4/5 Poltergeist II (Five Stars) / Poltergeist III (Three Stars)
  by Keith Mirenberg (www.spaceanimations.org)
Poltergeist II was deserving of a full five stars while Poltergeist III rated only three in my book. Since we are required to post a single star rating for these DVD packages I selected posting four stars on average. I found II to be as unique and as exciting as the original, with III being a sorry ending for the series.



4/5 Heather Always In Our Hearts...
  by Josue A. Giunta (Cork, Ireland)
I have to say that the impact of Heather death in real life made me a deeper fan of this movie and Heather's Work as an actress. Hope God have you in his Glory beautiful...No doubts that first movie it's between my favourites!
The sequel was just as exquisit as the first, improved, tender, unique, most horrifying, a great sucessor for the first one. Carol Anne's gift for purity, her angel, smile and love for her family makes this movie unique.
The creators went far far away with the story showing us why the spirits want Carol Anne and why the house of the Freeling was damned. Great storyline, Taylor and Tangina, great duet.
The 3rd part was too decepointed, they took the most valuable treasure away from Carol Anne, her family. The story get lost in the forgiveness. The cruelty and cold of her aunt and cousin makes a fall down of the basics in the movie. Tangina can't die! She's the only link with Carol Anne background.
Why the Freeling give Carol Anne away from home? Kane played for another actor, all was a fall down of the trilogy. But it's a must....

4/5 Poltergeist 2, plus a really cool drink coaster!
  by M. Ryan Fairbanks (Cleveland, Ohio)
Poltergeist was one tough act to follow, but in 1986 they decided to go for it and make Poltergeist 2: The Other Side. As you could guess, it's not quite in the same league as the orginal, but it is surprisingly good for what it is.

The Freeling family is now residing with Diane's mother in a peaceful little suburban home and recovering from the supernatural phenomena that took place at their home in Cuesta Verde. Life is slowly returning back to normal until grandma's death triggers the spirits once again, this time in the form of the creepy Reverand Kane, the leader of a religious cult that he led to death with his false predictions of the apocolypse. With the help of a Native American medecine man and Tangina Baron, the Freeling's struggle to keep the family together and defeat the spirits.

Poltergeist 2 has a lot of good things going for it, namely the return of the original cast, minus Dominique Dunn of course. A lot of the slightly dysfunctional, but tight knit suburban family feel that made the original so great carries over into this sequel. Will Sampson is also fantastic as Taylor the medicine man, and Julian Beck is amazing in the role of Reverand Kane which he delivers with unparalleled creepiness. Once again, the chemistry of the cast is what makes this stand out.

However Poltergeist 2 differs from the original in that the comedy is largely replaced with a much darker and more sinister mood with a modest increase in the gross out special effects. There are quite a few memorable scenes during the bulk of the movie including zombies, a braces attack, and a mutant tequila worm. Unfortunately all this great build up goes to waste due to the ultra lame ending, where it looks as if they simply told the special effects crew to go crazy. The shorter run time also causes Poltergeist 2 to lack the epic feel that the original had. Overall an above average sequel that's certainly worth a look, just don't expect anything as great as the original. I'd generously give it *** 1/2 stars.


As for Poltergeist 3, it's a movie so bad that the only way they could possibly sell it is to package it along with part two.

Carol Anne now lives with her aunt and uncle in a Chicago high rise, but Kane has somehow returned and is able to cross over into our dimension via mirrors...Or something. Movies such as this often contain a few plot holes that we, the horror audience, simply have to overlook. But it's a rarity when literally nothing about the story can be explained at all, and Poltergeist 3 achieves just that. There's no point in rambling on about it any longer, simply let it be known that the events of this movie don't make a lick of sense whatsoever, nor do they try.

Poltergeist 2 was undoubtedly a few notches lower than the original, but Poltergeist 3 is like a made for television sequel. Heather O' Rourke and Zelda Rubinstein are the only returning cast members this time around, so automatically you can write off any of the great cast interaction of the previous films. It's more or less a assembly of unlikable characters running around a labyrinth or mirrors screaming the name Carol Anne for 90 minutes. A completely unremarkable movie that doubles as one of the worst sequels of all time for any genre. I'd give it * 1/2 stars.

Overall that would bring the average of this set to about 3 stars, but since you're technically getting two movies for for the price of one, it deserves a fourth for value. Poltergeist 2 is definietly worth the price for hardcore fans of the original.

1/5 2 In 1 Sucks
  by M. D. Lambert
I hate when movie companies put two movies on one cd. I hated the sequel to Poltergeist, but I actually liked the third one. So in order for me to get Poltergeist 3 on dvd, I have to get the movie I didn't like just to see the movie I want. Ugh!






3/5 Poltergeist III is a waste of filmspace
  by K. Duncan (Austintown, OH USA)
Why couldn't they have made the double feature consist of Poltergeist I & II? It seems the only way to get Poltergeist II without having to pay some scalper upwards of $30 is to buy this double feature, then you get Poltergeist III which is a complete waste of film. -kd5-