Phantasm

Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) and his older brother Jody (Bill Thornbury) are mourning the death of their parents in a small Oregon town. Together with their friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister), an ice cream man, they must do battle with a nefarious undertaker known only as The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) and his various minions...not to mention a neat flying sphere that can puncture skulls.

Writer / director / cinematographer / editor Don Coscarelli truly hit paydirt with this enduring fan favorite, a horror / fantasy classic that spawned a franchise spanning over three and a half decades. A great film it is not, but it sure is a fun and entertaining one. Admittedly, the acting is mostly amateurish and our heroes less interesting than our villain. But Coscarelli clearly enjoys himself playing with as much "it's all supposed to take on the tones of a nightmare" shtick as he can. He never does worry about any of this making sense.

Baldwin, Thornbury, and Bannister are at least likable as our heroes, especially Bannister, whose character turned into more of a badass as the series went on. Kathy Lester is alluring as a mysterious "lady in lavender". But "Phantasm" ultimately belongs to the imposing Scrimm, whose appearance is very memorable. "BOOOYYY!!!"

The film also benefits from a music score by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave that is pretty catchy, in particular its haunting, somewhat "Halloween"-esque main theme.

The main set piece involves the sphere mutilating a caretakers' face; Coscarelli fought the MPAA to keep this sequence in the film and actually succeeded.

Worth watching, at least once, by devotees of the horror genre.

Seven out of 10.

After the death of Tommy (Bill Cone), who was stabbed by a woman at the cemetery, Jody (Bill Thornbury) and his friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister) attend the funeral at the Morningside funeral home. Jody is followed by his teenage brother Mike (Michael Baldwin), who has just lost his parents and is afraid of losing his big brother that intends to travel.

Mike snoops around the cemetery and sees the mortician known as The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) carrying Tommy's coffin alone without any help. Mike breaks in the mortuary to investigate the mystery and discovers weird dwarf creatures with yellow blood and dangerous flying spheres that protect the location. When he is chased by The Tall Man, he cuts his finger and brings it home to show Jody to convince his big brother that there is a dark secret in the mortuary. Jody, Reggie and Mike discover that The Tall Man is from outer space and is transforming dead bodies in dwarfs to work as slave in his world. Now they decide that The Tall Man must be destroyed. Will they succeed in their intent?

"Phantasm" is one of the most weird and original cult movies that I have ever seen. The surrealistic and dreamlike story entwines horror with sci-fi with many twists and bizarre characters and situations.

I saw "Phantasm" for the first time on VHS in the early 80's and I have just seen it again on DVD and surprisingly the film has not aged, only the clothing, the hair style and the special effects. But for fans like me, it is still attractive and entertaining. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Fantasma" ("Phantasm")

Note: On 28 April 2023, I saw this film again.

A teenage boy (Michael Baldwin) stumbles upon a plot by a very tall mortuary worker (Angus Scrimm) to steal dead bodies and turn them into midget slaves for an alien world. With the help of his older brother (Bill Thornberry), the boy hopes to cut the tall man down to size.

Many years later, Don Coscarelli is now seen as a master of horror and Angus Scrimm somewhat of a horror icon (though to a lesser degree than, say, Robert Englund). While the plot I have outlined above may sound silly, the actual execution of this idea makes it clear why this film has really lodged itself in horror history and spawned numerous sequels (all starring Scrimm).

This film captures the feeling of the late 1970s and early 1980s horror with the young boy stumbling upon a plot of large, sinister proportions. Horror geared towards the youth of a generation who have parents who may not believe them (or in this case, an older brother). I really like this theme, much like "The Goonies", "The Monster Squad" and "Lost Boys" -- a kid's film without being childish.

"Phantasm" has become known for the silver balls, and believe me -- when Angus Scrimm puts one of his balls in your face, you won't be happy about it. A bloody mess is all you will get! I really enjoyed the effect of this (remember, this is 1979 when effects still took some creativity). Some of the tricks they pull off are impressive considering computer technology of the day, and also considering Coscarelli himself was writing and directing at the unthinkably young age of 23.

Now, some things I did not understand. For example, why are the midgets bleeding macaroni and cheese instead of blood? And more importantly, why does the tall man have to transform into a woman to stab people in the cemetery? If he is super strong and has those silver balls, he really does not have to be very sneaky about the whole ordeal, does he? But these are issues that can always be addressed in sequels.

Some of the acting is cheesy -- people deliver their lines in a way that sounds forced, and Jody (the older brother) looks like he belongs behind the wheel of the General Lee. And Michael spends half the film looking like a girl. (I have met the entire cast, and I can assure you that Baldwin grew out of this phase.)

But, seriously, check this film out. Created roughly in the same time period as "Halloween", you are left with a similar feeling. Only this one is more light-hearted and "feel good" and less "the embodiment of evil". I suppose it depends on your personal taste or your mood for the day. Myself, I like a little bit of the unusual thrown in to a movie just to keep me guessing. And, edging out "Halloween", this may be the longest-running horror franchise, running from 1979 through 2016 (37 years!).

Over the years, "Phantasm" has been released in a variety of ways, but I think the definitive release finally exists thanks to Well Go USA. I asked Coscarelli why he went with Well Go (known for their martial arts movies) rather than Arrow Video or Scream Factory, and his answer was quite simple -- they had the most enthusiasm. And they have put together a nice package, too. The remastered Blu-ray looks sharp. WGN host and super-phan Nick Digilio screened it in Chicago in August 2016 and audiences were shocked to see individual raindrops. The new scan is better than the original print. The disc also contains a vintage interview with Coscarelli and Scrimm circa 1979, and an episode of "Graveyard Carz" where Coscarelli and Baldwin drive around in a Barracuda tribute car.

...I'd probably hallucinate something of this caliber. This movie is all over the place! There's a weird looking guy having sex with a weird looking gal in a graveyard, and she turns into a weird looking old guy! Then there's four-wheelin' and guitar jammin' and weird looking psychic grandmas and weird looking dwarf zombies and metallic, gardener-splattering spheres and a weird looking severed finger that turns into a weird looking bug and a hero who doubles as an ice cream man!!

The movie is highly entertaining and keeps moving, and there's the classic moment when the older brother is hit in the leg with the hammer by the kid brother ("Maybe it was that retarded kid down the street"). I loved it! But it IS weird looking....

I bought the DVD (an older one, not the one that's been referred to here) of this ages ago, watched it once, got bored and didn't watch it for months. Then I shoved it in my player the other night because I had nothing better to do and I have to say it has improved immeasurably the second time around. This is mainly because I was aware that it had a confusing plot which I'd previously decided made no sense, so I wasn't focussing on that aspect of the film this time around. Instead I noticed the really effective musical score, one of the best I've heard, and the excellent cinematography/lighting which give the film a very tense and quite frightening atmosphere. The acting isn't so good and the dialogue in one mercifully short early scene (where two characters meet before the funeral that sparks the plot off) borders on C-movie-style contrivedness, but overall it's an enjoyable flick with plenty of memorable sequences and a sense of pace and enthusiasm last seen in The Evil Dead.