Poltergeist 2: The Other Side

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This week, they guys were joined by a guest to finish out their Halloween Classics of Horror series for October! Their guest, an enigmatic and mysterious young man known only as "Trent" sat down and watched Poltergeist 2 with them, even though that was not the actual plan.

If you may recall, last week Derek said that they would be watching The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Unfortunately, the copy they had was garbage, so they had a little pow-wow and picked something that was equally movie-like.

Poltergeist 2 is the continuation of the Freeling family (Craig T. Nelson as Steven, JoBeth Williams as Diane, Oliver Robins as Robbie, and Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne) as they move in with wife Diane's mother (Geraldine Fitzgerald) until they can find a house to replace the one that ghosts ate in the last movie.

GHOSTLYNOMNOMNOM!

While out buying groceries, Carol Anne spots a creepy old minister (Julian Beck as Kane) who seems drawn to her. And while he appears to be just your average barely alive skeleton covered in skin, it quickly becomes obvious that this guy might be something else entirely...Something otherworldly. Especially when some walks directly through him without even noticing.

Not long after, while the family is having a nice, quiet lunch in the back yard, Kane shows up again. At first, he continues to try being nice, while also trying to hypnotise Steven with his gigantic, Tony Robbins-esque teeth. When Steven won't let him into the house, Kane straight-up loses his shit, screaming that everybody is going to die in that house. (This is known as a "Hard Sell" to your average door-to-door dispensers of Salvation.) Steven sends him packing.

I surely do need to wreck your crapper...

When a huge Native Anerican guy named Taylor (Will Sampson) shows up, insisting that he was sent by Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubenstein) -- the short-statured psychic that sort of saved Carol Anne's bacon last time -- Steven also wants to send him packing, as well, but Taylor convinces him to give up a small section of the backyard for a tent by promising to fix the family's station wagon, which has been acting up.

And to hook Steve up with some primo bud...

What follows is some Tai Chi with butterflies, and super-rapey tequila worm, and a garage full of tools that want the family dead. Also, poor Robbie, who spends most of his onscreen time just reacting to things, is almost electrocuted and eaten alive by his own braces. Man...Puberty can be a real bitch.

Now I'll never get to touch a boob!

When Diane's mother dies, the ghosts/spirits/creepy old big-toothed guy kick it into overdrive, and the family must head back to the site of their old house, where they hope to find some answers. Instead, they find Tangina talking cryptically (it's kind of her thing) about how she feels she's losing her edge, a cave filled with Kane's followers' skeletons, and, oh yeah, a big ol' murder ghost vortex that drags Diane and Carol Anne into it, leaving Steven and Robbie standing by helplessly until Taylor sort of shoves them into the fire where he's watching what's going on.

Give us a smooch!

Will Steven and Robbie save Diane and Carol Anne? Will Taylor fix the damn car? Will Tangina ever find a decent pair of sunglasses that aren't so huge they almost entirely cover her face? You'll have to wait and see!

Trent had never seen this movie before, and he was kind of impressed, although he feels like the effects could have been better.

Derek points out how little Tangina is given to do, and how it seems that, despite having gone through what the family did in the first movie, Steven has forgotten all of it and is also a little bit racist toward Taylor.

Jake disagrees with Derek, pointing out that this movie is a lot racist toward Taylor. Although he's supposed to have magical abilities, all of that is pushed aside when white guy Steven has to rescue his wife and daughter, and Taylore is instead pushed back to second banana and hander-outer of pointy sticks.

Larry liked the movie, and felt that it might have been just a bit too short in the budget area. The special effects, while still pretty good, weren't even close to on par with the ones in the original movie, and yet this one still managed to make twice its budget back in box office. So, obviously, some sort of Special Edition has to happen, right?

So put on some war paint, take some peyote, and hunker down in front of the warm glow of your speakers for this week's episode!