BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON (2007) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON (2007)

Label: Scream Factory

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 91 Minutes 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Scott Glosserman

Cast: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Zelda Rubinstein, Scott Wilson, Robert Englund

In Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2007) we have a documentary film crew lead by journalist Taylor Gentry (Angela Goethals, V.I. Warshawski) who along her two cameramen, Doug (Ben Pace) and Todd (Britain Spellings), have been invited by an aspiring serial killer named Leslie Mancuso (Nathan Baesel) to accompany him while he prepares to debut his serial killer persona, that of Leslie Vernon. He took the name of a local urban legend as his identity, Vernon was a local farm boy who murdered his family before being killed and dumped in the river by a mob of local vigilantes. In this alternate reality slasher film killers are real, this includes Michael Myers, Freddy Kruger and Jason Vorhees, these are Leslie's  role models and who he aspires to be, he even has a mentor, a retired serial killer named Eugene, played by Scott Wilson (The Exorcist III, The Walking Dead). 

The film crew documents Leslie's preparations for his debut as the killer Leslie Vernon, a detailed vision map where he had identified his virginal final girl, and her group of peripheral friends whom he plans to kill at an abandoned farmhouse which figures prominently into both he local lore and his character's mythical backstory. As we all know every serial killer must have a nemesis, for Leslie it's Doc Halloran, his psychiatrist/nemesis played wonderfully straight by Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), his character is a nice homage to Donald Pleasance's Dr. Loomis from John Carpenter's Halloween (1978).  

Nathan Baesel is great in the role of Leslie, he's charismatic, disarmingly affable, but also intense and slightly goofy as he sets about showing the doc-crew how he will execute his kill-spree, it's sort of akin to a magician showing you how his illusions are achieved. We see hi doing cardio so he can seemingly speed-walk to catch fleeing victims without looking like he's running, pre-spooking the final girl days before the event, and nailing windows shut to prevent escape, really going into detail about how it will all go down - the documentary team are totally in awe of his preparation. 

However, on the night of the kill-spree Taylor begins to have reservations about baring witness to a mass murder and tries to prevent Leslie from going through with it, but once he dons his signature mask and outfit, including a hand-held sickle-weapon, he will not turn back. Taylor and the camera crew try to warn the final girl of what's about to happen, in a nice twist they walk in on the virginal final girls riding a guy reverse cowgirl style, which would seem to throw Leslie's final girl aspirations out the window, but there's a nice twist to ti all and the films plays out wonderfully. 

At this point the doc crew abandon the documentary and the film reverts to a traditional narrative style, abandoning the documentary-POV, and when I first saw this film I did have a problem with that, the tonal-shift and change in perspective was jarring - but not so much this time around, I was able to just go with it and enjoy the slasher movie it becomes, which is rather good, maybe so good that I kinda want a straight Leslie Vernon movie. Once the carnage starts it's pretty good, there's an exquisite though not to graphic kill with Vernon plunging a post-hole digger into a victim's chest and pulling out his heart with the tool, depositing in into the hand of the victim, that's just great stuff. For a few brief scenes I could really see Angela Goethals as an Amy Steel type final girl, I was really into the whole last third of the film. 

The only downside to it all is that we've seen Leslie's civilian identity we know what nice-guy type he is, and while his murdering persona shows none of that you just cannot unsee that, so it informs you're enjoyment of the slasher part of it, I call this the Osbourne Effect. I love Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's music, but after having watched Ozzy's reality show The Osbournes I cannot help but think if what a drug-addled dip shit the guy is when I hear the music, I still love the music, I could listen to "Fairies Wear Boots" on repeat for days, but there's always that niggling image of that drug-addled and befuddled Ozzy in the back of my mind when I hear his music, the same with Gene Simmons, what a fucking douche-nozzle, but I still love Ace Frehly era Kiss, though I do tend to skip over a few of the Simmons-sung songs mow! 

Audio/Video: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2007) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a new HD master from the 2K intermediate. I never had an issue with the previous Anchor Bay Blu-ray and I struggle to see much of a difference here, but that's fine because the image looks solid with what looks to be accurate color reproduction and deep blacks, so all is good. This is shot in part as a documentary so the video and audio components are a bit limited when compared to a full-on traditional film, but everything looked authentic to my eyes without any issues, and when it reverts to a traditional narrative slasher the visual quality is vastly superior. Audio options include both English DTS-HD MA 5.1 and stereo, the 5.1 is not the most active but there's some decent use of the surrounds from time to time.    

