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It's hard to believe that the Phantasm series started back in 1979 and sporadically released it's 5 movies across the decades.

What's even harder to believe is that every major player from the franchise has stuck through it and is right here in 2016 for the final chapter.

Reggie returns one last time to reunite with his friends, fight the forces of evil and go toe to toe with the Tall Man for the ultimate confrontation.

Now I don't think that the Phantasm franchise is that great, I think they are original titles and I applaud them for lasting as long as they have but they've tended to be confusing disconnected movies.

Alas this is no different, in fact I have to say it's the most confusing of them all. Regardless it's a nostalgia trip, everyones along for the ride including the films original creators.

Though the sfx are ropey and the plot makes very little sense Ravager isn't that bad, it's just not a fitting finale for a series that has lasted this long! What makes it worse is that the highly ambiguous finale does it no favours.

I'd say this is essential viewing for fans of the series but all things considered it should have been considerably better.

RIP Angus Scrimm

The Good:

Nostalgia filled

Some new and interesting ideas

The Bad:

Plot isn't great

Pacing is a bit of a mess

Finale is terrible

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Reggie Bannister is immortal

When a franchises sfx haven't improved since the 1970's you need to have serious words with your sfx guys

The people who watch this film are the hard core fans who were entranced by the disorientating chilling imaginative world of the First Phantasm Movie. Most likely viewed multiple times at late night triple features in actual cinemas, like me. So when the franchise lays this confusing mess in your lap it is with sadness we view the results rather than dismissively as consumers of media. This was the last chance Angus Scrimm got to play his iconic Tall Man roll, and he totally delivered on his lines yet again, creepy, with a plan we can't understand, everything we could ever want from him. But how those nuggets fitted into an overlaying story, well, really they don't. There was nothing there for them to slot into, for them to make sense in. Granted, part of the original movies charm was how sense was tossed out the window; but everything in the original movie fitted within the universe of Phantasm; everything had a point, and a result to that point.

In this 5th installment most things that happened went nowhere; were smoke and mirrors; a collection of disconnected setups; some with style; many executed with cringe-worthy cheesiness; naff effects, and an edge of unintended sadness, as they chipped away at the legacy of the original.

What was it all about? I don't really know and it gives the feeling that no one, particularly the director did. It didn't make any sense, and not in a good way, just looping round some vague concept of "is Reggie dreaming, or is it real"?, but it's done so poorly the end result is a wasted opportunity to do something solid with an all-original-cast back together to pay tribute to a legendary movie franchise.

Reggie was OK as a disposable side man, but it was the 2 brothers that were the interest factor in the original. To be honest, it was kind of boring,....

.... of note, the music was a reasonably decent reworking of the original catchy score orchestrated excellently, although the original did use non classic orchestra sounds and rock instruments well, so it deviated from that innovation. The only jarring thorn in an otherwise stellar soundtrack was the cringe-worthy Ravenger rap over the score as the credits rolled. Utterly awful.

Either the director has no understanding of what was good about the original , or Coscarelli totally 'George Lucas'd' his own series, and also didn't understand what he got right in the original.

Farewell Phantasm. I wish you could have had a better send off than this. Thanks for the original though. A true iconic milestone in disorientating creepy cinema.

PHANTASM: RAVAGER is perhaps the most disappointing and horrifically executed follow-up in a film series since TROLL 2, a declaration I only wish was hyperbolic. It almost single-handedly unravels all the value and merit gathered from the previous installments and it does so with almost neolithic incompetence.

While we all knew that RAVAGER was the least-capitalized of the series, it's shocking at how poorly made it is, especially considering what Don Coscarelli was able to do with a comparable budget 37 years earlier. The film has all the production value of a SyFy Channel Asylum monster movie (complete with unprocessed production audio), and with even less narrative cohesion. The script is cringe-inducingly bad, with little-to-no plot or agenda beyond wanting the viewer to question how much of Reggie's reality is real, and the dialogue is almost a parody of bad movies done without irony. The actors, many of whom have had decades of experience under their belt, behave as if they're in their first student film, and every performance looks so horrifically under-rehearsed that it feels like they're reading their lines off of cue cards taped to the other actors' heads.

