Poltergeist II: The Other Side

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) is the second entry in the Poltergeist film series. It attempted to explain in greater detail why Carol Anne was targeted, and introduces the sinister Reverend Kane.

Tropes used in Poltergeist II: The Other Side include:
  • Adult Fear: Carol Anne gets separated from her mom at the store, at which point Reverend Kane approaches her...
  • And I Must Scream: Kane and his cult sealed themselves into a cave because he was predicting the end of the world. The date for the supposed apocalypse came and went, but Kane didn't let them leave. Judging by the placement of all the skeletons in the cave, they were trapped down there until they starved to death.
  • Braces of Orthodontic Overkill: Well, they were fine until the wires tried to eat him.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Dana is not in the second film because the actress playing her was dead and no explanation is given for where she is. The original script had a line mentioning that she was away at college but the scene never made it to the final film.
  • Magical Native American: Taylor.
  • Mean Character, Nice Actor: Julian Beck was one of the most loving people on Earth. One of the saddest things about Poltergeist II was that Beck was literally dying of cancer during the filming, and it shows.
  • Orifice Invasion: The second movie shows why you never swallow the tequila worm.
  • Retcon: The second movie reveals that the angry ghosts weren't from the desecrated cemetery under the Freelings' house, but rather from a cavern, containing the remains of an ancient religious cult, located UNDER the desecrated cemetery under the Freelings' house.
    • This troper had figured that the souls from the cemetery were indeed present and pissed, because the grave goods that came through the ceiling were of recent origin. It's the monster ghost, Kane, whose backstory the second film filled in. So, no Retcon, just expanded history.
  • Sinister Minister: Reverend Kane. He is the Beast