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Phantasm II
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Directed by Don Coscarelli.
The "Tall Man" and his strange little Killer Sphere return for a second round in this sequel to the 1979 cult favorite. Mike Pearson (James LeGros) is still plagued by memories of the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm), an evil mortician who has risen from the grave and bleeds embalming fluid -- and tried to kill him as a boy. Mike has been a patient in a mental institution for the last decade, insisting that the Tall Man is real; he still appears in his dreams ten years after their first encounter. When Mike changes his tune and says that the undead undertaker was merely a hallucination, he is finally released. However, Mike and his best friend, Reggie (Reggie Bannister), are actually out to find the Tall Man and put an end to his habits of grave-robbing and draining people's bodies with his flying brain-juicer. As they search for the Tall Man, Mike encounters Liz (Paula Irvine), a woman who has also appeared in his dreams, and she claims that she too has been pursued by the Tall Man. Phantasm II was followed by a third installment in 1994, and a fourth in 1998. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
lost interest.
Fans of the deliciously bizarre Phantasm need not worry: despite its bigger budget and major studio backing, Phantasm II is every bit as unusual as the first film. Once again, writer/director Don Coscarelli mines a singular combination of surrealism and shocks as he pits his beleaguered heroes against the otherworldly menace of the Tall Man. Coscarelli also includes the moments of offbeat humor that were so surprising in the first film, the highlight here being a very unusual and raucous bedroom encounter between Reggie and an oddball hitchhiker they pick up along the way. The main difference between the two films is that Phantasm II maintains a spooky atmosphere through the first half of the film as the heroes stalk their nemesis and then switches gears into a more Sam Raimi-styled action-horror mode for an eventful finale. Some might not like this tonal shift, but Coscarelli handles the mayhem with such a gleeful flair that is hard to deny. Another change lies in the casting: James LeGros steps in as Mike, replacing the first film's Michael Baldwin, but he delivers a subtle, slyly funny performance that fits the material nicely (he also has a solid level of chemistry with series regular Reggie Bannister). The end results are showier to be sure, with plenty of pyrotechnics and slick, convincing makeup effects by Mark Shostrom, but no less eccentric in tone. In short, Phantasm II is one of the more underrated horror sequels in recent memory and well worth a look to anyone who enjoyed the first film. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
 



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