Disturbing yet enthralling

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely brilliant

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

.......................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA...and ORLANDO, FL When I saw PHANTASM in a theater in 1979, I liked it so much(9*), I went back a week later and saw it again! I missed Phantasm II while I was living in Colombia, So I decided to take a delayed-by-25-years look! My psyche was all set to enjoy PHANTASM II to the max! I hadn't seen much in the horror/terror genre in recent years, because I really don't like the direction the genre has been going in throughout the past 1/4 century. 8 to 9* was what I was hoping for...I was somewhat disappointed, but will give it 7*.Let's talk about P-2 for a moment...The whole film is based around sustaining a mood of imminent danger, a foreboding atmosphere. If you agree to go along with it, providing suspension of disbelief, you'll probably get a nice kick out of P-2. IMHO elements of the film, music, sound effects, lighting, pacing, etc., all contribute well to that end. So if you are genre-friendly, let's bump my 7* UP to 8*! If the horror/terror genre usually isn't your cup of tea, well let's round DOWN to 6*...Fair enough? In this case, I'd say having seen the original PHANTASM would add tend to add a Star to rating P-2, so it does help, but isn't absolutely indispensable.I really had forgotten how much gruesome gore there was in the original. There's probably even more here, but a lot less than in recent offerings, undoubtedly influenced by PHANTASM 1 and 2, like the SAW franchise (YECH!) As is typically the case in "B" movies, the acting and dialog usually leave a lot to be desired, but, hey, we don't watch these scouting for potential Oscar-nominees, now do we?!? Bottom-line: ALL of you who are, or have been horror/terror film buffs; a semi-cult classic you won't want to miss, or that you'll want to REDUX! If not in the above group...MAYBE NOT! In either case...ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!

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+

Writer Director Don Coscarelli returns to the Phantasm world 9 years later with a bigger budget, studio backing from Universal, and wisely picks this one up right where the original left off. A thrilling and scary opening segment has the dwarfs over running Reggie's (Banister) house as he barely has time to pull an unconscious Mike (LeGros) to safety. Mike and Reggie take to the road in search of hunting out the Tall Man (Scrimm) who has been robbing the dead and turning towns barren. Of course the Tall Man has his own plans as well. Mike has a psychic link to a girl named Liz (Irvine) who later connects with them. Coscarelli keeps the Phantasm world a strange one, by not always explaining the actions the movie, like the original plays like a bizarre nightmare and this helps in II as well. The bigger budget allowed for excellent and gory effects by mark Shostrom and Phantasm II does not disappoint in the gore department. It was fun seeing Bannister return as ice cream man Reggie in a expanded version of his character. This is a kick ass version of Reggie instead of the guitar playing hippie from the original. James LeGros as Mike is serviceable but Michael Baldwin was missed here. The ever Sinister Tall Man played brilliantly by Angus Scrimm is as menacing as ever and supplies most of the chills the movie has to offer. Credit is to be given to Coscarelli for not over using the Tall Man here. In order to please fans, many horror series feel the need to show more of the villain because they think this is what the fans want. By keeping the Tall man limited in screen time, he maintains the mystery and scary presence that made him so great in the original. Unlike the parody that Freddy Krueger became in the sequels, The Tall Man keeps his scary charm which helps the film considerably. Phantasm II is a worthy follow up to the now classic original and is a fun scary ride; just don't expect it all to make perfect sense.

After seeing "Phantasm" three times, I finally got around to seeing part two (and am eagerly awaiting parts three and four, but Netflix does not have them). I have to say right off the bat, it is not as great as the first film, though it is hard to compete with such a classic.There are good aspects -- the four-barreled gun, the chainsaw duel... the return of Angus Scrimm. If you want a decent sequel, you could do worse than this. Having Reggie and Angus return to reprise their roles was a key factor in making this work.That being said, the single worst part of this film: replacing the actor who played Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) in the first film with another guy. I have met Baldwin, he is a great guy, and he returns for the third and fourth installment. If the story is true that Universal forced his role to be recast, that is just sheer stupidity from them. The key to a good horror sequel, to me, is continuity.