Phantasm II

The nice thing about having the Black Plague is that I am able to catch up on some movie watchin'. Today, after finishing Dexter Season 3 (awesome) I finally watched Phantasm II.

The first Phantasm is a very important film for me. It is one of the first horror films I remember watching. My Mother had dropped me off at some friends of hers for babysitting (or maybe just a visit, the ol' memory is cloudy.) This house I was at was, for lack of a better word, a junk house. By that I mean that they had multiple TV's, stacked on top of each other, and only one worked. Playing on that one was Phantasm. All I remember about the film was the mortuary, the Tall Man, the Silver Sphere, and of course, the finger in yellow goo. I am sure I had nightmares all week. I have no idea what age I was but I know that Angus Scrimm replaced Frankenstein's Monster as my go-to boogieman.

Years later, as an adult and with my own working and non-working TV's, I watched Phantasm again. Know what? It's a damn good movie! And scary too! I was quite excited to finally get my hands on Phantasm II. Little did I know that I had seen this one before too! I have no specific memory attached to this one, but I do remember the drinking Priest and the really weird sex scene involving Reggie.

After watching Cannibal Holocaust, this film was really a delight. No Penis! Phantasm II picks up where the first film left off. Reggie rescues Mike from the Tall Man, only to see him committed to a mental hospital. Cut to 10 years later. Mike is having dreams about a girl named Liz. He doesn't know her but he knows he must save her. He talks his way out of the hospital and goes in search of Liz and the Tall Man, with good ole Reggie as a sidekick. The duo go from town to town in search of the deadly Mortician. Along the way they pick up a hitchhiker (weird sex scene with Reggie) and rescue Liz. They are soon dodging silver spheres and fighting dwarfs. It's like a perfect movie.

Angus Scrimm as the Tall Man is SCARY!! And he has a habit of popping out of nowhere. Between him, the dwarfs (which are compacted dead people) and the silver spheres, I am guaranteed at least one good nightmare! Which is good, because lately I have been having a strange Godzilla/Zombie combo nightmare. It's not as awesome as it sounds.