Poltergeist II - The other side

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Movie
German title Poltergeist II:
The other side
Original title Poltergeist II:
The Other Side
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1986
length 91 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Brian Gibson
script Michael Grais
Mark Victor
production Michael Grais
Mark Victor for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
music Jerry Goldsmith
camera Andrew Laszlo
cut Thom Noble
occupation

Poltergeist II (original title: The Other Side ) is an American horror film of director Brian Gibson from 1986. It is the sequel to the film Poltergeist by Tobe Hooper from 1982. The leading roles are with JoBeth Williams , Craig T Cast Nelson and Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne.

action

The Indian Taylor is called by the medium Tangina Barrons to the excavation site under the destroyed Freeling house and goes down with her into a dark cave where they find decayed skeletons. Tangina senses a dark and evil power and suspects that something terrible must have happened here. Taylor wants to know from Tangina where the Freeling family now live.

A year has passed since the terrible events at the Freelings' house. After their escape, the family lives with Diana’s mother, Jessica, who owns a house in the country. Since then, Carol Anne's supernatural talent has not made itself felt. However, the grandmother senses that Carol Anne is very special and has the same ability to see things as she. The next day, in the mall, Carol Anne meets the creepy old man in a hat for the first time, whom she painted the day before. Carol Anne draws supernatural things that only she can see, terrible things of ghosts and demons. Jessica tries in vain to explain to Diane what these drawings mean, but Diane doesn't want to know anything about them at first because she doesn't remember this cruel time and doesn't want to admit that Carol Anne also has the ability to see things that to remain hidden from others.

One night, Carol Anne's toy phone rings and she talks to her grandmother Jessica, who dies that night. The next morning, Diane tells her children that Grandmother left them that night. Some strange things happen the following night. Diane has a terrible nightmare of zombies attacking her and a dark cloud is brewing over the house. Carol Anne's toy phone rings again, and again she appears to be on the phone with her grandmother. Suddenly the toy goes crazy and the whole house starts to vibrate and rumble. The Freelings are just about to flee the house when Taylor suddenly appears at the door. The family members jump into the car and drive to a dinner. There they meet Taylor again, who explains to them that he can help them. He blesses and cleans the house and tells them that he can protect it for now.

But the next day the eerie old man in a hat reappears and asks to be admitted. He introduces himself as Reverend Kane and says he just wants to talk to them and warn them about Taylor. Out of nowhere, Diane gets visions of this strange Reverend she sees in a cave. Meanwhile, Kane is still trying to convince Steven to let him into the house before it's too late; but Steven manages to resist his persuasion and Kane disappears. Taylor, in turn, points out to Steven that this man is responsible for what is happening to them and that he will come back.

In the evening, the evil enters the house unhindered and attacks Robbie first. Then Kane makes himself - now as a Poltergeist - noticeable and scares the family with the statement that he is not dead and that she could not save Carol Anne. Taylor explains to the Freelings that the spirit is an evil soul of a demon who does not want to admit that it is dead and now invades this world in order to use Carol Anne to pass into the light.

The following evening, the demon then takes possession of Carol Anne's father Steven to make him submissive and to bring Carol Anne to him and kidnap her into the afterlife. The plan fails because of Steven's love for Diane. Now the demon shows his real face in the form of a terribly ugly monster and forces the Freelings again to leave home and property behind.

The family, determined to defeat evil once and for all in order to be able to live in peace again, sets out to find a new home again. First, however, they drive to the ruins of their house and descend into the depths together with Tangina to face the dark forces and fight the demon. You will now find dozens of skeletons of the people who died down here. Many years ago the fanatical believer Kane led a group of people into the cave by tricking them into thinking that the end of the world was imminent and would not let them go. He blocked the exit of the cave; the people could no longer free themselves and had to suffocate in agony. Now these restless souls, whose life has been so cruelly stolen, want to bring Carol Anne to them, so that she can lead them into the light to find their peace. But Kane wants to prevent that and takes Carol Anne and Diane to himself. Only the love of her family can save her now. Taylor also comes along and uses his magical powers to help drive the demon away. This now again seizes Carol Anne and pulls her into the afterlife. But suddenly the ghost of Grandma Jessica appears and brings Carol Anne back to her family.

As a thank you, Steven rushed to give away his old rickety car to Taylor. As it drives away, the Freelings realize that they don't know how to get away from the horror. Taylor is too far away to hear her calling.

production

Shooting and Success

Shooting with a budget of around 19 million US dollars took place in Canyon de Chelly Chinle ( Arizona ) and Red Rock Canyon State Park Cantil ( California ) , among others . The design of the demons comes from the Swiss surrealist H. R. Giger . Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) produced the film and also took over the distribution. In the USA alone, the film grossed around 12.3 million US dollars and a total of around 41 million US dollars on the opening weekend from May 23 to May 26, 1986. This even surpassed the opening result of the first film, which only grossed 7 million US dollars on the opening weekend in the United States , but only ran in about half as many cinemas. Ran Poltergeist I only in 890 US movie theaters, it brought Poltergeist II in 1590. The overall box office earnings of Poltergeist I , US dollars in the US alone approximately 77 million earned, could Poltergeist II not reach but ultimately - not even the longevity in the cinemas; Poltergeist I ran in US cinemas for 22 weeks, 16 weeks longer than its successor, which was removed from the program after just six weeks. So the first film remains the most successful of the series.

After catastrophic test demonstrations, the studio ordered extensive post-processing. The film was cut from a total of 130 minutes to 91 minutes without director Brian Gibson's approval. All cuts concern almost exclusively dialogue scenes, including some important ones that describe the past year between parts 1 and 2 as well as Tangina's obsession with finding out the truth, and further information about Kane and his sect and a short explanatory dialogue, Dana's daughter Absence explained that she was now attending college elsewhere. Apparently, however, this measure saved the film from a disaster, because according to several employees, director Gibson was characterized by his lack of talent and his irrational decisions , so that Poltergeist II could only be saved through post-production.

publication

Poltergeist II was released in US cinemas on May 23, 1986 and in German cinemas on September 18, 1986. Poltergeist III - The Dark Side of Evil followed in 1988 .

Deaths

Actor Will Sampson (Taylor) died about a year after the film premiered as a result of complications from heart surgery. The actress Dominique Dunne (Dana) was murdered by her ex-boyfriend six months after the premiere of the first Poltergeist film. There was also a death in the context of the film Poltergeist III - The Dark Side of Evil when the twelve-year-old Carol Anne actress Heather O'Rourke died after an emergency operation for an intestinal obstruction.

The role of Reverend Kane was taken on by actor and performance artist Julian Beck , who died of stomach cancer in September 1985, one month after the main shooting ended.

Awards

  • 1987 were John Bruno , Richard Edlund , Bill Neil and Gary Waller with the film in the category "Best Visual Effects" for the Oscar nominated.
  • At the Saturn Awards there were nominations in the categories “Best Horror Film” and “Best Special Effects”.
  • Furthermore, it was Jerry Goldsmith at the BMI Movie and TV Awards with the BMI Movie Music Award awarded in the category "Best Original Soundtrack".
  • There were further nominations for Heather O'Rourke at the Young Artist Awards and for Zelda Rubinstein in the category "Worst Supporting Actress" for the Golden Raspberry .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on deleted scenes on poltergeistii.poltergeistiii.com
  2. ↑ Information on post-production on poltergeistiii.com

Web links