It's also the least consistent with the style of the rest of the series, and the film opens with a recap introduction that was so inept that I thought it was tacked on by an executive producer. And so many stretches of the movie involve the characters wandering around a desert simply to pad time with a free location. To put it another way: I've waited 18 years to see this film and I actually fast-forwarded through certain scenes simply to see if they were going somewhere or to bypass the sheer ineptitude of the filmmaking. That's how bad this film can be. I have seen fan films on YouTube made for pocket change that showed more talent, creativity, and cinematography than this.

I suspect that all this may have been done on purpose to ensure that no one would ask for another film (rendered moot since Angus Scrimm has now passed on), as Coscarelli has expressed a desire to move on from PHANTASM films. It would have been better for all if Coscarelli had simply loaned out the film to screenwriters who wanted to take a whack at it instead of wasting decades until he came up with an idea. As it is, we've now lost so many potential sequels and have to suffer the indignity of this entry as its finale. The lack of any talent on display in this film is almost an insult to fans of what was one of the most unique and beloved horror film series of the century.

RAVAGER is for completists only, and even then...I pity them for what they have to endure.

Reggie (Reggie Bannister) is wandering through the desert seeking out his friend Mike and the evil Tall Man (Angus Scrimm). Along his journey, he is hunted down by the dangerous spheres and stumbles upon the gorgeous Dawn.

I have to talk about the actors. Reggie and Angus were fine, of course, as they know exactly who their characters are. Dawn Cody is the worst part, with awful acting as Dawn (though she seems to be better as Jane, strangely enough). Daniel Roebuck is a nice addition, even if he seems out of place.

Joe Leydon and Marten Carlson both criticized the film's narrative cohesiveness. Leydon speculated that the film's troubled production may have cause this, and Carlson more directly blamed the film's origin as a series of shorts. This is a legitimate concern. The film is quite a mess, even in a series that has some bizarre continuity. Anyone going in to this without knowledge of the series will be completely confused. (But, of course, it seems obvious not to watch "part five" without seeing earlier chapters.)

I'm a fan of the series. I had hoped for more insight into the Tall Man, the orbs, their plan, etc. I'd hoped for a resolution to the "fight" or at least more of a progression and a better idea of what we're fighting against. Ultimately, this movie accomplishes nothing. It's not even funny or scary.

It doesn't add any new info to the series or progress any story arc in any way. Imagine if another series like say... Evil Dead had another movie added that did nothing new and had no real resolution. Ultimately boring. At least its predecessor, Phantasm IV, though flawed introduced new information about the villain.

I could (and likely will) dream up a more satisfying story line and adventure for the series than what was presented.

I am that fan. I sat through it. All of it. I forced myself; Clockwork Orange style, to watch every minute of it.

I can't say it was terrible, but it wasn't good either. I had medium to average hopes for this movie. Given the time that has passed since Phantasm 4, and bringing back some of the original characters, is a tough thing to do. I think that part, they handled rather well, they tied things up in a rather roundabout way. So if you want to experience some kind of closure, this movie does offer a bit of that.

The production value of this movie is non-existent. It's just above a college level movie. There are maybe 2-3 good SFX moments, and some of the deaths are amusing. The writing is just a continuation of the previous movies... literally the same.. expect 1980's-1990's dialogue here...

This movie is definitely geared at fans. It follows through and continues the Tall Man mythos, and if nothing else, this is your last chance to watch Angus Scrimm one last time reprising his role. That, in itself, for fans, is worth it. If you've never watched any of the Phantasm films, you will want to avoid this. Watch the old movies instead.

I hope they reboot the franchise with a real budget, real writers, etc.