Scream Factory celebrate the 10th anniversary of this meta-slasher gem with new extras in addition to porting over the extra from the Anchor Bay DVD (which were not ported over for Anchor Bay's own Blu-ray upgrade). These include an audio commentaries, deleted scenes (with optional commentary), a half-hour on-set and behind-the-scenes making of doc,  six minutes of casting sessions including a few actresses who didn't make the cut, and the theatrical trailer. New stuff exclusive to this edition begin with 'Joys and Curses', a retrospective doc with new interviews from actors Angela Goethals, Ben Pace and co-writer/co-producer David Stieve who discuss the genesis of the project, the struggle to make it while actors Angela Goethals and Ben Pace speak about their unfamiliarity with the slasher genre.

There's also an interview with comic book artists Nathan Thomas Milliner (he's also a slipcover illustrator for Code Red and Scream Factory among others) who did the artwork for the sequel comic books for the film, speaking of how he reluctantly came to work on the comic after creating a promotional poster for the film.  

This single-disc collector's edition release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, the b-side featuring the original movie poster, the a-side is a new illustration from artists Joel Robinson (Misery, Silent Night Deadly Night, Tales from the Hood) which is an improvement on the original home video artwork IMO, though it is too floating heads-style for my tastes. This release comes with a slipcover(o-card) featuring the same Robinson illustration as does the Blu-ray disc. 

Special Features:
- NEW HD master from the 2K intermediate
- NEW Joys and Curses - interviews with actors Angela Goethals, Ben Pace and co-writer/co-producer David Stieve (29 min) HD
- NEW Before the Mask: The Comic Book – an interview with comic book artist Nathan Thomas Milliner (6 min) HD
- Audio commentary with co-writer/director Scott Glosserman, moderated by filmmakers Adam Green and Joe Lynch
- Audio commentary with Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Britain Spelling and Ben Pace
- The Making of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon featurette (32 min)
- The Casting of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon featurette (6 min)
- Deleted and Extended Scenes with Optional Director's Commentary (25 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) 

- Easter Egg ( 1 min) 

When I first saw Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon about a decade ago I enjoyed it but I didn't love it, but watching it again after having some distance from it I think it has aged remarkably well, I love it. This is not a send-up of slashers, this is a straight-up love letter from a writer and director who clearly love this stuff, this thing is great, glad to finally have it on Blu-ray with some worthy extras. 

"Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" Collector's Edition Blu-ray Available March 27th, 2018 from Scream Factory

BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON (2006)

Label: Scream Factory

Release Date: March 26th 2018

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 91 Minutes 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Scott Glosserman

Cast: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Zelda Rubinstein, Scott Wilson, Robert Englund

You know legendary maniacs Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger. Now meet Leslie Vernon, the next great psycho-slasher, in the cult favorite Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Available as a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray March 27th, 2018 from Scream Factory, Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon comes loaded with bonus features, including interviews with actors Angela Goethals, Ben Pace and co-writer/co-producer David Stieve, an audio commentary with co-writer/director Scott Glosserman, moderated by filmmakers Adam Green and Joe Lynch, an audio commentary with Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Britain Spelling and Ben Pace, Making of Behind the Mask and Casting of Behind the Mask featurettes, and more! Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com

Nathan Baesel (Invasion) stars as Vernon, a good-natured killing machine who invites a documentary film crew to follow him as he reminisces with his murder mentor (Scott Wilson, The Walking Dead), evades his psychiatrist/nemesis (Robert Englund, A Nightmare On Elm Street), deconstructs Freudian symbolism, and meticulously plots his upcoming slaughter spree. But when the actual carnage begins, where do you draw the line between voyeuristic thrills, mythic evil, and good old-fashioned slasher movie mayhem? Angela Goethals (24) and Zelda Rubinstein (Poltergeist) co-star in this ingeniously twisted and award-winning shocker.

