Fantasma: Devastador

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

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.

Phantasm: Ravager (2016)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The fifth and apparently final film in the series has Reggie (Reggie Bannister) walking through the desert where he is trying to locate Mike as well as The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm).

That's pretty much the only plot details you need to know about PHANTASM: RAVAGER, which turned out to be perhaps the best in the series next to the original. I really wasn't sure what to expect since there had been such a break in between films but director David Hartman has created a pretty interesting episode that will probably have some people scratching their heads but for the most part I thought it delivered the goods.

I haven't been the biggest fan of the sequels, which is another reason why I was so shocked to see myself enjoying this one so much. The majority of the film takes place at three different settings so there's a lot of guessing as to what's really going on. The setting is constantly changing and you never know if you're in the afterlife, reality or some sort of Hell. I thought this really kept you into the picture but I must say that around the hour mark you start to wish there was something making sense or at least something pointing you into the direction that the film is going.

The film really benefits from the cast members standing up and really delivering the best performances of the series. Bannister is extremely good once again in his role of Reggie and he's actually got quite a bit of acting to do here and he pulls it off very well. Scrimm doesn't get too much screen time but whenever he's on the screen you can't take your eyes off of him. Dawn Cody is also good in her small role and it was great seeing A. Michael Baldwin.

The sphere is back as you'd expect and there's all sorts of gore that will keep fans happy. There's a lot more CGI here than in previous entries and while some of it is very poor it's not too distracting. PHANTASM: RAVAGER isn't going to appeal to everyone as I'm sure some will have an issue with the ending. I personally thought it was a great way to end the series.

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 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.