Phantasm II (1988)

Mike, now released from a psychiatric hospital, meets with Reggie, and discover his dreams ( the events of the original film) are real, and they both journey to find and stop the evil Tall Man from his grim work.

Director:

Don Coscarelli

Writer:

Don Coscarelli

Stars:

James Le Gros, Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Le Gros	...	Mike
Reggie Bannister	...	Reggie
Angus Scrimm	...	The Tall Man
Paula Irvine	...	Liz
Samantha Phillips	...	Alchemy
Kenneth Tigar	...	Father Meyers
Ruth C. Engel	...	Grandma
Mark Major	...	Mortician (as Mark Anthony Major)
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 steals the corpses with help of his terrible dwarfs. 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:

sequel | second part | funeral home | coffin | blowtorch | 

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Taglines:

The Ball Is Back!

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the lowest-budgeted film Universal produced in the eighties.

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Goofs

(at around 5 mins) At the beginning, Reggie goes to get his shotgun but it has disappeared. However, when he is surrounded by the large army of Dwarves and he looks at the fireplace, the shotgun is there.

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Quotes

[Reggie revs up his chainsaw, about to take on one of the Tall Man's henchmen]
Reggie: Come on, you mutha!

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Crazy Credits

With the exception of the title Phantasm II, there are no opening credits.

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Alternate Versions

Television version is very heavily cut and removes nearly all the gore. Differences in Television version are:

• When Mike storms into the Embalming Room in the old abandoned Mortuary, the dead Woman's body has a cloth sheet over her.
• The Worm creature instantly pops out of the fake Liz's back and the scene where he crawls out is completely cut.
• Father Meyers' sphere attack is almost completely cut. The shot of his ear flying is removed as is the drilling on his head.
• Alchemy doesn't remove her top when walking up the stairs with Reggie.
• When Reggie & Alchemy are having sex in the room in the abandoned Manor, Alchemy has a top on and the shots of her in her panties are completely removed.
• When Mike & Reggie are chasing The Tall Man in their car and Reggie points his 4-barreled shotgun at The Tall Man in his Hearse, Mike hollars "Shoot Him!" instead of "Shoot The F**ker!"
• The shot of the Caretaker burning to death in the Furnace is cut completely.
• The silver sphere drilling the Caretaker's hand in the Hallway is also cut.
• The gold "Ripper" sphere sawing it's way into the Caretaker's back is cut. However, we do see the gruesome shot of the drill in his mouth after Mike pulls him back.
• The Tall Man's death is cut very heavily. The shots of his skin peeling off and his eyes exploding are completely removed.

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Connections

Featured in Greg Nicotero: The Gory Days (2005)

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!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 July 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Phantasm II

Filming Locations:

Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,012,285, 10 July 1988

Gross USA:

$7,282,851

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,282,851

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