Special Features:
- NEW HD master from the 2K intermediate
- NEW Joys and Curses - interviews with actors Angela Goethals, Ben Pace and co-writer/co-producer David Stieve
- NEW Before the Mask: The Comic Book – an interview with comic book artist Nathan Thomas Milliner
- Audio commentary with co-writer/director Scott Glosserman, moderated by filmmakers Adam Green and Joe Lynch
- Audio commentary with Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Britain Spelling and Ben Pace
- The Making of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon featurette
- The Casting of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon featurette
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
- Theatrical Trailer

POLTERGEIST III (1988) (Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review)

POLTERGEIST III (1988)

Collector's Edition Blu-ray 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 97 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Gary Sherman
Cast: Kip Wentz, Lara Flynn Boyle, Nancy Allen, Tom Skerritt, Heather O'Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein

The third and final film in the original Poltergeist trilogy features only two returning stars from the franchise, young Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne and the diminutive spirit-medium Tangina as played by Zelda Rubinstein. This is not a good sign, apparently Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams didn't want anything to do with this sequel, which was probably a wise career decision. Also absent are original writers Mark Victor and Michael Grais who penned the original and the first sequel, and gone is composer Jerry Goldsmith who provided the rich, lyrical scores for the first two movies, which I think were very integral to their overall success. 

In this sequel we have Carol Anne (O'Rourke) being sent away to with her mom's sister Pat (Nancy Allen, Blow Out)in Chicago, who is newly married to Bruce Gardner (Tom Skerritt, Alien)in a 100-story luxury skyscraper. We don't get reason for why she's sent away, other than to assume since Williams and Nelson chose not to participate this was a convenient way to write them out of the story. Aunt Pat is bit of a self-obsessed 80s careerist, an art dealer who doesn't have a great connection with kids, not even her husband's teenage daughter Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle, Twin Peaks), so she doesn't have the most maternal of instincts when young Carol Anne arrives to live with them, making Carol Anne feel like a fourth wheel. 

Carol Anne is enrolled at a school for gifted/troubled youngsters, where the head shrink, Dr. Seaton (Richard Fire, writer of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), begins to believe that her history of supernatural entanglements can be explained away by Carol Anne having the ability to project some form of mass-hypnosis or post-hypnotic suggestion, which to me sounds more far-fetched than the reality of the situation. Anyway, his probing of her psyche seems to have once again attracted the unwanted attention of the demonic doomsday cult-leader Rev Kane, this time played by actor Nathan Davis, as Julien Beck who originated the role in Poltergeist 2 had passed away from stomach-cancer. For hs part Davis does good work, decked out in prosthetic make-up which makes him look similar to Beck's character, but not an exact likeness, he looks a bit more zombie-like in appearance, sort of like the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt, and the result are certainly creepy in a way, but not on par with the iconic performance from Beck.

While all this is happening the magical dwarf Tangina senses from far away that O'Rourke is again in danger, apparently she's got a bit of The Shining in her, and she races to the high-rise with a mystical necklace given to her by the shaman Taylor from the last film, though she doesn't fare too much better than Mr. Hallorann from Kubrick's The Shining. The movie sets up the high rise luxury building as a technical marvel with some operating bugs to work out, a place with way too many mirrors, which of course plays into the larger picture. Kane and his evil spirit-minions are able to reach out through the mirrors, again trying to whisk away Carol Anne into the spirit world to lead them into the Light. Kane's reach also extends to reflective surfaces like pools of water, he is also able to possess the mirror images of people, which he does to both Donna (a sort of dull pre-Twin peaks Lara Flynn Boyle) and her bland 80s boyfriend Scott (Kipley Wentz).

The movie has some freaky special effects but they're nowhere near the level of creepy as the Giger designed make-up effects we saw on the second film, though I will say that the Great Beast at the end of the P2 was mighty awful, too. However, there are some some cool set-pieces, like when Tangina is attacked and turned into a mummified corpse, then another character crawls up through her remains, returning from the mirror-world, sort of. The mirror stuff is pretty technical and well-done, notably these are in-camera effects, they're cool, but maybe overused at a certain point. I liked the way that the Donna doppelganger's shirt had the lettering on their shirt reversed, which was a nice little detail.

