What was the point of Tangina and the relevance of Taylor??

Well, when Kane was at the Freelings door demanding to be let in, Steven told him about Taylor and Kane said something like "Is that what he calls himself now?" So, I kind of got the feeling Taylor and Kane met before this film. It would have been nice if we got more of that backstory, though. I do wish they gave Tangina a bigger role in the second movie though. She is my favorite character from the series so in my opinion, no Poltergeist movie could have too much Tangina.

"Come, fly the teeth of the wind. Share my wings."

As a frequent viewer of the first film, I am always surprized that not once in the original, is there ever a single mention of an old Native American burial ground in the plot. No,I will modify my opening sentence and say that Mr Teague DOES mention "ancient tribal burial grounds", by stating the cemetery is not that. When Steven is taking a drive with his boss, and shown the new location of Phase whatever, where the cemetery exists, Mr Teague confesses that the old cemetery had been "moved" once before. What I saw were headstones of what I presume to be Caucasian graves. What I saw eject from the unfinished pool in the Freeling's yard and neighborhood were caskets and coffins. I'm not that certain that Native Americans buried their dead in such receptacles.

In the sequel Taylor says he came for the job because 'it was his kind of job'.
Maybe he was better suited to battle this evil this time around. And if you think about it, Tangina didn't really do any fighting of the evil in the first movie.
She advised and 'channeled'. And like another poster mentioned, it sounded like Kane and Taylor had met and possibly fought before.


"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

The source of the trouble in "Poltergeist" was not Native American burial grounds. (Another poster notes a reference by James Karen's character that the cemetery is NOT ancient burial grounds.) It was a regular cemetery the tract was constructed on. In the sequel, they have dug more deeply under the Freeling home and uncovered the cave in which Kane and his people died. So, Tangina cleared the house of "regular" spirits, but they did not remove "The Beast", who still wants the child. Then, we learn in the sequel that Diane's side of the family is "gifted", something she obviously transfers to Carol Anne, something that might especially demand Kane's attention.

I'm watching the film yet again, so I'm certain about the burial ground not being the sole source of the haunting.

As for Taylor: I agree with the other poster about Taylor and Kane being old foes. That would have been an interesting flashback. Still, I really like this movie, equally with "Poltergeist", and I even like the third film though it does have weaknesses.

EDIT: Also, I think it's important to note that Tangina says, "I don't trust my instincts anymore." Perhaps that's why she needed Taylor: because she doubts her abilities. After all, she did claim that the house was clean when obviously a terrible entity lingered, apparently able to hide him/itself from her.

~~MystMoonstruck~~


"I cahoot with no one."

So much was cut from this film. There apparently was a 2 hour and 10 minutes version of the film. The original cut. But that seems to have disappeared and no one seems to know anything about it or if it even still exists. I am sure there was much of the films explanation in that cut. Instead, I suppose the producers figured a horror movie longer than 90's minutes would never keep people interested, the movie was cut to a mere 90 minutes. Sad really.

The book of this film goes into more details which is why I recommend it to anyone who likes this movie. It is actually a pretty good and creepy read.

Tangina in the book is a shell of her former self. She goes a bit loopy after the events of Cuesta Verde because she felt that she was fooled by The Beast (by proclaiming the house clean when in fact it wasn't) and somehow was unable to get over it. Apparently she becomes homeless, and consumed with regret.. I can't really remember the details since it was a few years ago that I read it. This is only evidenced in the film by her comment to Diane "I don't really trust my extinct's anymore". Also, I always felt that Tangina in the film had a different purpose. It appears she was too busy digging up the pool, surveying the area and doing research on the contents of the cavern and per her own words, talking with others on the background of the missing sect members... which is why I think Taylor was sent to help the Freelings.

And yes, Taylor and Kane did know each other from the previous century (according to the book). If I remember correctly, Taylor is the reincarnation of a man who worked along Kane, but then realized what an evil b@stard he was so he ended up leaving him just before Kane took his followers into the cavern. In the book, Kane, in human form prior to his death, had incredible powers, and Taylor's previous incarnation witnessed Kane transform into various diabolical creatures including a mescal worm and Steven's mescal possession scene was not an isolated one but happened over a century earlier.

I also never had an issue with the addition of Kane at all. In P2, we are made aware that the cemetery is still there with Kane and his followers lying "below the old cemetery". I always took the invasion of the Cuesta Verda residence to involve ALL the spirits and demons- Kane, his followers and all of those from the cemetery (also if you read the novelization of the original film, there are other demons and entities residing in the other side such as a fire demon, a tree-looking demon and a Lady in Waiting - I think that was her name). Most of these entities crossed over during Tangina's house cleansing in P1, while Kane and his followers remained to pursue Carole Anne in this sequel.

And lastly, there is a dream sequence in the book that is horrifying between Carole Anne, Kane and Taylor and it is a shame this was not filmed or included in the film. It would have made a terrific, horrific scene but it would most likely have pushed this film to R-rated territory which may be why it was not filmed or included

I was thinking about the first half of this question the other day and came up with an explanation. For Diane, Tangina can be seen as like a second mother. After the grandma passes, Tangina shows up to tell her about her ability and when Diane rejects this she confronts her with it. Perhaps Diane knew this already, but wasn't ready to face it and needed an extra push.

Most recent viewings:

Children of the Corn '09- 8/10
Phenomena- 10/10