Phantasm II (1988)

Mike, now released from a psychiatric hospital, continues his journey to stop the evil Tall Man from his grim work.

Director:

Don Coscarelli

Writer:

Don Coscarelli

Stars:

James Le Gros, Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Le Gros	...	Mike (as James LeGros)
Reggie Bannister	...	Reggie
Angus Scrimm	...	The Tall Man
Paula Irvine	...	Liz
Samantha Phillips	...	Alchemy
Kenneth Tigar	...	Father Meyers
Ruth C. Engel	...	Grandma
Mark Anthony Major	...	Mortician
Rubin Kushner	...	Grandpa
Stacey Travis	...	Jeri
J. Patrick McNamara	...	Psychologist
A. Michael Baldwin	...	Young Mike (as Michael Baldwin)
Amanda Gray	...	Background Player
Elizabeth Quezada	...	Background Player
Lauren Gray	...	Background Player

Storyline

Mike is released from psychiatry, when he agrees with the doctors that the terrible happenings in his past were just in his imagination. But once he's free, he contacts Redge and they team up to hunt down and eliminate the "Tall Man", who plunders the graveyards and abducts the sleeping with help of his terrible gnomes. A beautiful strange girl starts to appear in Mike's dreams. He assumes she's in danger and needs their help - will they find her before the Tall Man can do her any harm?

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Plot Keywords:

tall man | psychiatric hospital | sphere | oregon | cemetery | 

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Taglines:

Now, the horrifying truth is about to be revealed...and all it took was a little digging.

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 July 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fantasma II

Filming Locations:

Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$7,282,851 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spacegate Productions, Starway International Inc., Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The new look and destructive weapons of the silver spheres seems to be heavily inspired by a short story entitled "Second Variety" written by Philip K. Dick, of whom Don Coscarelli is a devoted fan. Said story features a lethal type of small robots known as "claws" and literally described as "a churning sphere of blades and metal" that attack from ambush "spinning, creeping, shaking themselves up suddenly from the gray ash and darting towards any warm body".

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Goofs

As Reg fights with one of the baddies with the chainsaws, as the baddie take a swing with the chainsaw he misses and cuts into the wooden door. You can see that a vertical cut has already been made in the wood though, to help the chainsaw get in and cut.

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Quotes

Reggie: Come on. Lets go kick some ass.

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Crazy Credits

Final credit (copyright notice): "...violators will face severe civil and criminal penalties and the wrath of the Tall Man."

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Connections

Features Phantasm (1979)

User Reviews

Reggie Rules, and LeGros is an Improvement

While it isn't the iconic horror film it's predecessor was, Phantasm II is backed by better production values, a cool apocalyptic premise and a stand-out improvement in James LeGros replacing Baldwin. There is a reason why LeGros has appeared in a great deal more than Baldwin (including a hilarious parody of Brad Pitt in Living in Oblivion) and shows it here in spades. Frankly I feel this was as good or better than the first but the required shock ending that punctuates each of the films in this series has grown tiresome and makes each feel like they do not truly stand on their own as their own experience. Nevertheless, the entire series is original, imaginative and involving. Phantasm II really should have capped off the series with it's big budget backing, as the very next film in the series felt a lot like Alien 3 where the film picks up characters from the second film discarded in a very unfortunate and disappointing manner...but I digress. Phantasm II is solid, quad barrel shotgun monster blasting fun and a must see for monster movie fans everywhere!