WELL.... You GET.... What You PAY for!
You will HAVE TO INVEST an Hour and a 1/2 of Your life in PHANTASM II.... I would say.... OK... Fair Enough!
BUT BEFORE DIVING IN....
FIRST... Let us FOCUS on the Title's Content and Context:
When I saw PHANTASM in a theater in 1979, I liked it so much (9*), I went back a week later and saw it again! I missed Phantasm II while I was living in Colombia, So I decided to take a delayed-by-25-years look! My psyche was all set to enjoy PHANTASM II to the max! I hadn't seen much in the horror/terror genre in recent years, because I really don't like the direction the genre has been going in throughout the past 1/4 century. 8 to 9* was what I was hoping for...I was somewhat disappointed, but will give it 7.5*.
Let's talk about P-2 for a moment...The whole film is based around sustaining a mood of imminent danger, a foreboding atmosphere. If you agree to go along with it, providing suspension of disbelief, you'll probably get a nice kick out of P-2. IMHO elements of the film, music, sound effects, lighting, pacing, etc., all contribute well to that end. So if you are genre-friendly , let's bump my 7.5* UP to 8*! If the horror/terror genre usually isn't your cup of tea, well let's round DOWN to 6*...Fair enough? In this case, I'd say having seen the original PHANTASM would add tend to add a Star to rating P-2, so it does help, but isn't absolutely indispensable.
I really had forgotten how much gruesome gore there was in the original. There's probably even more here, but a lot less than in recent offerings, undoubtedly influenced by PHANTASM 1 and 2, like the SAW franchise (YECH!) As is typically the case in "B" movies, the acting and dialog usually leave a lot to be desired, but, hey, we don't watch these scouting for potential Oscar-nominees, now do we?!?
Bottom-line: ALL of you who are, or have been horror/terror film buffs; a semi-cult classic you won't want to miss, or that you'll want to REDUX! If not in the above group...MAYBE NOT!
In either case...ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!
Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!
You will HAVE TO INVEST an Hour and a 1/2 of Your life in PHANTASM II.... I would say.... OK... Fair Enough!
BUT BEFORE DIVING IN....
FIRST... Let us FOCUS on the Title's Content and Context:
When I saw PHANTASM in a theater in 1979, I liked it so much (9*), I went back a week later and saw it again! I missed Phantasm II while I was living in Colombia, So I decided to take a delayed-by-25-years look! My psyche was all set to enjoy PHANTASM II to the max! I hadn't seen much in the horror/terror genre in recent years, because I really don't like the direction the genre has been going in throughout the past 1/4 century. 8 to 9* was what I was hoping for...I was somewhat disappointed, but will give it 7.5*.
Let's talk about P-2 for a moment...The whole film is based around sustaining a mood of imminent danger, a foreboding atmosphere. If you agree to go along with it, providing suspension of disbelief, you'll probably get a nice kick out of P-2. IMHO elements of the film, music, sound effects, lighting, pacing, etc., all contribute well to that end. So if you are genre-friendly , let's bump my 7.5* UP to 8*! If the horror/terror genre usually isn't your cup of tea, well let's round DOWN to 6*...Fair enough? In this case, I'd say having seen the original PHANTASM would add tend to add a Star to rating P-2, so it does help, but isn't absolutely indispensable.
I really had forgotten how much gruesome gore there was in the original. There's probably even more here, but a lot less than in recent offerings, undoubtedly influenced by PHANTASM 1 and 2, like the SAW franchise (YECH!) As is typically the case in "B" movies, the acting and dialog usually leave a lot to be desired, but, hey, we don't watch these scouting for potential Oscar-nominees, now do we?!?
Bottom-line: ALL of you who are, or have been horror/terror film buffs; a semi-cult classic you won't want to miss, or that you'll want to REDUX! If not in the above group...MAYBE NOT!
In either case...ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!
Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!