Quick Thoughts #6 - How did I get sucked into the Phantasm movies?

Even though we have passed the spooky season, I still had a hankering for some horror movies. After I finished a rewatch of Howling 2: Your Sister is a Werewolf (yes, this exists and I will talk about this next time), I got curious about the Phantasm series. The 1978 cult classic was on Prime, so I thought I’d check it out. It’s actually not my first foray into the franchise. I didn’t remember who it was (I thought it might’ve been Allison Pregler, formerly known as Obscurus Lupa), but when Channel Awesome was on Blip.tv, someone talked about the first four movies. In fact (just checked this), it was Allison since she used to review cult horror at that time.

After my viewing of the first movie, I saw that Prime had the rest of the franchise on there, so I decided to go down this weird rabbit whole. Phantasm was released in 1979 and was written, produced, and directed by Don Coscarelli. Even though it made some decent money for its budget, it didn’t fare well critically. Luckily, the positive press came later, and it got regarded as a cult classic. It took a decade, but it eventually got a sequel in Phantasm 2. The next movie, Phantasm 3: Lord of the Dead, was released in 1994. Phantasm 4: Oblivion was released in 1998. It would take almost two decades for one more to come out, but Phantasm: Ravager was released in 2016.

Phantasm (1979)

The movie revolves around a young boy named Mike (Michael Baldwin). He and his older brother, Jody (Bill Thornberry) lost their parents in a car accident. While at the cemetery, Mike notices a strange sight: the mortician ends up picking up and driving off with the heavy casket of Jody’s deceased friend, Tommy. Mike and Jody also notice a bit of strangeness around the town especially at Morningside Funeral Home. Mike breaks in one night and finds out that the mortician (who we’ll call “The Tall Man”) is far from human. He’s an interdimensional being, makes henchmen out of dead bodies, and uses a sphere-like weapon. He lets Jody and their friend, Reggie (Reggie Bannister) know about the strangeness as the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) starts to come after Mike. They do their best to fight back and discover the mystery of the Tall Man.

And that's a dream I'd want to wake up from!

I can see why this is a cult classic. While a couple of things don’t work, the movie is pretty good. It has this dream-like quality to it. You almost don’t know what’s real here. The story’s pretty simple but effective. It even tries to throw a few twists at you, and those are ones that I won’t spoil here. You gotta see them for yourself. While the acting could be hit or miss, I liked the characters here. Mike and Jody were a cool brother combo, and Reggie brought in some good laughs. Of course, the main highlight is Angus Scrimm’s Tall Man who is so threatening in look and voice. I don’t know where he is on the list of the most threatening horror icons, but he should be up top.

Even though it was shot with a low budget, it looks really good. The 4K edition especially looks pretty solid. I also thought the music itself was pretty good. It too adds to the movie’s dream-like experience. The effects are good for the most part, but there were a couple of places where the budget showed its hand. As for any dislikes, some things do get quickly brushed over, though that could’ve been the fact that this was originally supposed to be 3 hours long. It could also get a little confusing, but I think that’s the dream-like aspect playing with me. Other than that, and a couple of nitpicks, this was good. Nice cliffhanger, by the way.

Phantasm 2 (1988)

After we get a flashback to Reggie saving Mike from the Tall Man back in 1978, we flash forward 8 years. Mike (James Le Gros) is being released from psychiatric hospital on the false grounds that all he experienced in the first movie wasn’t real. He reunites with Reggie (Bannister) and tries to convince him that the Tall Man was real, and they get a big dose of that when Reggie’s family is killed. The two then go on a journey to find and kill the Tall Man, and what they find is a path of destruction in small towns. They end up in Perigord, Oregon and find Liz (Paula Irvin), a young woman who has been communing with Mike telepathically. When Liz is taken by the Tall Man, Mike and Reggie do their best to put an end to him.

This new Mike is alright, I guess.

And now, this is where the fun begins. While this isn’t as good as the first movie, it’s still a fun time. Even though the first movie was meant to be standalone, Coscerelli was able to make a decent campy horror flick out of this one. It’s like someone said, “go all Evil Dead with us,” and this is what popped out of the oven. We end up losing the dream-like atmosphere, but what we get here isn’t bad either. Of course, the Tall Man is still the main highlight of the film. We get all his weapons, Jawa-looking Lurkers, and other thralls for Mike and Reggie to take out in cool fashion.

Dare I say... "Groovy?"

I liked most of our heroes. Michael Baldwin was replaced with James Le Gros here, and he does an okay job as Mike. His love interest, Liz, is alright at best. Other than having prophetic visions, she doesn’t do much here for me. As for Reggie, it’s here where he starts to shine because he adds some good weapons to his arsenal like a chainsaw and a shotgun… “Hmm, that reminds me of someone”, I sarcastically said. As for any dislikes, the story does move at a quick pace and things aren’t explained too much. This unfortunately becomes a trend with the rest of the movies especially with the cliffhanger. In the end, this was a fun time even though it pales when compared to the original.

 

Phantasm 3: Lord of the Dead (1994)

In the movie, we find out what happened to Mike (Michael Baldwin), Reggie (Bannister), and Liz. Reggie’s unable to save Liz, but he keeps a comatose Mike from being taken. A couple of years pass, and Mike comes out of his coma. The two then once again hit the road to find the Tall Man, but Mike is kidnapped in the process. Apparently, the Tall Man wants to use Michael for some experiments. Luckily, Reggie ends up finding some allies to help him in his quest. He also gains an ally who was once a friend of his. All of them do their best to fight the Tall Man and his minions.

