POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE
THE KANE MUTINY
SCREENWRITER MICHAEL GR AIS REVEALS HOW POLTERGEIST II OVERCAME A CURSED SET, A DIRECTOR AT ODDS WITH THE SPECIAL EFFECTS TEAM, AND TERMINALLY ILL ACTORS
WORDS: OLIVER PFEIFFER
RELEASED FOUR YEARS after director Tobe Hooper and co-writer/producer Steven Spielberg’s 1982 supernatural smash hit, Poltergeist II: The Other Side reunited screenwriters Michael Grais and Mark Victor and most of the key cast. It centres once again on supernatural forces plaguing the everyday Freeling family, after they relocate to another neighbourhood following the destruction of their original home.
“We decided that they would go and live with Diane’s [JoBeth Williams] mother because Steve [Craig T Nelson] completely lost his job selling real estate, and he was also having a drinking problem,” Poltergeist II co-writer/ producer Grais tells SFX. “In this film, Steve takes over and is more present, while with Poltergeist, it was more Diane’s show.”
If ever an antagonist dominated a horror film despite even less screen time than Hannibal Lecter in The Silence Of The Lambs, it was the unforgettable elderly Reverend Henry Kane in Poltergeist II. As portrayed by ailing, skeletal-faced actor Julian Beck (who passed away shortly after production), the softly spoken yet utterly unnerving cult leader – revealed here as the source of the threat in the first film – instantly elevated this 1986 horror sequel.