While I enjoy a few touches throughout the movie on the whole it seems a tired from the beginning, the high rise setting takes away from the haunted house vibe which I enjoyed previously, the fact that the Freeling family is absent sort of kills it for me, too. The family dynamic was one of my favorite parts of the previous film, here everyone seems so disconnected. Then there's a weird scenario in the parking garage of the high-rise where everything is frozen over and the cars become murderous, the whole thing was just silly, a definite jump the shark moment. I give it props for fleeting moments of creativity and technical wizardry, but the atmosphere and suspense is null for me. Looking at the cast I like Skerritt well enough but Allen's Pat is just unlikable, and that the overwrought ending hangs on her proving her love for Carol Anne is bad. 
  
Also not helping is that this is the least attractive looking of the sequels in my opinion, shot in standard framing as opposed to scope like the previous films by cinematographer Alex Nepomniaschy who has done some damn   decent TV work on The Americans and Big Love more recently, but this production seems flat. Jerry Goldsmith's wonderful music is also absent, instead we have a decent score from Joe Renzetti (Child's Play, The Exterminator), who had worked with director Sherman on Dead And Buried (1981), but it lacks the resonance of the Goldsmith scores, a lot of what's wrong with this picture is what's missing from it that I loved about what came before. 

Audio/Video: Like Poltergeist II this is not the first time that Poltergeist III has appeared on Blu-ray, we saw a decent 1080p presentation from MGM a few years ago, but it was bare bones. Scream Factory kick it up a few notches with a new 2K scan of the interpositive, and grain is more finely resolved, details and textures look superior, black levels are deeper and the image has a nice crispness and clarity.  Audio options on the disc come bay way of both DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround tracks. The stereo track has some good channel separation, everything comes through crisply, there's some good use of the surrounds with the score and some of the more spook-house type scenes get some rear channel action. Optional English subtitles are included. 

Oh My God! Why did we agree to make
this movie? 

Onto the extras we have two commentaries, one with director Gary Sherman moderated by Michael Felsher of Red shirt Pictures, which is mostly technical with some anecdotes about the production, taking time to speak about the death of O'Rourke. Plus a second with  Poltergeist III Webmaster David Furtney who provides loads of facts and info about the production, including alternate scenes. Red Shirt again provides a trio of new featurettes, a twelve-minute interview with Screenwriter Brian Taggert who speaks of his previous work with director Gary Sherman on Dead And Buried, being brought onto this picture, liking the director's pitch of it being Alice Through the Looking Glass sort of take on the material, even though that's not exactly what ended up on screen. Taggert also speaks about what a tough and interesting old bird Zelda Rubinstein was and the tragic death O'Rourke. 

Actress Nancy Allen shows up for a 12-minute interview, speaking about her experiences working on a movie she didn't quite understand, acting with Skerritt, and how technical and complex the film was, also stating that in her opinion it was a better sequel than the second film, to which I must respectfully say "nope". I love Allen's work in De Palma's movies and Robocop, but this was not one of her better moments in a movie, but I love you Nancy!  

Special Effects Creator John Caglione, Jr (C.H.U.D.) shows in for a 13-minute interview speaking about what an ho it was having special effects legend Dick Smith as the designer of the special effects, being able to facilitate his designs onscreen. Speaks about how game the cast were when it came to doing the effects, covering Lara Flynn Boyle in slime, making a body casting of Rubinstein for the mummified Tangina corpse, creating the Kane make-up for actor Nathan Davis (Thief), and the numerous in camera mirror effects seen throughout the movie 

A nice addition is a 3-minute alternate ending, no audio was available for these scenes and subtitles have been created using script pages, which was cool, not any worse than the theatrical ending in my opinion. Additionally we get the theatrical trailer, some TV spots, and a still gallery. Packaging extras include a slipcover (o-ring) with new artwork from illustrator Justin Osbourn, plus a sleeve of reversible artwork. 

