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Poltergeist II: The Other Side
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1986 Intrada & Varèse
1993 Intrada
2003 Varèse
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Orchestrated by:
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Arthur Morton
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'Deluxe Edition' Produced by:
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Robert Townson
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Availability:
The original 1986 album (Intrada in the U.S./Varèse Sarabande elsewhere) is long out of print and gone from the market. The 'limited edition' Intrada album from 1993 (2,000 copies pressed) had considerable value after it disappeared as well, but the 'deluxe edition' from Varèse Sarabande in 2003 (a regular U.S. release) reduced the value of all the albums to normal prices.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you are unsatisfied with the 1986 CD releases and missed
the 1993 re-release, or if you never owned it and wish to hear one of Jerry
Goldsmith's more noteworthy horror scores.
Avoid it... the 2003 "Deluxe Edition" from Varèse Sarabande if
you are satisfied with the 1993 Intrada album or if you prefer the intensity
of the action sequences during Goldsmith's first Poltergeist score.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Poltergeist II: The Other Side: (Jerry Goldsmith)
Disaster not only followed the Freeling family in the Poltergeist
franchise of films, but the productions and actors as well. After the huge
fiscal and popular success of Poltergeist in 1982, a sequel was
inevitable, but the collaboration of the same cast and crew would prove to
be daunting. The production process for the sequel was badly plagued, from
the battle for control over the picture to the death of some of the
franchise's key actors. By the end of the Poltergeist trilogy, four
primary actors would be dead, including Heather O'Rourke, who portrayed the
clairvoyant little girl, Carol Anne. Despite all of these real life
hauntings, the franchise forged ahead, and Poltergeist II was billed
as having the most spectacular special effects ever to be seen in a horror
film. Despite these bone-chilling effects, however, the film suffered from a
poor script, ambivalent audience response, and a lack of fresh ideas. Signed
on late in the process was composer Jerry Goldsmith, whose superb score for
the first film had been nominated for an Academy Award. Composing the music
over the 1985 holiday season, Goldsmith decided to match the film's
increased technical intensity by himself raising the stakes with his
instrumental ensemble. He set out to combine the best of The Omen,
Poltergeist, and his concurrent electronics-heavy scores into one
gargantuan effort. When critics pounded on the film at its 1986 release
date, Goldsmith's score was spared much of the criticism, often praised for
its ambitious achievements compared to other, lackluster production
features. Goldsmith added five new themes to the two that are repeated from
the first film, with each of the new characters represented by a strong
thematic voice. The evil spirit of Kane, disguised as a reverend who would
otherwise help the troubled family (and played by theatrical legend Julian
Beck, who likewise died before this film's opening), is particularly well
developed in the score, enhancing the character's menacing presence in the
film.
The score for Poltergeist II is therefore a piece of
music very well developed with ideas. By the end of the score, your mind
boggles with the amount of diversity in the motifs and themes for the film,
and this is both the strength and weakness of the score. Some of the intense
attention to two or three particular themes in the original film is lost in
Poltergeist II, allowing the subsequent themes to be somewhat watered
down at times. But you nevertheless have to give Goldsmith top grades in his
effort in expanding upon a set of stationary characters. The most subtle
effect is the use of a trombone for Kane; when he first visits the Freeling
family, his motif is introduced in the form of a distant, dying propeller
blade... not chopping in the foreground, but diving over the horizon in a
repetitive, ominous note. Also in this cue, "The Visitor," Goldsmith builds
the character's evil persona to such a degree that the music resorts to
outright male yelling straight from hell after four minutes of the
suspicious trombone effects described above. The themes for the mystical
Indian shaman Taylor, as well as Grandma Jess, are substantial, but never in
competition with the quality of the themes from the first film. The most
effective motif for Poltergeist II, ironically, is the least
sophisticated addition to the equation. Goldsmith returns to explosions of
liturgical choral chants heard in The Omen when the ghosts of the
underworld catch up to Carol Anne through her toy telephone (the family was
thankfully smart enough to go to a place where there are no televisions...).
