Phantasm II (1988)

Wonderful character development!

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I was surprised when I recently watched "Phantasm" that I actually enjoyed the film and thought its biggest strengths were its excellent writing, originality and creepiness. Well, it's now back with "Phantasm 2" and it still has creepiness...though not much more. Despite what you saw in the last film, Mike is now as indestructible as The Tall Man and he's back...even though you saw him being drug off to God-knows- where by The Tall Man at the end of the first film. To try to get around this serious problem (since Mike is a major character in the sequel), they had to re-write a new ending for the first film and he actually managed to escape!As the film begins, Mike (not the same actor...some faux Mike) is about to be released from a mental institution. After all, when he tells folks about what he's seen, everyone thinks he's lost his mind! This time, however, instead of Mike's brother, inexplicably Reggie is back to go on a never-ending road-trip to try to find The Tall Man and stop him from turning the dead into dwarf zombie slaves. In addition, Mike has a new girlfriend with which they share an odd psychic bond (huh?!?!) and there's another new girl there to show off her boobs and earn the film an R rating.So is this any good? Yes and no. If you love action...mindless action...you're in for a treat. You get all sorts of violence and mayhem--with better late 80s special effects. If you want a story that makes sense and adds to the story, well you'll be pretty disappointed. I think I'll try one more Phantasm film...and if it's like more of the same, then I'll think I'll stop instead of going on to "Phantasm IV" (which was made, according to the director, strictly for money) or the recent and final one, "Phantasm V: The Quest to Squeeze Even MORE Money Out of the Franchise". And, incidentally, actor Angus Scrimm is REALLY dead and beyond reanimation.

Bombing at the box office in 1988 (probably because it's nigh incomprehensible), "Phantasm II" is the sequel to the 1979 original. The protagonist is 19 year-old Mike (James Le Gros), who's released from a metal hospital and immediately teams-up with middle-aged Reg (Reggie Bannister) to hunt down the mysterious Tall Man (Angus Scrimm), an otherworldly mortician who plunders whole graveyards, as well as the sleeping, with the help of hideous little gnomes and baseball-sized spheres that can saw into people (?). What does the Tall Man do with the bodies and people? I think he turns them into more diabolical gnomes. Who knows? Paula Irvine and Samantha Phillips are also on hand as Liz and Alchemy.While this is a unique, colorful and fairly entertaining horror flick, it's hampered by an incoherent story, cardboard characters, a low-budget cartoony delivery and a dubious cast. One example of the "cardboard characters" is Reggie, whose house and family are blown to bits and yet he gets over it immediately with zero signs of grief. Despite this, it's hard not to like Reggie and root for him & Mike as they go on the road in search of the Tall Man; they're unlikely, but amiable protagonists.Really, everything about this film is bizarre; I've never seen anything else like it. Even the casting's bizarre. For instance, the villain is played by some tall, skinny old guy who lacks the charisma of, say, Christopher Lee to be fully effective. It's the same thing with the girls. They're not bad, but they're hardly "Friday Girl" material, but – then again – this may not be a bad thing because they reflect real people rather than actors with Hollywood good-looks.As noted above, the story – or the way it's told – is nigh incomprehensible. There's a lot of action and things to perk your attention every five minutes, but everything's just so muddled, gaudy and comic booky, which may be part of the movie's charm. I can say this: it's likable.The film runs 97 minutes and was shot in the greater Los Angeles area.GRADE: C+

Liz Reynolds (Paula Irvine) has visions of Mike (James Le Gros), the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) and his minions. She puts it all in her book as she wishes for Mike's help. Mike lies his way out of the psychiatric hospital. He goes to dig up his parents' bodies but Reggie (Reggie Bannister) explains that the story of the attack was made up. Mike finds all the bodies in the cemetery missing. Reggie drives home with Mike and his house explodes killing his entire family. Reggie and Mike go hunting for The Tall Man and they pick up hitchhiker Alchemy (Samantha Phillips). Meanwhile Liz's grandfather dies and The Tall Man confronts Liz. Father Meyers (Kenneth Tigar) presides over the funeral and later does battle with The Tall Man.The attempt to show the world of Phantasm in the first part of the movie is a complete failure. It is confused and undecipherable. More importantly, it is probably unnecessary. There has got to be an easier way to bring Liz in with Mike. She could have easily been in one of the confrontations on the long road to find the Tall Man. They picked up Alchemy on the road. There is no reason why they couldn't have rescued Liz somewhere along the way. The first half is just a mess. It continues to be a mess but at least the second half has more fun as the group battles the Tall Man with the flying spheres. That is fun and interesting. It doesn't alleviate the fact that this is an incoherent story.

Producing a sequel to a unique horror film like "Phantasm" had to have been a challenge, but somehow writer/director Don Coscarelli managed to strike gold twice. Arriving nearly ten years after its predecessor and in a decidedly different climate, "Phantasm II" shifts gears from the creepy, dream-like original to a unique action/horror hybrid and passes with flying colors. While the tone is noticeably different from the first, most of the elements that made the original so special are re-arranged to make something altogether different and ultimately, well, fun.Picking up where we left off in the original, Reggie (Reggie Bannister) and Mike (re-cast from Michael Baldwin to James LeGros) effectively send the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) packing. Unfortunately, after spending a number of years in a mental hospital, Mike starts having visions of his foe as well as a mysterious young girl (Paula Irvine). Together with his surrogate big brother, he goes on a cross-country quest to track down the Tall Man and defeat him once and for all."Phantasm II" is a rare case of a sequel breaking away from the format of the original and succeeding in its own right. The film makes nods to horror movies of its time -- there's a bit of "Elm Street" and "Evil Dead" sprinkled throughout -- and it's remarkable how well it comes together. Coscarelli does an excellent job of keeping the pace going while balancing ambitious ideas and bizarre special effects. It's not quite as challenging as its predecessor, but that's part of the film's charm. Bannister is as game as always as the lovable Reggie, while LeGros steps into Baldwin's shoes effortlessly. The two have excellent chemistry together and the journey they take is every bit as fun and the frenzied finale the film offers.From front to back, "Phantasm II" is good old spooky fun from the late '80s as only Coscarelli could deliver. And if that's not enough for you, there are still two more enjoyable sequels to plow through. "Phantasm II" is but a landmark in one of the most bizarre and unique horror series of its time.