Customer Rating: Summary: The ultimate evil is about to be revealed!. Comment: Yes I consider this sequel to be even better than the first film, Phantasm 2 continues right after the first film ended and it never stops it has more action, blood and gore and it also has a faster pace. It seems like Don Coscarelli had a bigger budget and the same dark atmosphere is still there but it seems to be alot more fun this time around and it is possibly the best 80's horror sequel out there, only two cast members returned Angus Scrimm as The Tall Man and Reggie Bannister as Reggie, the original actor who played Mike did not return instead hes played by James LeGros some blond guy who was O.K. I guess. For the last 8 years of his life Mike Pearson (James LeGross) has been in a mental institution after the horrible events that happened in the past including the death of his older brother Jody he has also been getting psychic messages from a girl who warns him about The Tall Man who has returned and wants to kill Mike. He is soon released from the institution and is quickly reunited with Reggie as the only person who could help him out as they are soon back on the trail to get rid of The tall man, they both get some cool weapons including a quadruple barrel shot gun and a flamethrower along the way going from town to town, Phantasm 2 was a nicely shot film and shows how talented and under appreciated Don Coscarelli was the cinematography was stunning you also have some dark atmosphere while both characters visit some graveyards and mausoleums and this time the final showdown takes place in Perigord Cemetery Mikes character also has some creepy nightmares and warnings from this mysterious woman, this film also has some pretty neat action scenes including a much better car chase scene and a chainsaw battle with Reggie and one of the bad guys and the humor was also there it seemed to be influenced alot by Evil Dead 2. Reggie Bannister definitely stands out as the kick a** pony tailed ice cream vendor from the phantasm series and its always great seeing this guy do all these crazy stuff. There are also some new characters that get involved including a female hitch-hiker named Alchemy played by Samantha Phillips and a mysterious psychic woman who contacts Mike through his mind she also has a deadly encounter with those weird dwarfs and The Tall Man who kills a priest by using one of those silver balls his ear is chopped off and his head drilled into, The Tall Man has some great lines in this film as well "You think that when you die, you go to heaven?.YOU COME TO US!!!". As you will see in this film Don C. becomes more creative and adds alot more imaginative scenes to make this film into a more exciting and great sequel and the make up and gore fx have improved it also has a good twist ending as always. Anchor Bay decided to release both Phantasm 1 and 3 but they didn't bother with part 2 which is kind of ridiculous, I think its because of Universal Studios who still have the rights for this film. You can get a copy of this film however its only available on region 2 dvd from Amazon.co.uk its included in a boxset from Anchor Bay U.K. website check it out. Customer Rating: Summary: DVD Now!! Comment: I have seen this only on T.V. and I and my Horror fan friends love this movie. I hate Hollywood and their legal garbage. I don't care what needs to be done about putting this on DVD, just do it and make the Phantasm fans happy. Customer Rating: Summary: Towns are like people; some of them die of natural causes while others are murdered. Comment: The events of the first movie are a blur in the mind of Mike, who now finds himself being released from a mental ward after his initial run-in with The Tall Man. Enter Reggie, beloved Ice Cream Truck Driver and survivor with holes in his memory, and things seem to be coming back into place. The only problem is that Mike wasn't made, that The Tall Man is still moving from town to own, and graveyards are still emptying.
Everything keeps on keeping on - and then some.
So, what is The Tall Man? Nobody really knows. He appears and then people begin to die, and the cemeteries begin to fill. The bodies then start to vanish, and "things" begin to take their place. This is explored more in the 2nd movie, but the answers only bring about more questions.
It's kinda beautiful in a strange sort of way, too.
While the first Phantasm is the one people really remember, the 2nd is really the one that took Phantasm to a new level by introducing it to special effects and to some rather frightening scenes. Anyone that has seen the movie will recall "the back worm" calling card that The Tall Man leaves behind, and anyone that has seen any of the other movies certainly remembers the flying pool balls. The one thing that this movie adds is gore, lots of gore, and a story that is just as vague (and somehow fulfilling) as the first one.
When you look at the movies, none of them really stick into any order and, in this one, ou certainly have some interesting problems that come with sequels. I personally found a few of the angles fun (and somewhat interesting) when they were approached, and I liked some of the things they did with Mike. In the first movie they tormented him to the point that it seemed like death would be kind. In the second the movie finds itself pressing onward and upward, taking anything that connects our two characters to "the real world" and using that against them.
While there are a lot of people that do not like this movie, I saw it years ago and have always had it on my mind. Sadly it is the only one of the series to not make it onto DVD, but that doesn't really speak on the quality of the movie.
Like any of the Phantasm movies, they are acquired tastes so I can't say "it is for everyone." Still, what is?
Customer Rating: Summary: For other Phans Comment: Phantasms 1,3 and 4 are readily available in US format. There is a boxed set from Taiwan with 5 DVDs, including the absent Phantasm 2, available for a rather reasonable price (around $30). If the imbeciles at Universal won't sell the rights or release Phantasm 2 on DVD, then they can't complain if we get ripped off copies. Customer Rating: Summary: I actually liked it more than the original Comment: The horror genre is pretty much known for having sequels that are far inferior to the original; of course there are always exceptions, but overall it's rare to find a sequel better than the original.
In my opinion Phantasm II is one of those very rare sequels that are better than the original. I enjoyed the original, but I'll be honest when I say I was never really a huge fan.
There is nothing wrong with the original, but I just couldn't get into it; where as with Phantasm II I was into it the whole movie. For starters I liked the characters more here in the sequel. That's not too say the characters weren't likeable in the original, they were but I just liked them more here.
I also thought Don Coscarelli did a better job at the pacing of the movie. Each scene moves the movie forward and I never really found any portion of the movie slow. Phantasm II for me, is a movie that moves really fast and feels a lot shorter than it actually is. Even I thought Phantasm had a great creepy feel I personally thought it was kind of boring at times.
The only problem I have with Phantasm II was the great and creepy atmosphere the original had, which is felt through out the movie isn't really here in Phantasm II.
There are plenty of suspenseful moments, but the sense of dread and doom isn't here like the original. But even though Phantasm II lacked that again I found it much better paced. As I sated before I did enjoy the original, but honestly it's not a personal favorite of mine despite the fact there was more I liked than disliked.
I might be in the minority here, but I really liked James LeGros as Mike. A. Michael Baldwin who played the part in the original as well as Phantasm III & Phantasm IV does an excellent job in his installments, but I personally liked James LeGros more.
Reggie Bannister is great once again as Reggie I liked him even more in the sequel. Both Bannister & LeGros really worked well together and make for one of the best teams in a horror flick.
Newly added to the cast is Paula Irvine as Liz and Samantha Phillips as Alchemy. Both women are excellent and provide many great moments. Angus Scrimm returns as The Tall Man and again provides a great performance and while he is creepy I did find him creepier in the original.
Phantasm II is one my favorite sequels and favorite horror movies in general and as I stated before I liked it more than the original, my only wish was that Phantasm II had the really creepy vibe the original had. That is for me the only flaw of the movie.
Phantasm II was a faced paced and exciting sequel; the fact that Don Coscarelli returned was the main reason for that. Too many sequels have different filmmakers and a lot of the times it just doesn't work as well.
Phantasm II is an excellent sequel with great pacing and likeable characters. This was a great continuation of the series. Hopefully soon we will get an SE DVD. With the recent re-release of Phantasm & Phantasm III maybe Universal will come around and give us fans a proper Region 1 release or possibly sell the rights to Anchor Bay.