Until the "They're Back" cue, the score rumbles in an awkward place, not
able to provide comfort to the audience because of the impending terror, but
not able to dive into the horror immediately either. Finally, with "They're
Back," Goldsmith lets it all loose, and between this cue and "Wild Braces"
(known as "Dental Problems" on earlier albums) the chanting provides a truly
enticing atmosphere for the horror. A less creepy reprise of girl's chorus
for "Carol Anne's Theme" appears once again over the end credits to wrap up
the sequel.
Collectors of Goldsmith will remark that Poltergeist
II is mostly an exhibit of the composer's talents with the synthesizers.
As Goldsmith stated at the time, he was experimenting with electronics as an
additional section of the orchestra. More than any of his other scores,
Poltergeist II is intricate in his integration. At every moment there
is the use of an electronic element, whether as a feathery effect in the
background or an ear-piercing slash in the forefront. As in Legend
(composed within a year of this project), these electronics would sometimes
hinder the listening experience of the orchestral material. But their
existence makes sense, given the poltergeists' methods of contacting Carol
Anne through technology. At times, they are brilliantly employed, but
Poltergeist II also shows Goldsmith's sometimes overzealous
experimentation with them. In their favor, Goldsmith sacrifices the best
element of the first Poltergeist score: the rolling brass of the
horrific climax. Even in the film's return to the old house lot, Goldsmith
fails to bring his brass to a rolling boil as he had done so well in the
first score. Thus, the creativity is somewhat heightened, but outside of the
chanting, the horror is diminished. On album, Poltergeist II has had
a storied history due to shared rights between Intrada Records and
Varèse Sarabande. They released five cues on a very early CD in 1986
(the former domestically, the latter internationally). This woefully short
CD was replaced by a 1993 Intrada release limited to 2,000 copies. It
featured most of the score, save one cue. That cue (the essential "The
Visitor" piece) and an extra minute on another cue would finally bring the
score to its "Deluxe Edition" from Varèse Sarabande in 2003,
coinciding with an MGM release of the film on DVD. With the 1986 CDs being
unacceptably short, and the 1993 Intrada album hopelessly gone from the
market, the 2003 Varèse album (perhaps not a Club title like other
"Deluxe Editions" due to the lack of too much new material) is a good buy.
But no matter the release, Poltergeist II is too scattered to match
the intensity of the original Poltergeist score. It's solid work, and
is certainly interesting for Goldsmith collectors in its integration of
electronics into the orchestra, but the 1997 comprehensive release of
Poltergeist on CD remains a better buy if you were to choose one from
the series. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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Track Listings (1986 Intrada/Varèse Albums):
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Total Time: 29:24
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• 1. The Power (7:42)
• 2. Late Call (3:22)
• 3. The Smoke (4:36)
• 4. The Worm (5:13)
• 5. Reaching Out (8:29)
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Track Listings (1993 Intrada Album):
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Total Time: 53:31
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• 1. The Power (7:48)
• 2. The Gift (1:58)
• 3. Where are You? (2:10)
• 4. Late Call (3:28)
• 5. They're Back (3:39)
• 6. The Butterflies (0:51)
• 7. Dental Problems (2:19)
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• 8. The Plan (3:17)
• 9. The Smoke (4:45)
• 10. The Worm/Vomit Creature (8:07)
• 11. Back to Cuesta Verde (3:16)
• 12. Reaching Out (8:31)
• 13. Carol Anne's Theme (3:05)
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Track Listings (2003 Varèse Sarabande Album):
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Total Time: 61:19
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• 1. The Power (7:48)
• 2. Things (1:59)
• 3. The Mall (2:10)
• 4. Late Call (3:28)
• 5. They're Back (3:38)
• 6. Butterflies (0:50)
• 7. The Visitor* (6:40)
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• 8. Wild Braces (2:19)
• 9. Leave Us Alone** (4:14)
• 10. The Smoke (4:45)
• 11. The Worm (8:06)
• 12. Back to Cuesta Verde (3:16)
• 13. Reaching Out (8:31)
• 14. Carol Anne's Theme (3:05)
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* Previously unreleased cue
* Contains previously unreleased music
The two more recent albums from Intrada and Varèse Sarabande both include detailed information about the score and film. For some reason, Varèse Sarabande dropped 'The Other Side' from the title of the film on its 2003 album.
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