Special Features
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive
- NEW Audio Commentary With Director Gary Sherman
- NEW Audio Commentary With Poltergeist III Webmaster David Furtney
- NEW High Spirits – An Interview With Screenwriter Brian Taggert (16 min) HD 
- NEW Reflections – An Interview With Actress Nancy Allen (12 min) HD 
- NEW Mirror Images – An Interview With Special Effects Creator John Caglione, Jr. (13 min) HD 
- Alternate Ending (3 min) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min) HD 
- TV Spots (2 min)
- Still Galleries (Behind-The-Scenes Photos, Stills, and Posters) (79 images) HD  
- Script Pages (132 pages)

The third Poltergeist film is a dud, no doubt about it, there are some inspired moments, but overall this is a downer of a sequel, and not just because of the sad passing of young star Heather O'Rourke after it wrapped. As a scary movie this is bad, which is shame for several reason, but for me it's more so because director Gary Sherman directed two classic slices of terror cinema previously, the subway horror Raw Meat (1972) and the macabre Dead And Buried (1981), both of which I cannot recommend strongly enough, they're awesome. I think Poltergeist II might be a case of a good director being thrown in director's jail after a box office dud, much the same way Robocop 3 (1993) pretty much ended the directing career of Fred Dekker (Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps). 

On the bright side, Scream Factory have put together a fantastic Collector's Editions with loads of extras and a superior A/V presentation for fans or the morbidly curious, this is one of those classic cases of a sub-par movie receiving an above par release, and I love that. 2/5

As a side note, one of the more annoying aspects of the movie aside, from Nancy Allen's awful late-80s hair, is how many times "Carol Anne" is said, whispered and screamed throughout the movie. Just for fun here's a YouTube supercut of how many time her name is said, enjoy! 

POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE (1986) (Blu-ray Review)

POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE (1986)

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 90 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Brian Gibson
Cast: Heather O'Rourke, JoBeth Williams, Julian Beck, Oliver Robins, Craig T. Nelson, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Zelda Rubinstein, Will Sampson

While it'd actually been six years since the original Poltergeist hit theaters before the sequel arrived in '86 in movie time it'd been a year since the Freeling family survived that paranormal attack from the first film, the one that ended with their house imploding into nothingness. In that time they've relocated to another city and are, not surprisingly, still without a TV - much to the chagrin of their young son Robbie (Oliver Robins, Airplane II: The Sequel), who seems like he might just ie without hs Saturday Morning Cartoons! Steven (Craig T. Nelson, The Incredibles) and Diane (JoBeth Williams, Stir Crazy)along with Robbie and daughter Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke, Poltergeist) have relocated to Phoenix, Arizona where they live with Diane's mother, Jess (Geraldine Fitzgerald, Arthur), whom it is shown is spirit-sensitive or clairvoyant, the granny has supernatural leanings and and she believes her granddaughter Carol Anne is, too, though momma Diane doesn't want to hear any of it - she's had about enough of the spirit world given the events of the first film, and I don't blame her. 

Meanwhile back in the Feeling's old neighborhood in Cuesta Verde, California the entire neighborhood has been evacuated and bulldozed, there's some sort of archaeological dig happening and the pint-sized medium Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein, TV's Picket Fences)from the first film finds an underground cavern located right beneath where the Freelings' former home stood. Inside the cavern they find the remains of a religious doomsday cult-leader Rev. Henry Kane (Julian Beck, The Cotton Club) and his followers. we come to find out that Kane was the human origin of the Beast who went after Carol Anne in the first film, the one seeking the light, and it's more of the same here with a new twist. 

At about the same time Granny Jess passes away, which seems to unlock Carol Anne's spirit powers, receiving a call on her toy phone in the middle of the night from her granny - from beyond the grave!  It seems that Carol Anne's spirit-powers have also attracted the attention of the evil-spirit of Rev. Kane, who also reaches out to the young girl also through the toy phone, culminating in some supernatural shenanigans happening around the home, and as expected the family flee the home but are intercepted at their own doorstep by the Native American shaman Taylor (Will Sampson, The White Buffalo), who has been sent by Tangina to protect the family, convincing them they must stay and battle the evil, that you cannot run from it. 

Kane has now taken human form, approaching Carol Anne at the Mall before showing up at their new home, creepily demanding to be let in, singing a strange religious song that gave me the goosebumps, before screaming "You're all gonna die in there!" and sauntering on down the street looking like the world's most menacing Mennonite, the guy is frightening, and by several measures the creepiest aspect of the movie. Sadly Beck dies just after filming P2, his gaunt appearance in the film owing to the fact that he was in the final stages of stomach-cancer, which is a damn shame. 

