OctoBOOOOOOY: Phantasm II (1988)

Welcome back for another venture back into the space gate and the weird world of Don Coscarelli's Phantasm. This time, nine years and one Hell of a cliffhanger later, we venture out of the surreal world of the first movie and into that strange horror frontier of sequels.

That it took almost a decade for this to happen isn't entirely a surprise –the reason the first movie ended as it did (Mike finding out the hard way that the Tall Man wasn't a dream) was because there was no plan for a sequel. Though he had been asked for some time about a follow-up, as far as Coscarelli was concerned, it was one and done. It wasn't until close to a decade later that he would finally hit the breakthrough on where to take the series from that ending.

As I'd said, Phantasm is a unique movie in a lot of ways. Subsequently, Phantasm II would be the movie that would establish a lot of what the overall series would become. Which may be for the best. As much as I like Coscarelli's original, it's a lightning in a jar experience – it's not the kind of movie you can repeat and expect it to work as well a second time.

After Lucas wrapped the Star Wars trilogy in '83, the rest
of the 1980s was a really bad experience for the now unemployed jawas.

Within the first act, this sequel established two elements that define the larger story of the series. The first of these is the linking of the films: in trying to determine where to take the story after the first ending, Coscarelli had a breakthrough. He realized he could pick up right where he left off, making each movie ending with a cliffhanger that the next film would pick up from.

This particular cliffhanger proved a daunting one given the nine years of downtime and subsequent aging of Mike's actor. To the team's credit, the workaround on it, focusing on Reggie while young Mike substituted for a double whose face is unseen. It’s a bit of an old trick, but it’s one that works well here. Part of this is thanks to the director and actors knowing not to draw any more attention to it than they need to.

...other Mike was then shipped off to an undisclosed location
for recasting. The old house was burned down to terminate
any means of potential identification.

The movie also introduces a change in tone and direction of the story – rather than going with the traditional horror mold of 'new group of characters has to figure out the mystery of our antagonist', Phantasm as a series keeps to its original protagonists from start to finish. Here, the overall narrative shifts to Mike and Reggie attempting to hunt down and stop the Tall Man, with the mystery relegated to his origins and true nature along the way.

With this in mind, this movie continues the evolution of the Tall Man. This time around, Scrimm's performance has less of the alien tics of the first movie, and plays more of an assured malevolence that would become a standard. Along with the new behavior, the movie builds on the alien nature of the character in other ways. The first of these is in newer levels of practical effects (this entry has the distinction of having the highest budget of the movies) with work done by an up-and-coming Bob Kurtzman and Greg Nicotero among others, and design elements that further lend to the Tall Man's human form being a disguise for something altogether more alien.

A sample of one of Kurtzman and Nicotero's creations
According to commentary, they affectionately named this one 'Seymour'

I have to give the movie credit for as it that plays well with the franchise's overall limited budgets – is its use of the relative unseen in escalation of stakes. In this case, that comes in the form of expanding the Tall Man's actions in the first movie – moving from town to town, wiping out populations and harvesting their dead. It's fairly easy to convey with a low budget, and the scenes of Mike and Reggie exploring abandoned towns that he has already swept through like a plague makes for some effective, if understated, showcasing of how dangerous a threat the Tall Man is.

As mentioned, the cast for this sequel is change up for the series, albeit a temporary one. Scrimm and Bannister have returned to their roles – this time Bannister's Reggie is the reluctant hero, the role that would define the character for the rest of the series. He takes to it with good humor, but also enough sense to dial that back as the scene calls for it. But aside from Scrimm and Bannister, the original cast is nowhere to be seen. In a move that was met with skepticism at the time, Universal called for replacing Baldwin, wanting 'a working actor' to play Mike this time, resulting in character actor James Le Gros in the role. The time gap between the first two movies gives him some advantage, and to his credit, he makes a game effort to live up to the part, including picking up small cues from Baldwin's earlier performance.

One of those other little things I've come to appreciate from digging
into production info - realizing just how close we came to The Tall Man
being turned into a Freddy Kruger-esque quipster.
Scrimm can be a funny guy, but neither he nor his character are
made for the one-liner.

As the movie's female leads, Paula Irvine and Samantha Phillips don't have quite as much to do, but they're both doing the best with what they have been given. Irvine feels a little like a missed opportunity, as the movie uses her and her character to establish a bit more about why Mike seems different and in the Tall Man's crosshairs, but it never quite seems to fully develop, but that's more on the script than her.

Phillips, meanwhile, gets more to work with as a hitchhiker turned love interest for Reggie. This is one of those bits of the movie that I feel works well, although I'm not sure if it's entirely by intent. Part of the development of Reggie tries to work a sort of ladies' man aspect into his character – which could have slid more into a worn cliché easily. In this case, thanks to Phillips's performance, it turns into a 'flip the script' moment, as Reggie soon finds himself utterly blindsided by her very hands-on approach to affection. It's a change-up that Phillips carries well, though again, I'm still not clear how much of this was a happy accident or a direct intention of riffing on the type. In either case, it makes it a bit of a shame this would be her only appearance in the series.

Also joining the series regulars in this movie - one of my favorite
bizarre horror weapons: Reggie's 4-barreled shotgun.
(Sadly, the Boogie Down hat does not stick around as well)

Finally, I have to take this opportunity to give a shout out to this movie's score. I didn’t get into it last time, but Fred Myrow & Malcolm Seagrave's theme to Phantasm is another of the great, iconic elements of the series, and I feel bad about not giving it its due. Myrow, collaborating with Chris R. Stone, give this movie a score that suits the change in tone. The up-tempo version of the main theme used for the end credits is a version of the tune I happen to have a particular fondness for.

Though this film has some good standing among the fans – initial concerns about the Le Gros recast aside – it didn't perform as well at the box office as Universal hoped. As such, this would be the last sequel to see a wide theater release. Next time, we follow the path of the Tall Man to the 90s straight to video market for Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead.

Till next time