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Overall Rating : 4/10
Directed By : Don Coscarelli
Michael Baldwin (Phantasm III : Lord Of The Dead)
Reggie Bannister (Cemetery Gates)
Angus Scrimm (Phantasm III : Lord Of The Dead)
Supplied By : Anchor Bay Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Apr. 11, 2007
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| PLOT The Tall Man, that imposing menace from Morningside Mortuary, is back and once again haunting the thoughts of the now-adult Mike and his friend, ex-Ice Cream vendor Reggie. The two continue their hunt for the mysterious figure and in his path of destruction encounter a variety of dangerous situations, friends and enemies. They also must contend with the resurrected dead plus a growing number of the infamous and deadly silver spheres which aid the Tall Man as he sets his sights on indoctrinating Mike and finishing the fight begun so many years ago. |
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| THE REVIEW In PHANTASM III, Mike and Reggie continue to be haunted by the Tall Man. The actions from the last installment left Mike in a coma for awhile and all of that time, his mind is filled with visions of his worst enemy - who still seems intent on claiming him. Upon his release from the hospital, Mike along with Reggie find out the hard way that Mike's dreams are actually reality as begin to be attacked by the Tall Man's ghouls and Minions once again. Returning from the dead in spirit form(as well as a silver sphere) Mike's older brother Jody shows up, to warn the two of what we already knew - the Tall Man has returned for them. In an event in which Mike is kidnapped by the Tall Man, we find Reggie on his own - and through the voice of Jody, finds himself in an old town that is strangely abandoned. Along the way he meets a variety of characters, including a group of thugs who try to abduct him, a young boy named Tim, who's parents were killed by the Tall Man and a tough female who is ex-military. Being left to live on his own, Tim as developed a rather dead-on shot with a gun, and Rocky has extensive combat training, seeing this, Reggie gets them to join in the fight against the Tall Man and to find his long-time friend Mike. Before watching this one, I was kind of worried about how well I would understand this installment seeing as I have never seen part 2. Fortunately for mr, the film starts out with a number of flashbacks from the first two - they help in a way but there is still some confusion to be had for those that have not actually seen it. As I understand it the star Michael Baldwin did not play the character of Mike, as he was replaced....he reprises here but it's at the beginning that he is kidnapped and gone from the film for at least half of the film's runtime, essentially making this a "Reggie film". For the most part this one is more of an action comedy rather than the paranoid Horror film of the first - as I stated I can't vouch for the second film. This film introduced thing young boy named Tim, whom is orphaned asked the Tall Man killed his parents. This part of the story is really nothing more than watching the first one all over again. Other than that the film does offer up some new elements, Jody is a ball for instance, and of course the female side kick. Neither of these I found interesting, in fact, I thought they pushed the film more into the B-Movie realm more than it already was. I seriously didn't like the character of Rocky, as the tough girl approach seemed as if they were trying to pull of a female version of the Ken Foree character in the original DAWN OF THE DEAD, i'm sorry but Gloria Lynne Henry performance was screeching annoying to me....but hey, the character mad way for some classic comedy lines by Reggie Bannister. Although I was not a big fan of the original PHANTASM, I certainly appreciate it enough to recognize it's undeniable brand of suspense. Unfortunately PHANTASM II : LORD OF THE DEAD has none of that to show. Sure this film has some comedy, and I admit some of that in which made me laugh, and yes, even more of those drill balls I love but to supposedly be a Horror film is is really dry and not too eventful - almost as if Coscarelli, had ran out of ideas at this point and tried to somehow recreate his original... |
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| GORE
METER 4/10 The film is only a little gory, we have a decapitation, gunshot wound, and even an impalement. But none of these happen to be overly excessive probably due to it's low budget. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4.5/10 I was a huge fan of the originals score, and yes this film utilizes the same familiar theme, just not as effectively, I thought. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Not a big fan of the original but only seeing the original film and this third installment make me appreciate it a little more. This release is the Unrated Director's cut that was only made available in other regions prior, but the truth is it is nothing all that spectacular, as far as I can see the only difference is that it runs longer than the original cut. This film was straight-to-video, and looks and feels it to me as well.-this is the first time the title has been available on DVD in the states, so obviously i'd recommend this release to the die-hard fans of the series, but if you're not a big fan i'd stick to the original, it is the most enjoyable of the two.... This DVD will be released April 10, 2007 |
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