Phantasm II: The Bizarre Horror Sequel That Vanished Like Mercury in Retrograde – What Really Went Down Behind the Screams?
Added on October 13, 2025 inEntertainment News Cards, Movie News Cards
Popular
Numerology Meets Netflix: Get Your Daily Dose of Cosmic Cinema Suggestions Powered By Our AI Astrologer. Find The Show Or Movie You Were Meant To See!
Ever wonder what happens when a cult classic takes a trip down the Hollywood sequel assembly line, armed with a bigger budget, fresh faces, and a studio breathing down its neck? It’s kinda like Mercury doing the cha-cha through retrograde while the Moon throws a surprise party for Saturn—chaotic, unpredictable, and oddly captivating. That’s exactly the ride we’re in for with Phantasm II, the follow-up to Don Coscarelli’s bizarre 1979 horror gem that introduced us to a maze of marble corridors and killer chrome spheres. This time around, the original quirky weirdness faces off against Universal’s “bigger is better” mantra, recast leads, and a heap of studio meddling. Did the sequel dodge the dreaded “fun-sucker” curse or did it get drilled square in the skull by corporate demands? From lost nightmares and nearly-cast future stars to explosive special effects and a chainsaw-wielding Reggie stepping into the spotlight, this deep dive serves up a juicy slice of 80s horror lore — with a few cosmic twists. Ready to dive into the madness and find out what really happened to Phantasm II? LEARN MORE
The What Happened to This Horror Movie episode on Phantasm II was written by Jaime Vasquez:
1979 launched so many horror movies, it was like a bladed sphere to the forehead. Dracula and Nosferatu were resurrected, a stranger terrorized a babysitter over the phone, The Amityville Horror scared audiences with its allegedly “true story,” and a young Sigourney Weaver proved herself a more-than-worthy opponent against an alien. Even TV movies like Salem’s Lot terrified children from the comfort of their own home. But even in this outburst of genre classics, one film stood out as uniquely weird. And it feels just as bizarre today. Phantasm seemed to come out of nowhere, hitting theaters that spring, and earning a solid box office and strong reviews. Even more impressive, much of its success came from 25-year-old filmmaker Don Coscarelli, who not only directed the film, but also wrote, edited, and worked on the cinematography. Then Universal Pictures stepped in to make a sequel, and upped the budget. But along with the fat check came a list of mandated changes. Did Universal’s “bigger is better” approach help launch a franchise, or did it strip away the beloved weirdness of the original? Why was the previous film’s lead actor replaced? Which future A-lister almost ended up in the role? And which famous horror novel gave Coscarelli the idea to finally write a sequel? Buckle up, we’re hitting the road with Reggie and Mike, watching out for the terrifying Tall Man, and trying to dodge those flying killer spheres as we find out what happened to Phantasm II.
After a couple of studio films that disappointed at the box office, Don Coscarelli decided to try something different: he decided to take on a horror movie. For inspiration, a nightmare he had as a teenager sprung to mind; a vision of him running through a maze of marble corridors while being chased by a chrome sphere that tried to drill into his skull. Making the nightmare even more unsettling was the vision of a “sphere dispenser” that would release even more deadly orbs that chased after him. To flesh out the rest of the script, Coscarelli wrote in a remote log cabin in the mountains outside of Los Angeles. The pleasant but potentially creepy setting worked, and Coscarelli shaped the unique script that became Phantasm. Shot on a shoestring budget with a skeleton crew, the film’s success came from a mix of word of mouth, re-releases, and a roadshow type of theatrical run. With a hit film to his credit and horror sequels on the rise, Don Coscarelli suddenly had Hollywood’s attention. Studios were ready to back a follow-up to his 1979 breakout hit. The only problem was that Coscarelli was clueless as to where to take the story next.
In 1982, he shifted gears to direct the sword-and-sorcery adventure The Beastmaster, a project he wanted to take a sword to, due to the final cut straying far from his initial vision. His wife encouraged him to embrace the film as it had built its own cult following. The experience left Coscarelli cognizant of how studio interference could affect a film. Meanwhile, Phantasm‘s light hadn’t exactly dimmed. It gained new fans thanks to a CBS network airing in 1981, continued screenings, and the booming home-video market, keeping the film alive long after it left theaters. Coscarelli originally thought Phantasm was a one-and-done and even stepped away from horror to avoid being typecast. But then he read Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. The ending, where the characters go on a vampire hunt, sparked an idea. What if Mike and Reggie went on a similar road trip, chasing down The Tall Man?
Enter Tom Pollock, who was a top executive at Universal Pictures at the time, and a longtime supporter of Coscarelli from his days as Don’s entertainment lawyer. Pollock loved horror and championed Phantasm II, giving it the greenlight fans had long been waiting for. Universal’s backing came with a wide theatrical distribution, but also, all the strings attached to it. The studio wanted a more polished, action-driven movie with fresh-faced actors. And that’s where the trouble began.
Universal’s push for a fresh start included recasting both the roles of Mike and Reggie with more established actors, arguing that neither A. Michael Baldwin nor Reggie Bannister had worked much since the first film. And since Baldwin had been a teenager in Phantasm, the studio assumed fans wouldn’t mind if he was quietly replaced with an older actor. Lucky for them, this wasn’t the age of the Internet. Jeffrey Tambor was even considered for Reggie, and auditioning for Mike was none other than Brad Pitt. Coscarelli later admitted Pitt would’ve made a great Mike, not to mention, given the film a bigger legacy, but James LeGros won him over with his intensity and natural acting ability. The studio liked him too, since he already had built up some indie cred, and Bannister and LeGros felt they clicked with each other as believable brother figures.
