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Good old horror movie fun. Centers around strange happenings at a mortuary: flying metallic spheres that drill into peoples heads, strange jawa type midgets, and of course, the Tall Man (Argus Scrimm). Includes a ton of extras including: making of, commentaries, and deleted scenes. Some of the extras go into so much detail showing how they made certain effects, that its almost like a magician revealing how he peformed his tricks. (Did I want to know that those cool flying spheres were just thrown towards the camera by an extra that used to play baseball?) Kinda interesting, but takes a little bit of the mystery out of the movie.
The new 2007 DVD of this film features a 30-minute documentary that is excellent and covers all the major interesting points. It's nicely packaged too, the dvd case inside a color cardboard sleeve with foil accents--classy! Don Coscarelli's "Phantasm" is a very original and startling horror film from the late 70's. A lot of horror classics were produced in the 70's, but this one in particular stands out because it is the only one that does not hearken back in some way to earlier established archetypes. All the details are more or less original, so you are not looking at a retread of the conventional Frankenstein/Dracula/Zombie stories. The main baddie is an exceptionally tall undertaker from another planet, for starters. His dwarf slaves are essentially zombies (reanimated dead people he has crushed "down to half size") but in their behavior and appearance do not really resemble zombies from other myths. This is a movie trying to be as different as possible. Large amounts of surrealism and humor are mixed in, and the film displays a willingness to throw in very off-the-wall ideas and quirky moments. In the opening scenes, we see that spooky shenanigans are going on over at that Morningside Mortuary, including murder, appearances of strange hooded dwarf creatures, and kid-hero Mike (Michael Baldwin) riding his motorcycle around in the cemetery, apparently for kicks. After just a few minutes have elapsed, "Phantasm" is already a tapestry of weirdness, and it generally gets stranger, scarier and funnier as it goes along. The youthful hero Mike was also a big hit with youngsters when the film came out. He is an unusually energetic character who, to save his older brother and their friend Reggie from the eerie monsters, is ready to jump into the action and fight. Not surprising that it was a big theatrical hit when it came out originally. It was totally unlike any other movie, and audiences could see clearly that this low-budget oddity was bending over backwards to deliver its rollercoaster-style entertainment. This has been available for some years now in stereo/surround format, which sounds great and allows the viewer to better appreciate the very atmospheric musical score by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave. In addition to stereo manipulation of the sound effects, director Coscarelli also beefed up the sound effects for the famous "flying silver sphere" scene, adding stereo "whoosh" effects. I think the new additional sound effects are layered on fairly tastefully and you still get to hear the sphere's signature humming whine.Read full review
Don Coscarelli is a filmmaker that I respect and admire for his great big imagination, and for his heart. "Phantasm" is probably the film that put him on the map; as well as many others. It's a film that has garnered quite the cult following over the years, amongst film-goers who want to be transported to an otherworldly universe in which Coscarelli puts on display some grotesque and bizarre imagery. It also made Angus Scrimm (in the role of The Tall Man) a household name amongst the fans, and Coscarelli a young talent to look out for. It's as exciting and imaginative as surrealist horror flicks go, and I won't spoil the fun for you. The Anchor Bay re-issuing is beautiful, and the extras are plentiful; so overall, I'd highly recommend both the wonderful DVD and the personal-favorite movie as a whole. I love this movie, and I love this release!Read full review
This is one great horror movie. It was written and directed by Don Cascarelli and was released in 1979. It stars Michael Baldwin (as Michael), Bill Thornbury (as Jody), Reggie Bannister (as Reggie), and Angus Scrimm (as The Tall Man). Jody and his younger brother Michael along with their friend Reggie discover strange happenings at the Morningside Cemetary and Funeral Home. Michael is witness to the "The Tall Man" carrying off a casket containing the remains of Jody's friend after grave side services ended and the mourners left. "The Tall Man" notices Michael and soon he begins to show up where ever Michael goes. Now the "fun" begins. We will later learn that the "The Tall Man" is a sinister alien from another dimension who has supernatural powers. He is also accompanied by a gang of demonic dwarves dressed in hooded monk like robes. He is armed with silver spheres or orbs that fly through the air at will. These orbs protrude knife type blades as they attack a victim. The orb embeds itself to the intended victim's forehead. A drill bit pops out of the orb giving the poor sap an instant lobotomy. Lots of blood here. Jody, Michael, and Reggie discover that "The Tall Man" has been collecting bodies from the funeral home and has been crushing them down and storing them in black canister type pods in the mortuary where the portal to his dimension is set up. He is shipping the bodies to his world where they are prepared and used as slaves. "The Tall Man" is seemingly indestructible. He is tall, he wears a poorly fitted two piece suit, he oozes yellow "blood", and he calls Michael "BOOOY". This is the catch phrase for this movie and is used in all it's sequels. This movie also features the "lady in lavender" a rather attractive blond in a lavender dress who totes a stiletto knife and uses her charms to lure guys into the cemetary to help "drum up business" for "The Tall Man". Another nice feature is the fantastic looking 1971 black Hemi Barracuda that our characters drive around in. It is featured in all the other sequels as well. It's a hardtop in this movie and becomes a convertible in the others. There are some rather cool looking hearses of that era that appear from time to time. This movie has a very haunting atmosphere to it, from the Victorian style funeral home straight to the 1970's music and look. (Check out that carpeting in Michael and Jody's house). The special effects in this movie are amazing considering the technology back then was not like it is today. They did a great job on this (except for that rubber fly). This movie contains standard R-rated gore, violence, and nudity. If the funeral home looks familiar to you it was featured in two other movies, "Burn't Offerings" and James Bond's "View to a Kill". This movie is followed by three sequels: Phantasm II The Ball is Back Phantasm III Lord of the Dead Phantasm IV Oblivion Rated RRead full review
This is a great movie and I'm a horror fan love scary movies . thk you
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