Phantasm Ravager is the most recent(and final?) installment to the Phantasm series. While the film is very low budget, as a fan I enjoyed this quite a bit. It has been a while since I saw the last couple of direct to video sequels and seeing this makes me want to check them out again. This film takes us full circle with the original cast of Reggie, Michael, Jody and of course The Tall Man. This story is taken from Reggie's perspective on his search for Michael and his hunt for The Tall Man. This film jumps around to multiple realiities/universes, which ultimately leaves it up to the viewer to decide what is real and what is a dream. Reggie gives a great performance as lead and aging action hero at battle with the forces of evil. In the little down time that he has, he still plays a mean guitar and has some game with the ladies. There are nods to Bubba Ho Tep and while I can't say this film blew me away, as a fan of the series I was satisfied and entertained with this. Reggie Bannister is a very charismatic leading man, his performance here is great and is very under rated in my opinion.

I've now seen it twice and I really loved Ravager. Yes, it was made with modest resources, and that is visible, but it accomplishes all of the important things a film in this series should accomplish. It explores a story about how fear manifests when faced with terribly difficult realities.

I love how the first film is about a young person coping with the deaths of their family, and Ravager is about an aging person coping with the loss of their memories as they face death. I love that full-circle, complementary nature of it. Without spoiling, I love that the Tall Man undergoes a real kind of transformation in it. In fact, it might be the most humanistic film in the whole series.

I just really think the movie was made with real care and understanding of the heart of Phantasm. I'd much rather see a low- budget film that really gets it, than a higher-budget film that doesn't.

So, in summary, Ravager is totally in the spirit of the films and gives tons to think about. If you're watching it and just griping about CGI, you're probably not watching Phantasm for what I consider the right reasons. This is really a film for people who love the first four films, and for us, it is a solid, sentimental payoff.

I really appreciated all four previous films and now I love the fifth as well.

And if you're writing a review that treats the series as literal narrative, and you are complaining that your literal narrative questions were not answered, please back away from the Phantasm movies slowly, because you are likely to trip over your own shoelaces.

I'll start by saying that the Phantasm series is one of my all- time favorites. Each film progressively follows & continues the story line, but each film reflects upon the filmmaker, actors, crew, & time in which it was made. In that respect, Phantasm Ravager fits right in with the series. It has its own style, look, & feel, and, like the other sequels, it's trying something slightly new but with all the old gang in tow.

I've read a few reviews complaining about the budget & the effects, as well as the fact that nothing is really resolved. As far as the budget: no fan of the series would be looking for much else. This has been & will be a low budget series til the end. Ravager is a fairly ambitious story & it fairs just fine with what it has to work with. As for resolution: no true Phan would ever expect or want anything resolved in the series. Throughout the series, any potential answer always brings with it a multitude of new questions. Ravager does the same. To give any concrete answer would fly in the face of everything that is a Phantasm film. One negative online review claims the film spits in the face of the fans by presenting a definitive and disappointing denouement. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. You take away exactly what you choose to take away. There are multiple interpretations and, like the entire series, it all rests with viewer.

In the end, is the film as great as it could be? No. There can always be improvements to everything. It is not quite the grand finale I personally expected, yet I always depend on these films to stray from expectation. Am I happy that there is a new installment to endlessly analyze upon further viewings? Absolutely! The Phantasm series is something different to every Phan. Each Phan has there personal favorite, their personal theories, and their personal readings of the films. Phantasm morphs as the viewer does, remaining fluid, and forever changing. And like any good art, the Phantasm series, including Phantasm Ravager, remains open for infinite interpretation.

I had such high hopes for this film. Reggie and Angus, as usual, were awesome but even they couldn't carry this stink fest. The story was bad, the graphics horrid and the acting by the newcomers to the show mediocre at best. As for Reggie and the veterans, I don't blame you guys. You did the best you could with what you were given. The director had a real opportunity here to make a masterpiece that would crown an otherwise wonderful series but completely dropped the ball. It seems like he hadn't even watched the previous films and didn't even care. The whole thing made no sense. It was all over the place with no continuity. It tied up no loose ends and left me wondering what the heck I had just seen. Considering this was Angus Scrimms swan song, it's such a shame they blew it so badly. So sad!

