Phantasm 2 is an American sci-fi horror film from director Don Coscarelli. It’s the second film in the Phantasm franchise. We have Angus Scrimm and Reggie Banister returning from the first film. They are joined by James LeGros, Paula Irvine, and Samantha Phillips. It premiered on July 8th, 1988 and was considered a box-office bomb. However, the film has gained a cult following through video sales. I am watching a VHS rip that I had found on Archive.org.

Synopsis

This sequel takes place seven years after the first. Mike, recently released from an insane asylum, and Reggie is once again visited by the Tall Man and his merry band of killer dwarves. This time they are teaming up to hunt down and kill this mysterious mortician from another dimension. Joining their team is Liz, a strange girl that Mike shares a psychic link with. Together they have to stop the ghoulish Tall Man from amassing an army of undead dwarves in the ghost town of Périgord.

Analysis

Phantasm 2 is an extreme departure from the original. Director Don Coscarelli went big with this feature, expanding on the universe he had created in the first. Coscarelli wants to have a successful franchise on his hands. But he tries to do way too much and ends up sacrificing creepy tension and terror for cheap action and montages. The road trip stuff between Reggie and Mike is great though. And I loved the bits of character development that we did receive. Giving Reggie that four barrelled shotgun was a great touch.

It’s a shame that only two actors from the first film had returned. Angus Scrimm and Reggie Bannister are both very important to the franchise. But so is Mike. And this is the only film in the franchise to recast Mike. In the first, third and fourth films, the character is played by A. Michael Baldwin. However, in this movie, Mike is played by James Le Gros. He sucks.

The horror is still very present. We get some cool practical effects from Greg Nicotero and Robert Kurtzman. I loved the scene with the Tall Man being melted by acid. It was grotesque and fun. So much gore bursting everywhere. The metallic spheres return to drill into some skulls and drain some bodily fluids. And we get a new sphere too. A golden sphere that can drill its way into a body and out through the mouth. It’s gross. I loved it.

The biggest downside is the storyline. It’s spread way too thin. The film tries to go too far and doesn’t do much to explain anything. We barely get any character development and it’s not clear what the motives of the Tall Man are. I would have loved to have seen this film broken down into a couple of films or maybe even a mini-series. It has the potential.

Overall

I had a great time watching Phantasm 2. It wasn’t the best movie, but it was entertaining and fun for the Halloween season. I was disappointed that Don Coscarelli had to sacrifice so much horror in place for action and adventure. But I appreciated the practical effects and road trip montages. They are the highlight of the picture. While I had a great time watching it. I wouldn’t give a strong recommendation to someone unless they were interested in the series already. It’s an acquired taste.