Given the ending of the first movie, one wonders how to continue from that? Despite some additional exposition, they actually do pick up exactly from where the first one left off. And the fact they then continue 7-ish years later with Mike being released from the mental ward? Yeah. That’s actually kinda legit too, kinda sorta. Given that, we proceed, now a little more from Reggie’s perspective than Mike’s.
Mike’s been in a mental institution for a bit. There’s also this Elizabeth chick who seems a bit off kilter too, but has some weird connection to him. And then there’s Reggie. He experiences a devastating loss of his own after his ice cream truck business gets shut down for selling ice cream to a lactose intolerant kid and the parents sue his ass off. Well, maybe not but I’d wager that was the reason. So Mike and Reggie set off to find the Tall Man, knowing how big of an evil prick he really is. They gear the fuck up and hit the road, only to find more towns laid waste by the dead midget harvesting that’s the Tall Man’s M.O. Does it make sense? Sorta Kinda. Then that Elizabeth gal comes into play, obviously.
Some credit for continuing this story. It established a pretty cool mysterious mythology with the Tall Man and his jawa fuckeries and spherical sentinels. This continues that, in pure updated 80s fashion. While yeah, still horror-based, also adds the element of vagabond hunter story. The reality aspect of the first one gets a bit more neglected. James LeGros takes over the older Mike character, for better or worse. Mostly worse. But he does acquire a cool flame thrower, and Reggie’s 4-barrel shotgun is pretty cool. Angus Scrimm continues to be pretty bad ass. And a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to Sam Raimi and his Evil Dead goodness, so nice nod there. This...is ok. Sure, it could be a stronger film but establishes itself as more of an action film here. Pretty odd ending like the first, reminiscent of the 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, which kinda cribbed its ending from 1979’s Phantasm. Weird.