YMMV / Poltergeist II: The Other Side

• Anti-Climax Boss: The Beast is played up like they're the The Dreaded that the Freelings must face in a tense encounter, but they get exorcised quickly in the first battle when Steve inadvertently blows Taylor's magic smoke onto them. The final encounter with The Beast is also meant to be a tense moment, but Taylor's Lance instantly defeats them.
• Broken Base: A worthy successor to the original, or the beginning of Sequelitis? Fans are split.
• Complete Monster: See here for Reverend Henry Kane.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Reverend Kane is a rare instance of a villain being introduced in a lesser sequel and still being considered one of the high points of the series.
• Funny Moments: The car being angry as a Running Gag. Apparently according to Taylor the car is sentient and only works when it wants to. As seen in the finale.
  Steven: You can stay in the house, you can have my aura, my spirit, the ghosts, the whole deal. The WHOLE CASABA!!!!! But keep your hands off my car. Hands off!!! It's worse than it was before.
  Taylor: The car's still angry huh?
  Steven: Angry? That car is PISSED!!!
  • In a way, the way the Vomit Creature grins at the camera, wriggles out the door, and shuts the door behind it may come off as oddly funny.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Heather O'Rourke's character Carol Anne remarks "I hope I don't grow up... doesn't look like much fun." O' Rourke ended up dying at age 12 from a misdiagnosed congenital disorder.
• Memetic Molester: Reverend Kane's creepy behavior towards Carol Anne paints him as this for some viewers, especially during the mall scene in the opening.
  Kane: Are you lost, sweetheart? Are you afraid, honey? Well, why don't you come with me?
  • Bonus points for the scene when he actually tries to force himself onto Diane while possessing Steve.
• Narm:
  • If it isn't frightening, then Steve becoming possessed by Kane and then becoming physical with Diane might seem cheesy when she simply tells him "I love you" and Kane!Steve becomes sick and starts vomiting out the famous vomit creature. The fact that Kane's vessel starts to vomit thanks to the Power of Love might elicit some laughs depending on the viewer.
  • "YOU'RE GONNA DIE IN THERE! ALL OF YOU! YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!"
• Nightmare Retardant:
  • The way the Vomit Creature wriggles out the door can be rather amusing, especially the way it closes the door behind it. The way the creature makes a smug grin can give him a trollish demeanor like Kane finds this comedic.
  • The grand finale in which the whole family fights evil together while floating through another dimension is meant to be triumphant but ends up being very cheesy. The drama of Carol Anne being accidentally knocked towards the light feels moot as she is immediately rescued and returned by her grandmother. This was primarily due to Executive Meddling; the final battle with the Beast was supposed to be longer, and the movie itself was shortened by at least half an hour.
• Realism-Induced Horror: There's plenty of bad-dream fuel from The Beast, but Kane's human form prowling the mall and neighborhood to abduct Carol Anne can be just as chilling. The fact that he "follows" the Freelings back home for the tense front-door standoff and is Suddenly Shouting threats of the family "dying in there" to Steve can invoke horror stories of stalkers obsessively visiting a victim's home.
• Retroactive Recognition: The kid who was crying during Kane's end of the world speech is the bratty kid who compared the velociraptor to a six-foot turkey in Jurassic Park (1993)

---