Second Viewing: Phantasm II (1988)

The most impressive thing about the Phantasm franchise is how it’s all one big story. Sure, each movie sort of has the same plot after this one, but the characters really grow on you over time, even if one of the main ones, Mike, is played by a different actor here, for the only time in the series.

This movie has a lot of atmosphere, though not as much as the first. It’s a well made movie. It’s got some spectacularly gory special effects and a nice score.

We don’t learn a whole lot more about the Tall Man, or about what the hell is happening, but I like the sense that the characters don’t really know what to do, but they know they need to do something. The story itself is so damn weird that it’d be odd if Mike and Reggie were aware of any rules.

As frustrating as it can be for a horror movie not really to have rules, the weirdness of the movie sort of dictates this.

This movie’s a lot slower than you’d expect a movie to feature two protagonists going cross country with flamethrowers and shotguns, and I admire it for that. It aims for the same creepy mood as the original, though it doesn’t pull it off quite as expertly.

Rating: 6/10