Essentially a glorified fan film, Phantasm: Ravager brings all key cast members together with underwhelming results. Don Coscarelli's assured touch is sorely missed here, with veteran actors badly in need of direction. Michael Baldwin and Bill Thornbury in particular appear lost and unmotivated. Reggie Bannister gives an enthusiastic performance and still has a lot of charisma, but that's not enough when pitted against woefully poor dialogue and amateurish mise-en-scène. Angus Scrimm as the Tall Man talks way too much (he even unashamedly bargains with Reggie at one point) and fails to project much menace. Kathy Lester's cameo as Lady in Lavender serves no purpose. One wishes Gloria Lynn Henry had stepped in earlier on in the film. Dawn Cody, Daniel Roebuck and Daniel Schweiger barely register in their roles. Only Steven Jutras (Chunk) makes an impression, but his thinly-written character, essentially a mean parody of an 80's action hero, is given awful dialogue and remains unlikable. The Phantasm saga was never known for its plot coherence, relying on atmosphere, dream logic and assaulting the viewer with stylish visuals instead. Ravager has neither the visual splendor nor the suggestive, subliminal creepiness of the previous films. The story is a mere series of vignettes, with the befuddled Reggie zipping from one less-than-photogenic location to another. With its extremely erratic framing and frenetic editing Ravager doesn't fit stylistically with the previous films at all. The sound design is threadbare and new rendition of the classic Fred Myrow/Malcolm Seagrave theme is embarrassingly bad. The machismo, muscle car worship and bad language have taken place of eerie poetic minimalism that made the 1979 film a genre classic. Embarrassingly short on meaning, chock full of bad CGI (the lethal flying spheres have never looked so laughable), mismatched stock footage, shaky camera work and choppily-edited action scenes, Ravager is a chore to sit through. There's no journey for the original characters and the new characters are too sketchy to make them interesting. Phantasm:Ravager is bound to disappoint most Phans. It's unfortunate that Don Coscarelli has authorized this atrocity to be made and released. The low-key Phantasm:Oblivion was a more fitting final installment of the much-loved Phantasm saga.

I've been a die hard Phantasm phan for almost 30 yrs ..And,I've waited for this movie to come out for almost 20 yrs .. I have never been SO damn disappointed in a movie and it's creator in my life !!..The movie ended the way it should of began !!!..It didn't have the dynamics like any of the previous sequels​(including Phantasm : Oblivion).. Nothing to scare you , excite you or make you even give a sh*t about the story anymore .. I think,NO pretty sure,that the series died when Scrimm died !!Now , Coscarelli has not only sold-out the phans ...But,now he's selling the rights to the highest bidder from any Hollowood studio !..BTW ,Where did they find that sh*tty rapper to do that Disney-style pop-rap song during the end credits ??

Great way to wrap it all up, fun movie! I read some bad reviews, but what are they expecting? Angus Scrimm (RIP) was a real gem, and he will be missed as the Tall Man. Phantasm V Ravager had a lot of good scenes and some new characters. There are funny moments, punctuated with horror, and we're just as confused as Reggie the Ice Cream Man. Loved the weapons and '71 Baracuda! It's a fun jaunt down memory lane! Watch a Phantasm Marathon to catch up if you can. I highly recommend to Phantasm fans. But if you're new to Phantasm, you should still be able to enjoy Ravager. We get insight into the plague of the Tall Man, causing trouble in multiple universes and find out others are fighting him as well in what seems like a hopeless battle through space and time.

Not at all what I expected. At first I was all enthralled, but then as I saw what they were doing with the story I was more like "What the heck, guys?"

For this being the "last" one, they sure didn't tie up any loose ends. I felt the general theme was a cop-out. I waiting for it to resolve, but it never did. Well, it kind of did. Too much bouncing around and not enough substance. Perhaps if it were another 20 to 30 minutes of substance, it would have been an awesome movie. Substance as in meaningful human interaction, dialog, dynamic plot devices... cutaway scenes to previous movies did not help.

