JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Oliver Robins, Heather O'Rourke and Zelda Rubinstein reprised their roles from the first film.

The second entry in the Poltergeist film series and a direct sequel to Poltergeist (1982), it follows the Freeling family who again finds themselves under attack from the supernatural forces led by "the Beast", revealed to be the spirit of an insane preacher who led an apocalyptic cult during the 19th century, attempting to claim their daughter.

Michael Grais and Mark Victor, who co-wrote the previous film with Spielberg, served as writer and producer here.

Most of the original cast members returned with the exception of Dominique Dunne, who was murdered shortly after the first film's release in 1982.

Kane led his followers through the desert and into the cave, because he believed that the end of the world was coming, but then kept them trapped and captive there to slowly die with him after the day of his prediction came and went.

The Freelings return to Cuesta Verde and, with Tangina and Taylor, enter the cavern below their former home, where Kane pulls Diane and Carol Anne over into the Other Side.

The majority of the central cast of the original Poltergeist reprised their roles, including Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams as parents Steven and Diane Freeling,[2] as well as Heather O'Rourke and Oliver Robins as Carol Anne and Robbie, respectively.

[4] Zelda Rubinstein also reprised her role as Tangina Barrons, the psychic who assisted the Freelings in the original film.

Richard Lawson was also asked to reprise the role of Ryan, but his schedule clashed with MGM because he was busy filming the TV movie Under the Influence (1986) with Andy Griffith and Keanu Reeves.

Stage veteran Julian Beck was brought in to play the film's major antagonist, Reverend Henry Kane.

[3] The opening desert scenes featuring Will Sampson involving the Hopi obelisk were filmed at the Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Chinle, Arizona.

[3] For interior sequences that required elaborate effects, replicas of the Altadena residence were constructed on Stage 30 of the MGM Studios in Culver City, California.

[3] The studio's Stage 27 was used to construct the desert sweat lodge visited by Craig T. Nelson and Will Sampson's characters, as well as the cavern in which the film's finale takes place.

"[7] Only two of Giger's designs appear in the final cut of the film, including "The Great Beast" version of Kane.

Though "Carol Anne's Theme" returns from the first film's soundtrack, the score for The Other Side consists of mostly new material blending traditional orchestral elements with new electronic sounds.

[11] Nina Darnton of The New York Times wrote that "the movie, like most sequels, has no reason for existing beyond the desire to duplicate a financial success.

"[12] Variety stated, "Script has enough humorous breaks and high-wire moments to make up for some of the expository sections in the dialog.

While the payoff is a bit weak and less tension-filled than would be expected considering what the Freeling family has just endured, tech credits from beginning to end look like they cost a mint, and filmmakers probably figured they had to stop somewhere.

"[13] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1 star out of 4 and wrote that director Brian Gibson "simply runs the family through a maze of Indian rituals, ghostly vapors, and astral projections.

"[14] Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times stated, "The trappings of 'Poltergeist II' are fairly effective: Jerry Goldsmith contributes another eerie score, and H. R. Giger ('Alien') has dreamed up some loathsome monsters ...

The site's consensus reads: "They're back, but this hollow sequel retains none of the charm or suspense that made the original Poltergeist such a haunting specter".

On January 31, 2017, Scream Factory released a Blu-ray Collector's Edition of the film including new commentaries and featurettes.

[20] The novelization, titled Poltergeist II: The Other Side, was written by James Kahn and published by Ballantine Books in 1986.