phantasm 2

While directors Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson both managed to turn early horror movie careers into mega-budgeted tentpole franchisees (Spiderman and Lord of the Rings respectively), that success somehow eluded Don Coscarelli.

The creator of Phantasm (1979) pioneered the same sort of street level auteurism, whipping together a horror / sci-fi / psychedelic fantasy on a shoestring budget that maintains a huge cult following. Yet other than a minor breakthrough with The Beastmaster (1982) – a basic cable mainstay for nearly a decade on TBS and TNT – Coscarelli has never managed to crack the “A”-list like so many of his fellow horror alumni. And the release of Phantasm 2 (1988) on blu-ray only deepens the mystery as to why not.

First, a quick recap of the original, which is pretty much required viewing. After the death of his parents, a boy becomes suspicious of the local caretaker who he nicknames the Tall Man. A late-night inspection of the mausoleum reveals an army of vicious dwarves, deadly flying spheres and the gateway to another world. Shot over the course of several years, Phantasm plays out with an intentional dream logic, flashing forward and backward, in and out of dream sequences and fantasies to the point where the audience never knows what is real and what is imagined.

Phantasm 2 is much more straightforward, almost pandering to the Evil Dead 2 crowd and reconfiguring the franchise for financial success. The formula isn’t exactly original, but it’s a whole lotta fun, reintroducing us to the Tall Man (played by Angus Scrimm) and his pursuers as they play cat-and-mouse in small towns across America.

Mike, our boy hero from first film (now played by James Le Gros), has just been released from psychiatric care. He wastes no time teaming up with Reggie (Reggie Bannister), gassing up the hemicuda and hitting the road to prevent their enemy from raiding more cemataries and turning the dead bodies into pint-sized slaves for his otherworldly army. (Phantasm 3 and 4 attempt to expand on the Tall Man’s mythology and motivations, but personally, I prefer the WTF version.)

Although it’s made up of most of the same ingredients, Phantasm 2 is a different monster entirely from Coscarelli’s original. It’s a big, loud, hokey crowd-pleaser, looking for laughs more often than scares. While that description might seem like a sell out, the experience of watching the film is never anything but riotously enjoyable. Coscarelli jumps from one chaotic set-up to the next, stringing things along with the thinnest of narrative threads.

When it comes time to unleash the balls – those aforementioned flying spheres that served as the original’s best marketing hook – the sequel ups the ante by making them a trio and adding an array of gory attachments like bonesaws, drillbits and laserbeams. The orb sequence is as disgusting and inventive as anything in Raimi and Jackson’s filmography, proving that Coscarelli had the skills….he just never had the opportunity.

Scream Factory’s collector’s edition includes a commentary, interviews and a lengthy featurette entitled The Ball is Back that covers most everything you’d want to know. But just in case, there are more deleted scenes, vintage behind-the-scene segments, a special-effects chat with Greg Nicotero and a short film featuring Angus Scrimm as Lincoln.