Mgm/Kobal/ShutterstockIn 1982, audiences met the Freeling family, a typical American suburban family dealing with unknown spirits and the revelation that their house was built on a graveyard. The Tobe Hooper-directed/Steven Spielberg produced Poltergeist was a huge commercial and critical success, amassing over $75 million-plus in the United States alone and becoming the highest-grossing film of the year. A sequel was always going to be a hard bar to clear. Four years later on this day, Poltergeist II: The Other Side debuted and, like most sequels, it was immediately compared to the original and deemed wanting.It’s easy to see why. While original screenwriter Michael Grais and Mark Victor returned, director Tobe Hooper didn’t, replaced by British director Brian Gibson. And while most of the original cast also came back for the sequel, the original film had a cloud of tragedy hanging over it as actress Dominique Dunne, who played eldest daughter Dana, was murdered by a jealous boyfriend just five months after the original film’s release. So while Poltergeist II: The Other Side still grossed $75 million at the box office, off a $19 million dollar budget, the overall feeling was mixed. Reviews were kind, but many felt the original movie didn’t need to be continued.And it’s a shame, as Poltergeist II, in many ways is on par with the original film. Where the first Poltergeist is a story of domesticity rocked by the pierced veil into the paranormal, Poltergeist II deals with the overt existential dread the Freelings are now aware of (having been to the other side and back), while dealing with the personal family drama of having a child different from the others. In a movie that looked at the awe-inspiring world of what lies in between life and the afterlife, the sequel showcases the very human fears of dying and the interconnectivity of spiritualism in general.Taking up where the first Poltergeist left off, we meet the Freelings after having been displaced by losing their home (and trying to explain to insurance how it was lost in a vortex). Now living with Diane’s (JoBeth Williams) mom, the family attempts to find a new normal. But the spirits that came for little Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) won’t leave her alone. A black-hatted preacher named Kane (Julian Beck) is determined to take the “little angel” for himself, forcing the family to band together once again.Much of the horror of the first film stemmed from the haunting attacks that plagued the Freelings, and here that takes a backseat for a literal manifestation of the Reaper (or the Devil, depending on how you choose to interpret) in Reverend Kane. In the first feature, Diane initially finds the poltergeist activity to be fun before Carol Anne disappears. Even once their daughter goes to the other side, the Freelings, alongside the scientists studying the house, are struck by the existence of the souls using their house as a way station. They take note of the loneliness and sadness of these people who don’t realize they’re dead, while being amazed at proof of the afterlife.Here, mortality becomes personal for the Freelings. Diane’s mother, Jess (Geraldine Fitzgerald) dies early in the movie, calling Carol Anne on a toy telephone to tell her everything’s going to be okay. This is a moment that is sweet and poignant, and unsurprising for the Freelings who have already seen that life goes on. The arrival of Reverend Kane not only puts tangible features on mortality, but ushers in a manifestation of their own fear of dying. Beck, who passed from stomach cancer before the film was released, is not only physically frightening but there’s an inner evil in how he propels the character’s Southern gentility. In one scene, he attempts to convince family patriarch Steve (Craig T. Nelson) by playing on Steve’s fear of not being “man enough” to protect his family. For Kane, he’s perverted religion and spirituality into a grift, crafting a cult of followers whose souls are controlled by him. It’s revealed that Kane interacted with Carol Anne in the first feature, and wants to use her life force for his own ends.The Freelings have already had their brush with the other side. | Mgm/Kobal/ShutterstockThere is nothing charming about the afterlife, just pure fear of the inevitability of it. Steven is told that Kane will do whatever he has to in order to get inside their house and come for Carol Anne, tearing them apart by playing on their own fears. Because of Steven’s fragile masculinity, which Kane has already chipped away at, Kane is able to literally infiltrate him. Steven drinks a Mezcal worm which ends up being Kane’s entry point into their home. In a terrifying sequence, Steven, possessed by the preacher, attacks Diane and brings up implied repressed thoughts and feelings the couple harbor, including whether Carol Anne should have been born and how much of this is her fault.So much of Poltergeist II sees the Freelings avoiding what happened in the first film, trying to move on and forget. Yet in the end they are forced to reconcile with the mixed feelings on events, life, and mortality by returning to their former home in Cuesta Verde to do battle with Taylor. There, the Freeling family, past and present (Gramma Jess helps on the other side), defeat Kane alongside their chosen family including spiritual medium Tangina (Zelda Rubenstein) and Native American shaman Taylor (Will Sampson). Taylor, in particular, is interesting as the two films are relatively agnostic when it comes to the afterlife. There is no God/Devil or any specified religions mentioned. With Taylor, it becomes a true union between all people that defeats Kane. In the end, the afterlife is the afterlife. Not a Christian one or anything else.Poltergeist II doesn’t just organically build on the original feature, but forces its heroes to confront their own inner feelings about life and mortality. It’s a far darker film, but one that understands how prevalent mortality is. This is even more poignant considering not only Dunne’s demise, but later passings of O’Rourke, Sampson and Beck as the series went on. In the end, it’s on the same level as the original, no matter what anyone says.Poltergeist II: The Other Side is streaming on Tubi and Pluto TV.