By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I love the three POLTERGEIST movies from the original series. Admittedly, the first is the best, but I personally find the highest level of enjoyment from the third. I love horror movies with mirrors. That said, the second sits with me the most, and that’s because of one man…. one mean, old, scary dead man. Rev. Henry Kane (Julian Beck) scares the bejeezus out of me and he always has.
For those who haven’t seen it, allow me to fill you in on the plot. After all, this is a review – kind of. The Freeling family is back, minus the eldest daughter as sadly the actress from the OG was murdered in real life. I gotta say it was a class act on the part of the filmmakers not recasting her. I appreciate things like that!
Steve (Craig T. Nelson) and Diane (JoBeth Williams) with their son Robbie (Oliver Robbins) and young daughter Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) are pretty much flat broke. They’re staying with Diane’s mom Jess (Geraldine Fitzgerald), but shortly after moving in Jess dies. Carol Anne knows before anyone else as she gets a phone call on her toy telephone from who she believes is Jess. Shit is about to get real as Jess isn’t the only spirit contacting the young girl.
Rev. Kane is first introduced as Carol Anne wanders off by herself while Diane is walking around. Seriously, Diane?! What the fuck? After what happened to your kids, pay attention you crazy bitch!
Rev Kane shows up and starts talking to her. He sings in this chilling voice that is hauntingly chipper. It’s purposely affected and brilliantly portrayed by Beck. He had this way of making the audience see the evil that lurked underneath the character.
Now as super brave as I am, Kane scares me! He always has! Imma punch that old fucker in his face if he comes around kids while I’m there. Sing your bullshit tunes elsewhere! Get to stepping – you demon ghost bitch. Maybe, I’ll be a paranormal investigator. With tactics like that, I may have a knack for it.
Now the Rev’s back-story is a cool one. It’s actually one I wish was fleshed out more. What we know is that the dude was a crazy ass cult leader with actual special powers. He brought his followers into the catacombs and killed them. Usually, I’m all for cult leaders but this dude didn’t even give his members Kool-Aid or Nikes before putting their lights out. Lame!
Carol Anne is smarter than her mom and has better intuition. Whereas Diane sees an eccentric elderly gent, Carol knows Kane is an evil motherfucker.
Meanwhile, Steve is going thru an existential crisis. He doesn’t feel like a man because of everything that’s going on. First asshole ghosts, then finding out they only moved the headstones and they didn’t move the bodies and now he’s poor – the man is dealing with a lot. Just when things couldn’t get worse, short little weirdo Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein) sends over a Native American shaman Taylor (Will Sampson). Taylor makes Steve even more insecure in his role as patriarch. Fuck Tangina! I always hated that bitch.
Now, I’m 25% Cherokee, but Taylor is the real REAL deal. He works in fire magic, visions and all that jazz whereas Steve is running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to save Robbie from demonic braces that grow out of his head and nearly suffocate him. Robbie even starts looking up to Taylor and wears war paint.
So Steve is a pretty beaten man, when Kane stops by. Do you believe the Rev was just in the neighborhood? Imma don’t. That old bitch is stalking Carol Anne. He gets in Steve’s head and starts talking trash about Taylor. Taylor and the Rev have some eternal heat going on. They’ve been fighting for generations….or something. It’s not completely explained, but this is a battle that’s been going on for ages.
When the Rev shit talks Taylor to Steve, Steve nearly buys it. Thankfully, he momentarily snaps back into reality and then Kane blows everything by losing his cool. He bangs on the door and screams, “you’re all gonna die!!!” Not very subtle, Rev. I like to think of him in that scene as a crazy Jehovah’s Witness. I like him a little bit when I do that. I’d be a Jehovah’s Witness if that was the door-to-door protocol.
Steve sinks deeper into depression and ends up drinking straight-up tequila, worm and all. A demon takes over and he throws up this really cool looking creature. H.R. Giger, the special effects guru from ALIEN (1979) did the designs for POLTERGEIST II. Sadly, he wasn’t there when the actual effects were put into fruition so much of his eye, attention to detail and overall feel is all but lost. The one exception is this scene. It’s neat and looks quite a bit like what Giger intended. I love it! Its smile is just fucked up and horrifying.
In the end, Kane takes Carol Anne because she can help him capture more souls on the other side. The whole family jumps in to save her and bring her back as Taylor tries to help them while Steve reclaims his manhood by working together to rescue his fam.
I like this flick, but I’m fully aware that Kane makes this movie. Beck’s portrayal is so disturbing, but he nails every moment.
Though, certainly not as good as the first and not nearly as fun as the third, POLTERGEIST II still delivers a movie worth a watch. It has a few of the scariest scenes in the series, including one with a porcelain doll that moves on its own. It’s not as in your face as the clown in the first, but Robbie’s brace fiasco makes up for that a bit.
Currently, this is on PRIME and HULU so watch it if you’re bored or just in the mood to see Craig T. Nelson. That man is cool shit.
Scared Stiff Rating: 6.5/10
