about the family, what happened since the first film. We see them struggle and the father trying to come to grips with what his reality Is now. The movie adds some much needed heart and spirit that the first hinted at but didn’t explore too deeply, given it was focused more on the haunted house feature and setting up the family. So knowing they wanted to give us more to fill in those gaps makes it worth while.

We didn’t get Spielberg producing or being attached to this one. Or Tobe Hooper. After what happened with all the rumored behind the scenes stories about him screwing up his job. What we got instead were the two writers from the first one. That’s why a lot of the film feels like the first and continues the same moments of odd comedy and family relatability. It was just missing a bit of polish at times you would’ve gotten with Spielberg, and again. Money for the ending.

Also to address the curse of the film. People don’t really understand that the real reason the teenage daughter wasn’t back for this? Was because her former partner was….psychotic and killed her. The sequel actually had during its theatrical run a place card that dedicated the film to her. But was later removed. Not sure as to why. People died that were in the film. But people like to try saying it’s all related to some evil, some spirit from the set of the film. There’s even a show on Shudder which discusses that very topic about cursed films and they state the obvious for those who needed to hear it. People die on the sets of various movies. But you only ever hear about the ones concerning horror films because people want to believe it means there’s a curse. But when it happens on normal film sets. No one cares to call it a curse. Just what it is, a sad accident and life.

As these two films stand they are equals. They made a world and  a family with in it. They grew and became closer in the sequel. It felt as though it could’ve been directed by Hooper at times. It genuinely does. It’s a compliment not many films can carry or deserve. Believe me

It’s worth checking out and revisiting. However what is NOT worth revisiting is the depression well of failure that is Poltergeist 3. It destroys everything built up in the first two and makes it comically fucked up. Think about it.

The first film is the mother being the hero and resuing her daughter, then eventually both her children. She’s empowered by this and the family bonds, growing closer.

The second film the father has to save and protect his family. The whole point is about finding your strength, not giving in to self doubt and what it means to be a family. The mother and father together are strong, but the family is stronger.

The third film, the mother and father pawn Carol Ann off onto the mothers sibling. Because Diane the mom feels they’ll never have a normal life as a family. So they get rid of their daughter, letting them deal with her ghost problems.

It’s seriously hysterical. How do you go from YEAH FAMILY IS STRONG AND BEST! To FUCK OFF GHOST BITCH! Lol It’s just sad but so damn funny.

So again, check them out. Go down memory lane, and enjoy two very well done films. Or just watch and enjoy the first if you just can’t get back the fact the sequel is actually good and you remember it wrong lol.

Check it out!.