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Review of Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) by screenqueeen: 👎 2/5

the thirteenth night in the lonesome hooptober day 23 film 18 cat: 0

69/100

this sequel creates some issues with me. other than it just not being very good and focusing on copying too many of the larger, sweeping Spielbergian moments from Hooper's film* to substitute some chintzy storytelling, it doles out racist tropes early. immediately it leans in hard on tribal mysticism with Taylor's character but remains nameless during the whole film, which is probably worse than borrowing or cherry-picking from other cultures in that they didn't care to fabricate one or even try to. Sampson's Muscogee background goes disregarded or just smoothed out as just 'native american' within the scope of the film.

Kane is an interesting villain but nothing is really done to develop him beyond planting an origin and some expository bits about why he's so weird i guess. things end up being pretty much the same as the first film except there's no hidden gambit by anyone here, only a carbon copy from an older and worse film. i'm no fan of THE MANITOU but this seems to shameless rip it off to serve the climax of this film, in lieu of creating anything else original around one of the best event horror films of the 1980s. what credit this film started to build with creating a compelling progression of the mass grave the first film's circumstances created is quickly undone before the credits roll.

*i am not ever going to entertain an argument over this, please know that now