Poltergeist II: The Other Side
Blu-Ray (Collector’s Edition)
Director: Brian Gibson
Screenwriter: Michael Grais, Mark Victor
Cast: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Heather O’Rourke, Oliver Robins, Julian Beck, Zelda Rubinstein, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Distributor: Scream Factory
Rated PG-13 | 91 Minutes
Release Date: January 31, 2017

Directed by Brian Gibson (What’s Love Got To Do With It), 1986’s Poltergeist II: The Other Side is an odd, intermittently effective follow-up to Tobe Hooper’s 1982 classic horror film. One year after the events of the first movie, Cuesta Verde is being evacuated and turned into an archaeological dig centered around the spot where the Freelings’ home stood before it imploded. The excavation, headed by psychic Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) and Native American shaman Taylor (Will Sampson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), leads to the discovery of a mysterious underground cave.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Shudder Streaming
Directed by Scott Glosserman
Written by Scott Glosserman & David J. Stieve
Starring Nathan Baesel, Andrea Goethals, Kate Miner, Scott Wilson, Robert Englund, Zelda Rubinstein, Bridgett Newton, Ben Pace, Britain Spellings
Glen Echo Entertainment
Rated R | 92 Minutes
Original Release Date: October 13th, 2006

Did you ever wonder how in a slasher movie, you run and you run, and the killer always manages to end up in front? Have you ever considered that horror’s most notorious killers actually craft out lengthy plans, before showing up and wreaking havoc? Ever contemplate that Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers have a lot more working upstairs than just raging bloodlust? If you answered yes to any of these questions, and hell, even if you didn’t, then Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon from 2006 is for you.

This is one of the most original, self referential, and unique horror films of the past decade. And the best place to find this hugely underrated and underseen horror gem is on the newest horror movie streaming service, Shudder.

Sad news being reported by The Boston Herald and many other news outlets today. Zelda Rubinstein, the 4-foot, 3-inch tall actress who played the spirit-fighting psychic in 1982’s Poltergeist has passed away at the age of 76.

After suffering a heart attack, she had been in a hospital for two full months with multiple illnesses before recently being taken off of life support. Reports earlier this month that she was near-death were met with contrary reports that she was actually getting better and that rumors of her demise were premature. But as hard as she appears to have fought, she has now sadly lost that battle.