Product Description
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The Tall Man is back with a vengeance in Phantasm II, the second
chapter in the cult classic Phantasm series!
Released after seven years in a mental hospital, Mike convinces
his old pal Reggie to join forces with him to hunt down and
destroy The Tall Man once and for all. Mike’s visions lead the
two to a quiet little town where a horde of flying killer balls
to slice and dice their gruesome way through everyone.
Exploding with special effects, unparalleled thrills, horror and
suspense, Phantasm II climaxes with a blood-curdling conclusion
that you have to see to believe
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Director Don Coelli's Phantasm II revamps the nightmarish
dreamscape of his 1979 cult classic for an offbeat if energetic
sequel that receives a lavish showcase in this collector's
edition Blu-ray. Produced nearly a decade after Coelli's
Phantasm became a surprise hit, the sequel picks up shortly after
the events of the first picture, with young hero Mike (James Le
Gros, replacing A. Michael Baldwin), newly released from a
psychiatric hospital but still plagued by dreams of the sinister,
dimension-hopping Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) and his legion of
diminutive, grave-robbing henchmen. After reuniting with Reggie
(Reggie Bannister, reprising his role from the first picture),
Mike takes to the road to stop the Tall Man with the help of a
young woman (Paula Irvine) with whom he shares both a psychic
link and disturbing dreams, and an amusingly aggressive
hitchhiker (Samantha Phillips). Phantasm II works hard to satisfy
a broad audience by blending the first picture's moody budget
surrealism with wide swathes of gory effects--much of which
centering around the franchise's lethal flying silver
spheres--and touches of '80s-style boom-and-bang action. Serving
so many palates in a single film is bound to leave one or more
parties feeling slighted, and those who appreciated the
unsettling atmosphere of the first Phantasm may feel that it's
been suped in favor of the more crowd-pleasing elements.
However, Coelli keeps the pace at a brisk clip and milks his
trump card--Scrimm's undeniably creepy presence as the Tall
Man--for all its worth. The result is best described as Big,
Broad Horror Fun, and generated enough interest from the horror
community to produce two additional (and lesser) sequels.
The single-disc Scream Factory presentation of Phantasm II
compares favorably to the fan-friendly packaging of its previous
releases (including Halloween II and They Live) with this Blu-ray
edition, which includes both new and previously released
supplemental material. Among the features produced for the
Blu-ray is the 40-minute Ball Is Back, which covers the film's
conception and execution through interviews with Coelli and
his primary cast and crew, as well as test and behind-the-scenes
footage. There's also a commentary track (culled from a previous
DVD release) featuring Coelli, Bannister, and Scrimm that
underscores the trio's long-running and friendly relationship, as
well as the reasons for not bringing back Baldwin for the sequel
(he would return for subsequent entries). A second interview
feature with special effects creator Greg Nicotero (The Walking
Dead) focuses on his work for the franchise, deleted and
alternate scenes taken from both Coelli's own 35mm archive,
and a work print of the film featuring mostly extended dialogue
sequences, though a couple of the picture's grislier moments are
also expanded. Short featurettes on makeup and effects and
several stunt scenes should be familiar to fans that have seen
previous DVD editions, though die-hard Phantasm aficionados will
be both pleased and amused by the inclusion of a vintage
educational short film for Encyclopedia Britannica starring
Scrimm (under his real name, Rory Guy) as Abraham Lincoln.
Trailers for the first three Phantasm pictures, as well as
galleries of production stills and promotional art, round out
this enjoyable disc. --Paul Gaita