As sequels go this is not too shabby, gone is the guiding hand of producer Steven Spielberg and director Tobe Hooper (Eaten Alive), but new director Brian Gibson (What's Love Got To Do With It) does good work with a script from writers Mark Victor and Michael Grais who also penned the first film, it has a lot of the elements that made the first so good, and changes things up just enough that it doesn't seem like a sequel retread. They had the good sense to bring back the core Freeling family members - minus poor Dominique Dunne who was murdered in real-life after the first film by her boyfriend. They've also brought back Rubenstein as the pint-sized medium Tangina, and she who brings a lot of quirk and otherworldly presence to the role. The family dynamic is largely what made the first film such a success for me, Nelson and Williams are still great together onscreen, though Williams takes a bit of a backseat to Nelson this time out, O'Rourke and Robbins are quite good, too. After Beck as Kane it is Nelson steals the show, his skeptic-interactions with the shaman Taylor are fun, he gives a great speech about how he's "into downward mobility" following the events of the first film, and there's a scene where he's possessed by Kane which is uber-creepy, taking on a few of Julien Beck's facial ticks and pronunciations before attempting to rape his wife, weird stuff for a PG-13 film.  

The addition of the shaman character played by Will Sampson is a nice touch, I liked the Native American folklore and mystical aspect of it, I think it goes overboard a bit towards the end of the movie when things get too goofy, and the character might be considered a bit of stereotypical magic Indian, but I like it, I like the visuals, I like the folklore of it, it's a nice addition. 

The filmmakers get the family stuff mostly right, I like the Native American shaman stuff, and to top it off it also features some very cool makeup special effects from Richard Edlund (Fright Night) and his team which included Steve Johnson (Species 2) and Screaming Mad George (Society), based on designs by artists H.R. Giger (Alien). The cool effects include a grotesque tequila worm that gets swallowed, them vomited up as a larger worm, which crawls under a bed and mutates into a limbless slime-covered skeletal-monster that is frightening as fuck, it scared the bejesus outta me as a kid, and it's still super weird, the entire sequence holds up so well. Not all the effects as well executed though, a scene of Robbie being attacked by his own braces starts of sort of cool but then goes a bit too far, like something from a ate-era A Nightmare on elm Street sequel. Also, the revelation of Kane's true spirit form as the great beast is very poorly realized, what on paper looked like a freaky  Lovecraftian/Giger mash-up looks just silly and anti-climactic onscreen. 

The finale of the film is where it loses me a bit, it doesn't wrap up too well, things begin to get too goofy when we have a chainsaw attacking the family station wagon - perhaps a nod to Tobe Hooper? Then the family returns to the cavern in Questa Verde to do battle against the Great Beast to rescue Carol Anne once again, on the spirit plane. We also have a too saccharine scene of Grandma Jess returning to save the day, it's all a bit too much, but I still enjoy the movie a lot, it gets more right than it got wrong, and it holds up pretty well for the most part. Also helping is that the movie was lensed by cinematographer Andrew Laszlo (The Warriors) and has a gorgeous orchestral score from Jerry Goldsmith (Gremlins) which goes a long way towards recapturing some of that Spielberg-ian charm and atmosphere of the first film, even revisiting his own score for The Omen at points. 

Audio/Video: Poltergeist II: The other Side (1986) arrives on Blu-ray for a second time, the first release from MGM was actually quite solid in respect to the A/V presentation - but it was bare bones. The new Scream  Factory Collector's Edition benefits from a brand new 2K scan of the interpositive and a wealth of extras. The new transfer is a step-up, with a tiny bit more depth and detail, grain looks good, and the color reproduction is solid, maybe even a tad more saturated. Audio options on the disc come bay way of both DTS-HD MA 2.0 ad 5.1 surround tracks, the stereo track is just fine with good channel separation, everything comes through crisp and robust, including the stellar score from Jerry Goldsmith. The surround option is a good one, making good atmospheric use of the surrounds with the Goldsmith score sounding fuller in surrounds, and some nice spooky use of the rear channels, optional English subtitles are included.

