GREGORY’S DOUBLE FEATURES Presents HALLOWEEN HORRORS, Vol. 1, Entry 3: FINE, GO INTO THE LIGHT, WHATEVER
GREGORY’S DOUBLE FEATURES
Presents
HALLOWEEN HORRORS, Vol. 1, Entry 3:
FINE, GO INTO THE LIGHT, WHATEVER: POLTERGEIST II (1986), and POLTERGEIST III (1988)
(Hey, what’s Wednesday, if not a bonus Tuesday?)
Strip mining the ’80s, à la Stolen Things, or The Goldbricks, is a practice I find distasteful; having been there (and then) myself, I prefer not the latter-day exploitation of that era, but the genuine article: in this entry, the two original Poltergeist sequels. Billed on the back of this shared DVD case as “TWO OF THE SCARIEST MOVIES EVER MADE,” cause is given to chortle, and yet these are undeniably two ambitious, strange, and altogether freaky films, which, for sheer entertainment value, prove more than adequate. (I want to see that rave on a movie ad: “More than adequate!”) Dissed and dismissed in their day — before “dis” was common parlance — these two directly related but in many ways dissimilar productions are likely to hook you and keep you watching, plus they prove truly gratifying in their intrinsic, unassuming ‘80s-ness.
Thanks to unabashedly geeky magazines you disastrously can no longer find in pharmacies and supermarkets, I was aware of the original Poltergeist before its release — but speaking zero German, I devised for it my own pronunciation: “PAHL-ter-GEE-ist.” Upon viewing, I quickly amended this gaffe, and fell in among those singing its hosannas, particularly for the guy who tears off his own face with not-official-director Steven Spielberg’s hands. (We were several years away from the ol’ Information Superhighway, as well as “WTF,” so we couldn’t look it up, but somehow we knew, and that was the feeling.) As for who directed what, I wasn’t there, but Tobe Hooper is officially credited and proved himself good at this sort of thing, while it was initially Mr. Spielberg’s idea, and since “evinces” is a great word, I can wholeheartedly declare that the production evinces that suburban enchantment associated with Mr. Spielberg’s later-early work. Anyway, however you pronounce it, Poltergeist impressed in its day, and as innumerable pimply wannabes these days chant their refrain: “It still holds up!”
While the largely unloved 2015 Poltergeist remake draws no similar praise, multiple television viewings bursting with commercials advertising both tortured animal flesh and toxic medicines to counteract its post-consumption ill effects have allowed me to like yet another movie which critics aren’t supposed to like. As an actor, Sam Rockwell can do no wrong (upstaging Downey, Jr. in Iron Man 2, but also check out Choke), and he leads a capable cast in this generally respectful Poltergeist retooling (they renamed the girl), which in my sometimes humble opinion might’ve proven more successful among both critics and casual viewers sans same title (a recurring Hollywood problem), but succeeds on its own merits as a glimpse of a family under siege from forces they cannot, at first, comprehend. Yes, I like the remake. Invite me to your parties anyway.
Sharing a Rotten Tomatoes score — however you value a consensus devoid of personal taste — is Poltergeist II: The Other Side (full title), which rocks a great big 30% approval rating among, um, professional critics. Pretty sure I saw this one with a friend who later moved to Minnesota (in that age BRT: Before Rotten Tomatoes, we also shared Predator [years later: 45%], and Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise [years later: 7%] — don’t blame us; Mom won free passes), so this one’s for you, fellow.
Well I recall the sensation of “How is there a new Poltergeist movie?!” mixed with “Who’s that creepy old cracker?!” And, well, we found out. Four years in real time but one year in reel time after the first movie, with daughter Dana out of the picture because actress Dominique Dunne was murdered in 1982 (info online), Poltergeist II finds the rest of the Freeling family (JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Oliver Robins, and of course Heather O’Rourke as “Carol Anne”) struggling a bit in grandma’s house in “Phoenix, AZ” (Altadena, CA), as various bogeys plus supercomposer Jerry Goldsmith come after them again. Some of this is excellent (spiritual stuff, creepy toys, young Mr. Robins alternating between petulance and panic plus attacked by his own braces, Mr. Goldsmith’s score ranging from “Carol Anne’s Theme” to mystical synth to nearly revisiting The Omen), and some of this is only to be endured (lots of topless Mr. Nelson, plus he croons the Beatles’ prettiest song). But in sum director Brian Gibson holds court admirably.
As an extension and expansion of the story but featuring familiar motifs, I like Poltergeist II the way I’d like Ghostbusters II three years later: both deliver on the promise of, “You like this stuff? Okay, here’s more of it, no obnoxious overhaul, just a few new twists.” Works for me. This time, we learn that the “Beast” that, uh, came out of the closet in the first movie, has taken the form of the aforementioned cracker (Julian Beck, mortally ill during production, and looks it), as a demented preacher (is there any other kind?), who — via an info dump from Poltergeist’s psychic heroine Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubenstein) — led his utopian cult to California in “the early 1800s” before photography was publicly available (historically, first group photo: 1839), thus of course she conveniently has a group photo ready to share with the family matriarch — whose own matriarch (Geraldine Fitzgerald) abruptly dies of natural causes, but not before hinting that she, her daughter, and her granddaughter Carol Anne share psychic abilities: probably attracting the aforementioned preachermonster.
