10 Most Bad-ass Chainsaw Users In Film

When people talk about sequels that upped the stakes and took things to a whole new level, one movie that is too frequently overlooked is Phantasm II. Don Coscarelli's 1988 sequel to his 1979 horror classic may be a compromised film in some respects: under studio pressure, the director was forced to recast A Michael Baldwin's Mike with up-and-comer James LeGros, and to a certain extent the film loses the obtuse surrealism which was of paramount importance to the original.

However, in taking a more balls-to-the-wall action movie approach to the struggle between humanity and the otherworldly machinations of Angus Scrimm's Tall Man, Phantasm II did something hugely unexpected: it turned Reggie Bannister into a bona fide action hero.

Here, the balding ice cream man ditches his white suit and bow tie from the original, dons faded denim, and crafts his beloved four-barrelled shotgun, which would become Reggie's signature weapon in the three subsequent Phantasm movies.

Most fun of all, however, is the scene in which Reggie, facing off against a gargantuan goon, revs his medium-sized chainsaw to life and roars, "come on, you mother!" Only for his opponent to whip out a chainsaw that looks to be almost as enormous as he is. A terrific, crowd-pleasing battle ensues.