Scream Factory give this sequel some very cool extras, beginning with two audio commentaries, the first with  Writer/Producer Michael Grais which is moderated by Michael Felsher from Red Shirt Pictures, who produced the new extras. Felsher does a good job keeping the commentary focused on on point, prodding the writer/producer, who also wrote the first film and brings a lot of info and background to the table. The second commentary is from Poltergeist II Webmaster David Furtney, a bit subdued, but they guy knows a lot about the movie and the production, he points out differences in the original script versus what ended up on screen. New interviews begin with a 14 minute interview with then child star Oliver Robins who begins by saying he was very happy to get the call for the sequel, having had quite enough of being bullied in school at the time. He speaks about working with the cast, remembering Nelson kept things fun on the set seeing Jobeth Williams as a maternal figure, working with the director who apparently was not keen on Gibson ad libbing on-set the way he did on the first. He also speaks fondly of the late Heather O'Rourke whom he remembers as a sweet girl with aspirations of becoming a filmmaker, being around Will Sampson who he saw as mysterious. Robbins also goes into filming the brace-face special effects, and how difficult flying sequence in the spirit world were to film. 

Fans of special effects are in for a treat, we have a 22-min featurette with new interviews from Steve Johnson, Richard Edlund and Screaming Mad George who go in-depth divulging the secrets behind the cloud tank used to create the shaman effects, brace-face, the tequila worm monster and it's various transformations, and the Carol Anne zombie sequence - all great stuff, this is lead for the most part by Johnson who shows up on many of the Scream releases, he's becoming a favorite of mine on these xtras. 

Something I didn't realize for a long time was that H.R. Giger (Alien) did the production artwork and creature designs for the movie, this 22-min featurette puts that into focus, with interviews from Edlund, Johnson and Screaming Mad George who speak about creating the creature effects based on the artist's design. Giger's friend and Agent Les Barany also appears, speaking about Giger's work on film, how that affected his standing in the art community, Giger's not liking to travel because he didn't want to leave his cat at home alone, and his visit to the set of the movie, and how he was often not pleased with how his work was realized on screen, including this one, which culminated in an unannounced set-visit from the artist. what I loved about this was how much this artwork is featured throughout the featurette, glorious stuff. 
  

Scream have also included about fifteen minutes worth of vintage EPKs with on-set interviews from producer Michael Grais and Freddie Fields, actress Jobeth Williams and others. Additionally we have the original theatrical trailers, some TV spots, an image gallery and the 124 page script for the movie. Packaging wise we get a the standard Collector's Edition slipcover with new artwork from artist Justin Osbourn, plus a sleeve of reversible artwork.

Special Features:
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive
- NEW Audio Commentary With Writer/Producer Michael Grais
- NEW Audio Commentary With Poltergeist II Webmaster David Furtney
- NEW Robbie's Return – An Interview With Oliver Robins (14 min) HD 
- NEW The Spirit World – An Interview With Special Effects Designers Richard Edlund, Steve Johnson And Screaming Mad George (22 min) HD 
- NEW Ghosts Of Giger – A Look At The Contributions Of Artist H.R. Giger Featuring Rare Photos And Illustrations And An Interview With Giger's Friend And Agent Les Barany And Special Effects Designer Steve Johnson, Richard Edlund And Screaming Mad George (22 min) HD 
- Vintage Featurette: They're Back: The Making Of Poltergeist II ^ min)HD
- Vintage Featurette: Monster Shop And Ghostmakers: The Magic Of Poltergeist II (3 min) HD
- Vintage Featurette: Ghostmakers: The Magic Of Poltergeist II
- Theatrical Trailer(6 min) HD
- TV Spots (2 min) 
- Still Galleries (Behind-The-Scenes Photos, Stills, Posters)(75 images) 
- Script Pages (124 pages) 

I probably love this sequel as much as I do because I caught it on cable in the 80s A LOT, the same reason I love Amityville 3-D (1983)beyond reason, actually. It does a lot right, it brings back the core family from the first film and Zelda Rubinstein as the mystical-midget Tangina, plus it adds some shaman mysticism by way of Will Sampson. What holds this together for me is the creepy performance of Julian Beck as the demonic cult-leader Kane, this guy scared me to death as a kid, and he's still gets under my skin! Sure, it pales in comparison to the original, but so does ninety-percent of all other scary films in my opinion, but as sequels go this one is not without it's supernatural charms, and the new Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory is top-notch, good stuff. 3.5/5