Phantasm II
1988 Directed by Don Coscarelli
Synopsis
The ball is back!
Mike, after his release from a psychiatric hospital, teams up with his old pal Reggie to hunt down the Tall Man, who is at it again. A mysterious, beautiful girl has also become part of Mike's dreams, and they must find her before the Tall Man does.
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"Top 10 of 1988 Selection"
Through the Eye of Scream Factory"You think that when you die, you go to Heaven. You come to us!"
Sometimes (maybe i should say almost never) , the sequel is better than the original, well, 'Phantasm II' is one of those rarities.
'Phantasm II' is freaking awesome! I don't think there is another way to put it. Don Coscarelli, created a perfect blend of campy humor, gore, suspense and practical effects. 'Phantasm II' is some of the best times I had with a horror movie.
The film starts right where the first one ended (that was a very nice touch from the director), in consequence Coscarelli doesn't waste time introducing characters so we get…
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There are two explosing buildings in the first ten minutes of Phantasm II, including an epic shot of Angus Scrimm calmly walking with his back turned to an exploding funeral home in the background. At the fifteen-minute mark, heroes Mike (James Le Gros, replacing A. Michael Baldwin) and Reggie (returning star Reggie Bannister) build a homemade flame thrower and a four-barreled shotgun. Phantasm II, while still relatively low-budget, is Don Coscarelli's only studio film and cost ten times as much as Phantasm, and you can tell he had a terrific time putting the money onscreen in a super-sized version of Phantasm that often plays, endearingly, like the original film meets Rambo (only with a middle-aged ice cream truck driver instead…
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An extremely enjoyable sequel to the original PHANTASM. Bigger budget, better effects and a more ambitious script! I really like this. In my opinion, one of the rare sequels (along with THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK) that is as equally enjoyable as the original.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Fun 80's horror. This had more action than I was expecting which is always a bonus.
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I love how Coscarelli expands the central conceit of Phantasm for the sequel, transforming it into a guys-on-a-mission action flick with a supernatural edge. And yet, we are still treated to more great deaths, ghastly effects, and a fantastic score. Shout Factory Blu-ray looks amazing.
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Reviewed the BD for A.V. Club here. Excerpt:
Coscarelli’s interest in creating oddball genre pieces for an imagined cult audience is a strength and weakness. The Phantasm series offers a wealth of information about creature types, psychic phenomena, and other dimensions for fans to unpack, but those elements can gum up the action, too, and there are stretches of Phantasm II that make the simple quest of defeating The Tall Man into a complicated muddle. But Coscarelli is a whiz with dialogue—assessing their dim chances, LeGros says to Bannister, “I’m a 19-year-old kid and you’re a bald, middle-aged ex-ice cream vendor”—and the film has a refreshing spirit of adventure uncommon to the genre, especially in the slasher ’80s."
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I love how Coscarelli expands the central conceit of Phantasm for the sequel, transforming it into a guys-on-a-mission action flick with a supernatural edge. And yet, we are still treated to more great deaths, ghastly effects, and a fantastic score. Shout Factory Blu-ray looks amazing.
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Sequel to the 1979 horror cult classic. A man who has been institutionalized for the past 10 years is still haunted by memories of his boyhood encounters with an undead being called The Tall Man. After admitting that it was all a figment of his imagination he is released. Once released he goes on a quest to find The Tall Man. Worth viewing if you like the original even if it's not as good.
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"Top 10 of 1988 Selection"
Through the Eye of Scream Factory"You think that when you die, you go to Heaven. You come to us!"
Sometimes (maybe i should say almost never) , the sequel is better than the original, well, 'Phantasm II' is one of those rarities.
'Phantasm II' is freaking awesome! I don't think there is another way to put it. Don Coscarelli, created a perfect blend of campy humor, gore, suspense and practical effects. 'Phantasm II' is some of the best times I had with a horror movie.
The film starts right where the first one ended (that was a very nice touch from the director), in consequence Coscarelli doesn't waste time introducing characters so we get…
-
Fun 80's horror. This had more action than I was expecting which is always a bonus.
-
There are two explosing buildings in the first ten minutes of Phantasm II, including an epic shot of Angus Scrimm calmly walking with his back turned to an exploding funeral home in the background. At the fifteen-minute mark, heroes Mike (James Le Gros, replacing A. Michael Baldwin) and Reggie (returning star Reggie Bannister) build a homemade flame thrower and a four-barreled shotgun. Phantasm II, while still relatively low-budget, is Don Coscarelli's only studio film and cost ten times as much as Phantasm, and you can tell he had a terrific time putting the money onscreen in a super-sized version of Phantasm that often plays, endearingly, like the original film meets Rambo (only with a middle-aged ice cream truck driver instead…
-
An extremely enjoyable sequel to the original PHANTASM. Bigger budget, better effects and a more ambitious script! I really like this. In my opinion, one of the rare sequels (along with THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK) that is as equally enjoyable as the original.
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An early precursor to modern survival horror? Too much action for my tastes
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Terrible movie. The car was cool. The gore was great except there was too little of it and most of it not until the last 15 minutes.