Now, this is where the fun probably overstayed its welcome. Lord of the Dead has the same campy vibe that the first one had, but it’s here where the holes start to show. It does have some good things. First, the acting’s still pretty solid. Michael Baldwin returns to the role of Mike and is good. Reggie is cool as ever with his Bruce Campbell vibe he has going. We also get the return of Jody (Bill Thornberry), and it’s an interesting choice. I also liked two new characters here: Rocky (Gloria Lynne Henry), an army soldier who sports nunchucks, and Tim (Kevin Conners), the deadlier version of Kevin from Home Alone. Of course, The Tall Man is still pretty badass with his weapons at his disposal.

The old Mike is back! Also, you're a little too close to that ball...

Unfortunately, I will say that they start to convolute things with the lore a bit. In fact, the story gets pretty convoluted with weird moments. It even brings events from the first movie into question since a lot of that had that dream-like quality to it. Mike doesn’t get used too much either. Reggie, Rocky, and Tim end up getting chased by these annoying zombie robbers which has some fun at points. Of course, we still get no explanation on  how certain things work here. I also wasn’t a fan of the cliffhanger here. It took a creative thing from the first movie and just ran it into the ground. Overall, the characters help carry this convoluted movie.

Phantasm 4: Oblivion (1998)

Oblivion takes place right after the last movie. Mike (Baldwin) ends up leaving Reggie (Bannister) and escaping to the desert because of the Tall Man’s experiments. Reggie tries to retire from all of this, but an old ally and the Tall Man keep him from staying out of the action. Meanwhile, Mike comes across a strange finding in the desert: one of the Tall Man’s dimensional doorway. When Mike realizes that these doorways can cause one to time travel, he tries to use them to figure out how the Tall Man was created. In the end, Mike and Reggie reunite to try and defeat the Tall Man. We also get quite a few flashbacks to deleted scenes from the first movie.

Hmm... nah, making a cop joke would be too easy since most of them are jokes.

Well, the fun had to end sometime. This is probably the worst of the bunch in my opinion. While it tries to add some of what made the first one a classic, it just feels so dull in this one. That’s probably because the budget apparently got slashed for this outing. It looks like folks weren’t big fans of the third one. Also, the story is convoluted as ever. Mike and Reggie spend most of the movie split up, and while Reggie’s side is a little entertaining, Mike’s side is pretty dull. Yes, the part of the story that involves dimension traveling is kinda dull. That’s how lackluster the writing has gotten here. It also doesn’t help that the flashbacks we get kinda get in the way of things.

I bet that movie script is making for some good reading...

Even though the story is pretty dreadful, there are some nice moments in the movie. Reggie’s still a cool character to follow. Mike gets more to do here and some of the experiments the Tall Man did on him do result in some interesting powers. Of course, the Tall Man is cool, and we even get a bit of an origin for him. Yeah, it’s pretty short, but it’s at least something. At least we get to see Angus Scrimm in another role. Also, while the flashbacks did get in the way of things at times, it was nice to see deleted scenes from the first movie. In the end, it is the worst one, but they try to do something with it.

 

Phantasm 5: Ravager (2016)

Ravager takes place some time after the end of Oblivion. Reggie returns from the Tall Man’s portal to find Mike and evade the Tall Man. While he’s trying to evade the Tall Man’s machinations, he keeps finding himself in a hospice where he’s developed dementia and Mike is telling him that the Tall Man isn’t real. Eventually, he meets the Tall Man and turns down a chance at seeing his family again. He eventually wakes up in a lab where he was almost experimented on. It turns out that years have passed and that Mike was searching for him in this dystopian landscape. Mike, Reggie, and the rest of their band then try their best to survive.

He may have been old, but he still looks threatening!

It took two decades, but it all comes to an end… sort of. Even though this was pretty low budget, I did like this one a little bit.  The thing that helps the movie is the characters. We get our main leads back, and they are good here. Reggie especially pushes this movie forward in an interesting way. What’s done with him brings up too many questions, but it is interesting. I wonder if Coscarelli (who only provided the writing this time) had more to say there. Of course, The Tall Man is still cool. Even if Angus Scrimm had aged (he passed away sometime after the movie was finished), he still had it. The movie also tries a couple of new things like Mike leading a resistance group against the Tall Man’s forces. The practical effects are nice as well.

Even though the budget didn't help things, seeing these two together again was good.

As for my problems, where do I start? The story is also pretty convoluted here, but that’s a given with these movies. It really gets to be a problem towards the end since we really don’t know why Reggie’s switching between the hospice and the dark future. They try to give a reason, but it makes no dang sense. At the end, I just sat back to enjoy the madness. The effects used for the future were also pretty horrid. I know it was shot on a low budget, but wow, the dystopic future has never looked so bad. Also, there was a little bad acting here and there with supporting characters. In the end, this was low-budgety as hell, but I’m glad we got some sort of ending.

……………………………………………

In the end, the Phantasm franchise is a mixed bag. It started out awesomely and puttered out somewhere in the middle. Even when you get bad stuff in the later movies, the characters and some ideas shine through. It’s definitely one I recommend checking out at least. Definitely watch the first one. There’s a reason why it became a classic. Well, that’s all I got for tonight. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.

 Also, just give the Tall Man some ice cream! He'll be alright afterwards!