Carol Anne’s disappearance establishes a new theme in the film. Earlier on, we got our taste of fear and how the spirits will use that against us. Now we will see how they can take something important away from us, and leave us almost powerless to do anything about it. In a way, this particular act is a kidnapping story. Carol Anne has been abducted by these spirits, and her family has no idea how to get her back. Now take away the supernatural aspects and ponder on the subject matter for a moment. If you have a younger brother or sister or even children of your own, it’s not hard to imagine how terrified you would be if they were to disappear. It’s a chilling thought to even bring up, but the subject matter is what makes this particular story compelling.
Steve Freeling goes to see three parapsychologists, led by Dr. Lesh, who looks more like your loving aunt than she does a ghostbuster. Her comrades are Ryan, a slight optimist with the tech-knowledge, and Marty, who seemingly has the worse luck with ghosts. During their initiation with the Freeling’s household guests, they encounter bedrooms filled with floating memorabilia, encounter Carol Anne’s ambient voice in the living room, are introduced to the invisible entity that is holding her captive, and poor Marty gets bitten when he goes to check on the kids’ bedroom. Not to mention, random objects rain down from the ceiling. What’s going on here?
Later that night, Ryan and Marty speculate that the empty channels on the television is free to pick up roaming signals, including Carol Anne’s voice coming from “inner space” (a.k.a the other side) and that there is a ”bi-location” point (entrance and exit portals to the other side) inside their house. As the Freelings are camping out in their living room, Dr. Lesh tells Diane and Robbie about a light that you are supposed to go through when you die and that some ghosts don’t realize they are dead and find themselves lost.
While the others are sleeping, Marty go searching for food and encounters a living steak. When he shines a light on it, it tears itself from the inside. Marty then drops his half-eaten chicken leg on the kitchen floor and sees worms all over it. Marty runs into the kitchen and starts tearing the skin off of his face. Suddenly the ordeal is over, and turns out to be one big hallucination.
Meanwhile, in the living room, the camera starts moving on its own and aims its sights on the main staircase, where ghostly apparitions hover down
the staircase as the everybody watches the spectacle in complete awe. It is a beautiful and fascinating sight that quickly ends. Everybody gathers around the moniters and watches the playback and we get a good look at several spirits wondering down the staircase.
The next day, Steve Freeling goes for a walk with his boss, Mr. Teague, up on the hillside above Cuesta Verde. Mr. Teague attempts to sell Steve the idea of full partnership as if he’s selling him a toaster oven. Steven kind of chuckles over Teague’s offer and we notice that the picket fence they are walking next to is actually the boundaries of a local cemetery. Teague adds that they are moving to “Phase 5″ and that they already have plans to move the cemetery five miles down the road. Steve questions the morality of moving it, and Teague adds that they’ve done it before to make way for the Cuesta Verde estates. It is here where we start to get a good picture of what’s going on.
Back at the house, Dr. Lesh has returned with Tangina Barrons, a psychic woman who might be able to help them. After displaying her talent, she tells them all that Carol Anne is “alive and in this house.” She then educates them that there is actually no death at all, but a transition into another plain of existence and the evil entity, called “The Beast”, is confusing Carol Anne and using her control the other spirits and that the entrance point is up in the kid’s bedroom. They move up to the upstairs hallway and Tangina instructs Steve to call out to Carol Anne and use threats of punishment to reach out to Carol Anne psychologically to get her to respond, and it works. Diane is instructed to tell her run towards the light, which hurts Diane to say. Afterall, our instincts and logic are telling us that Carol Anne should not go into to light, but notice how Tangina told her to say “run towards the light” not to “go into the light.” Her plan is to not only make it easier to grab Carol Anne but to guide the lost entities into the light by having them following her towards it.
She then instructs everybody to clear their minds as the Beast knows our deepest and darkest fears and won’t hesitate to use them against us, as we’ve seen earlier in the film. With their minds clear, Tangina is able to open the room without floating record players and horse-galloping Hulksters, and we are treated to an excellent display of bright lights. They carry with them two balls, numbered 1 and 2, and a rope. Ryan is told to go downstairs and wait, and Diane is told to instruct Carol Anne to stop and stay where she is. And to give the audience a clear understanding of whats about to happen, Tangina performs a visual test by throwing the tennis ball into the bright light in the closet. The ball then shoots out of the exit point on the ceiling of the downstairs living room where Ryan catches it. The ball is now covered in pink ooze, known as ectoplasm.
They then switch the balls out for the rope, tossing it into the portal. Holding the rope on both sides are Steve at the top end and Ryan at the bottom. Diane raps the rope around her waste and shares a romantic moment with Steve before going off into the unknown. Tangina uses her psychic abilities to call upon the spirits, designating them to go into the light with idea that there is peace and serenity in the light. Thinking that she is directing Diane and Carol Anne into the light, Steve starts reeling them back in. Tangina breaks comminication and shouts “Steven, not yet!” Steve pulls out a large, ghastly face! The frightened Steve drops the rope accidently. Luckily, Diane falls out the other end, unconscious, covered in ectoplasm, and holding Carol Anne. They rush them into the bathroom and rinse them off and in a tender, tearjerking moment, both Carol Anne and Diane awaken. It’s another good sign of a good horror movie when you actually care about the characters and hold an emotional investment, which makes the story a bit more compelling than the “hack n’ slash” chaos of Friday the 13th. Dr. Lesh shuts the door, and Tangina announces that “the house is clean.” All is seemingly well.