The best part of Poltergeist II is also its stickiest part, in that Tangina is researching the site in “Cuesta Verde” (Encino) where the Freelings’ house disappeared (we learn not to state such a truth on an insurance claim) with Taylor (Will Sampson), a character who in the ’80s still would have been called an “Indian Medicine Man” or suchlike, whereas today he’s defined as a Native American shaman. Frankly, while the whiteys scramble around with relatively impressive special effects chasing them (a yucky couple of them notably by H.R. Giger, though he phoned in his work via an associate), it’s Taylor who makes this movie: grounding it and giving it a sense of wonder. While this is Hollywood so there’s gotta be some hoodoo (sweat lodge on a soundstage, etc.), nonetheless Mr. Sampson (of the Muscogee Nation, who launched to fame in One Few Over the Cuckoo’s Next with Jack Nicholson, tying this review to the previous one) brings gravitas and warmth to the absurdity here, and, in context, it’s easy to believe that the guy actually knows magic. I am not qualified to say whether his role counts as positive representation or as well-intended caricature, but with his slightly lopsided smile hinting at deeper wisdom, he’s a very welcome addition to this movie.
The script of Poltergeist II is a mixed bag, alternating, sometimes jarringly, between the Freelings being invaded by the crazy preacher’s ghostly followers (who, TV or no TV, use a toy telephone, an errant cloud formation, and any other opportunity to suck at Carol Anne’s life force), and Tangina and Taylor trying to save them. (Frustratingly vague are Dana’s absence, and the connection between Taylor and the preachermonster, explained only in the novelization.) As for “the other side,” collectively the family spend a grand total of two and a half minutes there, and it’s either silly or wondrous depending on how jaded you are. Come to think of it, at an impressionable age, I think this movie made us feel a bit confused and embarrassed. For instance, when family patriarch Nelson drinks a worm (one of my later former colleagues died by tequila), his bewildering possession manifests as straight-up domestic abuse, which is actually more unpleasant and unsettling to behold than the “vomit creature” he shortly thereafter expels. The added notion of a cave of doomed cultists buried beneath the graveyard already buried beneath the Freelings’ old house (easily reached by stepladder!) stretches credulity even in this sort of story. And then there’s little Ms. O’Rourke admitting to her onscreen grandma that she doesn’t “want to grow up much.” As both time capsule and PG-13 horror romp, I believe that Poltergeist II is undervalued, but I can also see why some might find it awkward or uncomfortable to revisit.
Carol Anne, Tangina, and (unfortunately) that crazy preacher are the only major characters to roll over into Poltergeist III, a sequel and partial reset based in downtown Chicago. This time, the parental figures are played by Tom Skerritt and Nancy Allen, the former playing the manager of the John Hancock tower where they live, the latter playing Carol Anne’s aunt, who of course has to struggle throughout several supernatural setbacks to prove to Carol Anne that she is loved (even though her parents ditched her in Windy, allegedly to attend a special school). Preachermonster, played by a new actor in makeup but with the same guy looping the voice after the previous actor died, is yet again drawn to Carol Anne’s energy, so much so that he, and the rest of the cast, say her name aloud thousands upon thousands of times. If “Carol Anne” were a drinking game, everyone playing would die of alcohol poisoning.
Crisply directed by Chicago native Gary Sherman (who made the impressively creepy Death Line, and Dead & Buried), Poltergeist III makes good use of many practical effects, especially trick shots involving mirrors, as characters sometimes become their own evil doubles. For the first time in the series there’s also a gaggle-of-teens element, including young Lara Flynn Boyle as Skerritt’s daughter from a previous marriage, and her boyfriend, Scott, played by this movie’s standout: Kipley Wentz. Mr. Wentz exhibits an effortless charisma and radiance (even whilst evil), and these days he continues in the arts, yet we could all welcome him back to the big screen anytime. Alas only that, in the theatrical edit, he never returns from “the other side.” Or does he?!
Of the three original Poltergeist films, III could be called the silliest, but it’s also perhaps the most fun, set on John Hughes’ turf during that John Hughes era. And Ms. Rubenstein (also of Sixteen Candles) once again nails her iconic role as Tangina, eventually exiting the story in a graceful manner, whereas I’m pretty sure the only character who bites it badly is a doctor who’s a dick. So the first one’s the semi-classic, the second one’s a wild ride, and the third one is a great hoot. For me, I find I appreciate these Poltergeist movies in part because they’re from my formative years, and they’re engaging, and also because it’s been my pleasure to meet and get to know some of the cast, entirely by happenstance, from seeing Ms. Rubenstein frequenting our local Chinese fast-food place to a director-friend introducing me to her on one of his sets, to some of the aforementioned whom I choose not to embarrass (much), even to a not-aforementioned person who was in my high-school comedy troupe (and delivered my written dialogue — one word, you had one job — completely wrong). So yeah: thanks, Poltergeisters! Cursed or not cursed, you always bring a smile.