Don Coscarelli did not direct it and I hear it had a really low budget, so maybe that's what happened??

I thought Reggie Bannister did a good job.

I can't go into details as I do not want to generate a spoiler alert.

I'm happy to admit that I find the story lines to the Phantasm films a bit of a challenge to follow, their freewheeling, anything goes, dream-logic approach not being the easiest thing to grasp. But then that's all part of the series' charm, creator Don Coscarelli having forged an intriguing franchise that writes (and rewrites) its own rules and which constantly surprises.

Ravager, the first Phantasm film not to be directed by Coscarelli (David Hartman takes the reins), fits the mould perfectly with a bizarre narrative that sees its unlikely hero Reggie (Reggie Bannister) flip-flopping between several distinctly different realities, the film never letting on which of these, if any, is his genuine existence. In one reality, Reggie is wandering the desert searching for long lost friend Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) when he encounters a woman called Dawn (Dawn Cody); in another, he is in hospital suffering from early onset dementia, suggesting that the Tall Man and his minions are a figment of his deteriorating mental state; Reggie also finds himself in a version of Earth where the Tall Man and his spheres are in control and where Mike is leading a desperate band of freedom fighters.

Not a lot of this makes much sense, and little is really resolved by the end of the movie, but the fun is in seeing much-loved characters returning for one last adventure, in watching the silver spheres causing more bloody mayhem (in this chapter, a horse gets drilled, and an exploding spiky sphere blows someone's head apart!), and in seeing just how bonkers it all gets. Ravager has a gun-toting dwarf, sees Reggie out-driving some spheres while blasting at them with a hand cannon, and features spheres the height of skyscrapers, but it could have done with a bit more gore in the second half for my liking. Still, it's not a bad way to spend some time and should keep most avid Phans reasonably happy for the duration.

Reggie (Reggie Bannister) is wandering through the desert seeking out his friend Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) and the evil The Tall Man ( Angus Scrimm). Along his journey, he is hunted down by the dangerous spheres and stumbles upon the gorgeous Dawn (Dawn Cody). Out of the blue, he finds himself in an institution with Mike explaining that he has dementia and then in another dimension. Where is Mike?

"Phantasm: Ravager" is a messy and unnecessary fifth return of this cult franchise. The story is confused and pointless, for the sorrow of the fans and in the end is hard to know where Mike is indeed, what is daydream and how The Tall Man would be defeated with his powers and his powerful army of spheres. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Fantasma: Devastador" ("Phantam': Ravager")

Note: On 02 May 2023, I saw this film again on DVD.

I wish Coscarelli returned to direct this. The bad pacing, acting and overall shoddy directing distract from a very cool script and some fine cinematography and no-budget FX.

I like how the ending was poetic and a bit of a mindf*ck, tying back to the original film's. This was sorta The Force Awakens for the Horror B-movie genre. After 30 years, it all wraps together, but unlike that really uneven box office hit, Ravager actually ties back to ALL of the previous films and has the influence and blessing of the original creator. And the original Phantasm is fun and eerie, but it was far from a masterpiece so I'm not so offended with the weakness of this last film. If this series went mainstream, we would never have gotten a clear and logical ending with ALL of the original cast reuniting like this. Now at least if they reboot it, the original universe won't be effected or tarnished.

Ravager is actually a surprisingly decent ending that pretty decently manages to match the tone and style of the previous sequels in this long running franchise.

I waited 17 years for this production. Elated and ready to be excited, sad ,happy and scared . None of this happened . I felt the slap to the face for Phans of the Phantasm movies .It was confusing ,without content and just downright "Lets get this done and out of the way" I can see why a few years ago Don Coscarelli said he was done with the Phantasm movies as it is NOT directed by him and it shows . He had only acted as producer and co-writer and very poorly I might add . He did not care to add content only to get his name added for the other Phantasm movies and after you watch this crap fest , you will be as PO'ED as myself if you are honest with YOURSELF .