[1] Bannister states that the character starts as a simple ice cream vendor and progresses into an action hero,[3] and his rise to series protagonist turns him into the Tall Man's nemesis.
[5] While working as a musician, Bannister was drafted during the Vietnam War, and he used this experience to guide his characterization of an ice cream vendor forced to confront evil.
[6] Marc Savlov describes the character as "a shotgun and guitar-wielding mensch with a receding hairline and a turbo-charged libido".
[8] In Phantasm (1979), Reggie is a friend of Jody (Bill Thornbury), whose younger brother Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) tries to convince them that a mortician called the Tall Man is responsible for a series of local deaths.
Mike, Jody, and Reggie investigate the Tall Man and discover that he is reanimating the dead to use as slaves in another dimension.
In a final confrontation, Jody and Mike defeat the Tall Man, and Reggie is seemingly killed.
Reggie explains that he has been taking care of Mike since the death of his older brother from a car crash, and nightmares have been a common occurrence.
Twitch Film says, "Reggie Bannister remains one of the most unlikely action heroes ever committed to celluloid, but the man sells it like crazy.
[6] In a positive review of Phantasm II, Amy Alexander of the Philadelphia Daily News states that Bannister brings both authority and a sidelong look of helplessness.