In 1979, director Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho-Tep, John Dies at the End) put together an extremely unique low-budget science fiction/horror film that starred mostly unknown actors. Who knew that by 40 years later, it would have spawned 4 sequels, have an extremely recognizable villain, and become a cult favorite among the horror community? Join me once again, as this time I visit the mortuary of horror films and go through the Phantasm series in its entirety.
The original Phantasm has such a cool premise. The Tall Man, portrayed by the nightmare-inducing Angus Scrimm, is an alien undertaker that routinely transforms himself into an attractive woman, in hopes to lure in unsuspecting sex-craving teens. Once he succeeds, he then transforms back into Angus Scrimm mid-coitus (there’s the nightmare inducing part), kills them, and turns them into little monster slaves to send back to his home planet. He also has little flying sentinel spheres that that drill into your head and spew your brain juice out the back like when you squeeze a Capri-Sun pouch through a straw. There isn’t much not to like about the first film. Fun and likable characters, an imposing villain, cool weapons and cars, and kick-ass theme music. You usually have to take 1970’s horror films with the expectation of a huge slow-down. Phantasm doesn’t suffer from this. In fact, it’s pretty balls-to-the-wall from beginning to end.
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Phantasm II takes everything great about the first film and amplifies the hell out of it. Don Coscarelli returns to direct part two (as well as two other sequels) and brings back Reggie (Reggie Bannister), Mike (James Le Gros), and the Tall Man. This film was right in the prime of 80’s horror, so the effects had to be top-notch to stay relevant with other 80’s bangers, and they were. We got more monsters, explosions, and blood. There were more (and different types) sentinel spheres, goopy body melt practical effects and brain juice. There was even a chainsaw duel! The story continued from the original and just raised the fun level. Reggie Bannister became the Clint Howard I actually wanted to hang out with. This was my favorite of the series, without a doubt.
Moving on to Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, or as I like to call, “Yo Dawg, I heard you like sentinel spheres.” This film came out in 1994, and 80’s effects hadn’t been completely taken over by bad 90’s CGI yet. They still look great, and in many ways, Coscarelli tries to amplify the film even more than part two did. I think this is where it splits fans. Part three enters the territory of films like Army of Darkness or the later Friday the 13th films, where more comedic moments take precedent over the horror moments. Some people love that, and some can’t get past it. The first two films had some comedic moments but were mostly sincere. Me personally? I enjoyed part three immensely. It felt like Coscarelli went into it like, “Oh, you want EVEN MORE spheres?” and then hit us with 20 different kinds all at the same time. It’s awesome. Give me razorblade frisbees and whipping zombie asses with nunchucks all day! We’re also left with a pretty decent cliffhanger to get us amped for the next film.
Four years later in 1998, Phantasm IV: Oblivion releases. Reggie fully embraces the unleashed skullet, and the film fully embraces the 90’s CGI stink in order to bring us…you guessed it, more spheres! The film starts moving the franchise away from the general charm it brought since part two, although still delivering on classic Reggie moments and some fantastic practical effects, like sphere boobs, goopy zombie cops, and the running joke of adding yet another barrel to Reggie’s shotgun. The story becomes unnecessarily convoluted and focuses more on the captive/captor relationship between Mike and the Tall Man, but we also get some much-awaited backstory and development of the villain. This film feels a bit lazy, and is the weakest of the first four, but there was still plenty to enjoy. I’d recommend it, though I kind if wish it was the last in the series and Coscarelli had made a more conclusive ending, as it would have made for a much better finale than what comes next.
Has directly picking up from a story 18 years later ever worked? In Phantasm V: Ravager, the characters all look so different (18 years older – although it’s at least somewhat explained), the film style has changed significantly, and it feels as it was intended more as a “present” to the franchise’s fans rather than a legitimate continuation of the story, like we’d gotten with the other films. Much like in an Arrested Development or Sin City type of way, it felt more like an insult to fans than a present. Continuity errors were even more apparent when watching this back-to-back from the other films. David Hartman took the directorial and some of the writing reigns from Coscarelli and it shows. The jokes felt forced and unfunny, and even the simple practical effects of single sphere attacks that were so prominent in the earlier films were replaced with bad CG. You can skip this one, unless you’re a true completionist like me.
The Phantasm series is just pure fun, and like the Evil Dead films, a welcomed break from both more serious horror franchises like Scream or Halloween and more silly ones like Leprechaun or The Howling. It’s a truly satisfying mixture of all things that we as horror fans love in our films, and for the most part, blends them seamlessly.
If you haven’t seen any of these films, go check them out! If you have seen them, which one is your favorite?
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