Several years have passed since Mike Pearson battled the odd, seemingly unbeatable undertaker known as "The Tall Man," whom the young man believes is grave robbing and resurrecting recently-deceased corpses to do his bidding. Alas, no one will believe him, including his old family friend Reggie, who has saved him from his prior encounter with the benevolent being. After being locked up in a mental institution for quite some time, Mike eventually fakes his sanity and is released to the outside world. When the young man meets back up with Reggie, both begin to experience their fair share of out-of-the-ordinary incidents. These include the sudden death of Reggie's entire family, and visions of a young woman named Liz, who appears to have a psychic bond to Mike despite the two having never met face-to-face. The duo set out with two things in mind: save this mysterious lady from certain doom, and to finally kill this seemingly inhuman creation that continues to haunt them.
If one were to sit me down and ask that I compile a list of my personal top ten horror films, Don Coscarelli's 1979 relic Phantasm would undoubtedly make it onto that list. It's a creepy and wonderful little ditty that has just enough black humor, solid acting, and unique atmospheres sprinkled into its relatively short running time that helps keeps you invested. For the older audiences who were around for the glorious heyday of the 1980s scary movie explosion, the news of this particular motion picture receiving a sequel must have seemed like a huge surprise. After all, director Coscarelli admits that he really didn't know how to write a follow-up to the picture, though once he discovered that it could take place immediately after the events of the previous film had ended, he figured that it was better late than never.
Thankfully, it looks like Coscarelli was able to get most of what he wanted out of Phantasm II. Virtually everyone from the original flick's cast is able to return after nearly a decade has gone by, though there are two very notable omissions: Bill Thornbury, whose character of Jody is presumed dead, and A. Michael Baldwin, who previously played the young protagonist Mike Pearson. Sadly, the latter had apparently dropped out of the acting game, so the studio forced Coscarelli to recast him with James LeGros: a relative unknown at the time who previously had bit parts in pictures such as Near Dark and the perplexingly-titled Solarbabies. LeGros is a fine substitute (if not a bit old for this role), but if the only reason as to why he was cast instead of original star Baldwin was because the latter chose to not pursue a career in Hollywood, then you should have taken some of that studio money and made an offer for the O.G. Mike to return. Thankfully, that wasn't the case with Reggie Banister, who is given a larger chunk of time to do much more than he did in the first Phantasm, and he just seems to be relishing every single moment in Phantasm II. He's one of horror's more underrated "badasses," doing things that include taking part in a chainsaw duel and fighting off a good chunk of these pint-sized minions (who seem to resemble cancer-stricken Jawas this time around). Of course, the late Angrus Scrimm delivers another triumphant performance as the Tall Man, but I don't think any single viewer would have ever doubted that he wouldn't turn one in. There isn't much to discuss when it comes to the new on-screen presences either, as even with some relatively inconsistent writing, new additions like Paula Irvine (who looks like a combination of Patricia Arquette and Debbie Harry) are still welcome in this bizarre universe. On an unrelated note, Phantasm II is also loaded with beautifully grotesque makeup and gore effects, which come courtesy of the legendary Greg Nicotero. And the updated version of the iconic theme by Fred Myrow is effectively creepy too.
Ah, but I did mention that Coscarelli got "most" of what he wanted with this sequel, yes? Well, it's unfortunate that reports of studio interference have become more well-known over the years, because it does explain why there are many things in Phantasm II that don't work. One of the most effective things about the first entry in this (now) franchise was this dreamlike state that the entire experience seemed to be going in and out of. As wonky as it may sound on paper, it just worked, and helped create this real sense of dread and feeling as if this world was coming undone. There are more dream sequences this time around, but they feel too overused and don't really pack the same punch that they should. That, and considering how abnormally pretty the motion picture looks (they sure didn't have a problem taking advantage of that higher budget), the abundance of bright colors mixed into the product after so many odd transitions can often cause you to get a headache or forcefully adjust the levels on your television set. A lot of the mystique and unanswered questions surrounding the prior movie remain unsolved and unknown, and by the time the credits have rolled, I wouldn't be entirely shocked if some aspects and plot details of the flick leave you feeling more perplexed than intrigued. There's also a very predictable twist that occurs towards the end of Phantasm II which does feel slightly disappointing, even if it does result in a memorable moment or two.
While it leaves a lot of our questions unanswered and does feel mildly confusing up until a certain point, Phantasm II is still a fairly qualified sequel in a land chocked full of far too many inadequate and unnecessary ones. The good outweighs the bad, and the bad is far from truly wretched or offensive (we haven't reached those ones just yet people). I don't know if it warrants an immediate buy, but if one has access to streaming service HBO Go, then you can currently view it on there for no extra charge. If you are still a firm believer of purchasing discs, however, then you can grab a cheap copy on DVD (packaged with other Unseen Terror alumni such as The Serpent and the Rainbow and Sssssss) or on Blu-Ray thanks to the always-reliable folks at Shout! Factory.
And while you're at it, maybe you can find one of those deadly spheres for my birthday. I need it for....personal reasons.
Tomorrow, we just can't get out of this gosh darn time period, and let Brian Yuzna of Re-Animator fame make his first appearance this year!
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