In the end, Baldwin was out, which was tough on him, the fans, and Coscarelli, who fought hard to get both original actors back. But years later Baldwin returned in Phantasm III, IV, and V, giving audiences the closure they wanted. Bannister, meanwhile, had to re-audition for the role of Reggie, but he pulled it off, and for the first time, Coscarelli let him shine as a chainsaw-swinging action hero. Original villain Angus Scrimm returned as The Tall Man. Though he gets a little less screen time this time around, Coscarelli called him the “dark heart” of the series. Off-screen, Scrimm was described as a kind, soft-spoken gentleman. But once the cameras rolled, he transformed into one of horror’s most terrifying villains.
The new cast brought fresh energy. Samantha Phillips landed the role of Alchemy, even though she didn’t fit the “voluptuous blonde” description in the script. She later recalled walking to her audition after her car broke down and not even understanding the material, but Coscarelli liked her sincerity and warm personality, and gave her the part. Coscarelli cast Paula Irvine as Liz Reynolds, Mike’s psychic love interest, thanks to her girl-next-door charm. And Kenneth Tigar joined the film as the troubled Father Meyers, a performance Coscarelli praised for its depth.
Phantasm II was both the cheapest Universal film of the 80s, yet the most expensive of the franchise. And a big chunk of the budget went straight to the special effects. Newcomers Robert Kurtzman and Greg Nicotero were brought in to deliver their next-level visuals. One of those visuals was the messy death scene of The Tall Man. The striking scene took days to film and required hours of sitting in the makeup chair every day. It was also rumored that the scene used chicken skin. You can’t really tell when or how it was used, but either way, like the scene itself, there’s a good chance it was gross.
But the film’s biggest sequence was the recreation of the house explosion from the first film’s finale. The production company bought the house for $500 from the State of California on the condition that they’d move it from its original site. Due to the scene being filmed by the airport, a Fire Marshal was sent to monitor the stunt and limit the amount of explosives. That is, until he found out the movie was Phantasm II. A fan of the original, he told the crew to, quote, “blow the hell out of it.” The sequence, shot with six cameras and loaded with primer cord, mortars, and a truckload of gasoline, was nailed in a single take, with Angus Scrimm, Reggie Bannister, and even a young Lori Loughlin standing in for Mike.
The MPAA, however, wasn’t quite as lenient as the Fire Marshal. They demanded cuts to the sphere kill involving Father Meyers. Coscarelli trimmed the bloodletting just enough to keep the scene, while sneaking in reaction shots of Liz and The Tall Man to appease the censors. Which might’ve been for the best, depending on how much gore you like in death scenes. The uncut scene basically looks like a fountain statue… but, you know, if the water was red and shooting out of someone’s head.
And speaking of injured heads, Samantha Phillips, who played Alchemy, asked Coscarelli what her motivation was to sleep with the much older Reggie. On the fly, he told her, “You’ve got a bald head fetish.” She ran with it and began to literally slap Bannister’s head. To the point where his scalp turned bright red, and skin-tone makeup had to be applied over and over to finish filming the scene.
But every scene, no matter how uncomfortable or graphic, had to have the approval of test audiences, a component that came along with the backing of Universal. These test screenings pushed for clarity in the film’s more inexplicable moments. So Coscarelli trimmed some surreal moments or added voiceovers with characters explaining incidents that might’ve been unclear. The director later admitted that the road movie structure helped, as it made for a more straightforward story for audiences, but the requested test screening changes also diluted the intentional mystery, which was a hallmark of the original Phantasm.
Studios rushed Phantasm II into theaters so it could beat the release of the Robert De Niro action-comedy Midnight Run. Coscarelli requested an additional $500,000 to finish filming, which Universal approved. The film wrapped and hit theaters in the summer of 1988, facing off against heavyweights like Coming to America and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? It opened in ninth place, earning just over $3 million its first weekend. For its worldwide total, it pulled in around $7 million on a $3 million budget, enough to make its money back, but not quite the hit Universal hoped for.
Critics weren’t too kind either. The film currently holds a 37% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though audiences were a bit more forgiving, with a 57% score and a 6.4/10 on IMDb, which is only two points lower than the original. While some critics found it to be a fun ride, most of the negative reviews seemed to come down to personal taste more than the film’s actual quality. I guess not everyone’s gonna like a road trip movie about two guys chasing a telekinetic undertaker who throws killer spheres at people. Their loss.
Like the original, Phantasm II found new life in the home entertainment market after its theatrical run. The Scream Factory re-release later gave fans a true gift: a making-of documentary, deleted scenes, and a featurette called Gory Days with Greg Nicotero, where the SFX legend looks back on his early career and the magic behind Phantasm II’s standout moments. It also includes a commentary track featuring Don Coscarelli, Reggie Bannister, and The Tall Man himself, Angus Scrimm. Altogether, it feels like a love letter to the people who kept the series alive. A strange love letter, but a love letter nonetheless.
Ultimately, Phantasm II amps up the action, brings the gore, and delivers an entertaining sequel that fans still love. While the slow-burn horror of the original takes a backseat, terrifying moments are still along for the ride. And rather than rehash the same formula, Phantasm II expands on the story and does it in spades. The Tall Man unleashes his sentinels to spectacular effect, Reggie steps into his own as an action hero, and Mike finally wins the battle. At least for now. The Tall Man, or another version of him, may return for Phantasm III. But that’s alright. Phantasm II leaves fans wanting more.
A couple of the previous episodes of this show can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
This will close in 0 seconds
This will close in 0 seconds
){kind=link}