Phantasm IV : Aux sources de la Terreur

As Reggie (Reggie Bannister) searches for the missing Mike (A. Michael Baldwin), Mike himself travels through various dimensions and across time itself to learn the origins of the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) in hopes of discovering a way to stop him once and for all.

The series attempts to return to its roots a bit, dropping most of the humor from the last two entries, and trying for the off-kilter dream-state of the first film. The film is helped a great deal by use of a lot of footage that was filmed for the original back in '79 but that was edited out, so we get several scenes of the characters as they were back then. The origin of the Tall Man is finally established (somewhat), and that will either be a good thing or a frustrating thing for fans of the series. The sections focusing on Reggie tread much of the usual territory, and there are a couple of over the top gags that will delight or disgust. The ending this time is even more ambiguous than usual. The next (and final?) sequel arrived 18 years later.

A horror movie that is fourth in a series should be terrible. This one actually stands on its own as a good movie, though perhaps not great as fourth in the series.

As other users have commented, this movie does not answer questions about the Phantasm series. It shows a little background on the tall man, and that's it.

On the other hand, looking at it as a stand-alone-movie, it works! It has very coherent and often beautiful art direction. There are very few characters (I assume to save money), but that works. It keeps the movie from bogging down in goofy dialogue and laughable characters like Phantasm III.

The movie actually gets rather artful at times. Just observe the desert scenes with the field of metal rods to see what I mean. The Tall Man doesn't seem too threatening in this one. He come across much more as a constant pressure instead of an acute danger.

The individual characters aren't really developed any more than the previous films. They are reaching archetypal roles of heros, seekers, fighters, etc.

This is not a slasher film. It almost is not a horror movie. Oddly enough, it is almost stepping out of its low-brow beginnings (except for the breast scene in the hotel) and nearly reaching art movie status. I would love to see Phantasm V taken further in this vein. Unfortunately, I think this is the last of the series. Enjoy it if you can find it!

This is one of my favorite series of movies. The other day, my wife, and I found ourselves watching all four 'Phantasms'. Unlike the 'Friday, the 13th' series, they all tried to be different, but at the same time be true to the concept. Even in the first movie, you walked away (in my case drove away since I saw it at a drive-in) saying to a point, what happened here? Didn't Reggie get killed, and Jody survive? That I think is part of the mystique of these movies. You find yourself discussing with your family, and friends what happened here. Hey, it came many times at at Christmas, and Thanksgiving at my house for quite a few years, NO KIDDING!

This one, I liked, but I'm a little disappointed with it. As I'm typing this up, I have the first one playing, and I still don't quite get IV. For one thing, the idea of explaining why the tall man doesn't die because he comes from different dimensions. Like 'Dr. Who', he travels through time, and space can appear at any time, or place. Okay, I'll buy that. But, why is he so hell-bent on capturing Mike? Does he have some kind of vendetta against Mike, and Jody's family? As Jody said in III,"seeing is easy, understanding takes a little more time." I'm getting a headache trying to understand. There must have been a ton of stuff on the cutting room floor, or someone found a great actor to play Mike from 1979, because a lot of this one bounces back to the first one as they try to tie all of this together.

I understand, unlike 'Star Wars', the complete story was not written out ahead of time, it was made up as it went as it went along. Don Coscarelli is good on keeping us guessing, and I see there one more coming, and judging by the title, this will be the last one, so PLEASE Mr. Coscarelli, If this is the last one, finish it up with style, don't keep me guessing!!!!

Whoa! I was amazed while reading all the horrible reviews this film got. This is the best Phantasm since the first. It has a very intelligent story line and the most mature directing of the series. I think a lot of people didn't 'get it' because they were expecting a bunch of gore and action, and a very simplistic plot (like most horror movies today). If that is all you want then you won't like this film. But for people who want a more artistic horror film, this one delivers. (Of course seeing the first three is a must. It is very hard to understand or appreciate without seeing those).

I am one of the world's biggest fans of the original Phantasm. But I have to admit, that the sequels really do nothing for me.

Number four is the closest thing to the original. It lives the same world, but isn't distracted by pop culture phenomena of the time the way 2 & 3 seemed to be influenced/commentating on 'Evil Dead' and 'Home Alone'.

As much as I like seeing the Tall Man, Reggie and Mike back in action, Jody still seems forced into the series. I really wish that Coscarelli had just left him dead and moved on. The whole 'living ball' thing is plain silly.