Phantasm

Phantasm (1979)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Don Coscarelli

Starring: A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm (RIP)

From: New Breed Productions Inc.

Here's another film I haven't watched in years yet this was an opportune time for me to check it out. All the details are below via my Letterboxd review: 

This is yet another case where I am watching a movie for the first time in years. In this case, I had to wait patiently to check this out via streaming (I was inspired to after hearing all the talk about the new and polarizing Phantasm: Ravager) and finally it recently was added, and it's the new Remastered version to boot. Even streaming the print sounds and looks real good. To think that a Star Wars director loves the movie so much he not only was behind the 4K scan and new release, but now a character in the Star Wars canon (Captain Phasma) was named after this franchise.

I will presume that everyone knows the basics of this franchise so I won't dwell on that. I can say that while “dream logic” movies aren't usually for me because I am a logical guy in general, I can still enjoy this flick. The story is far out but it's still fun. It helps that you enjoy following these wacky characters... from a 12 year old boy to his cool older brother and my favorite (due to absurdities and otherwise), a balding middle age ice cream man who I hear becomes an “action hero” in the sequels. You're always interested in trying to figure out this bizarre tale and all the odd things you see throughout.

I understand those who don't care for this. It is low budget filmmaking and they filmed off and on for about a year. It explains how it definitely has an uneven feel. I can't quite explain why some of the performances are pretty bad... actually, I can. It was a low budget thing and they had to take whatever they could get... either that, or it was friends of Don Coscarelli. I am able to look past that and have fun with this hair-raising tale that was nicely filmed by Coscarelli and has several iconic aspects:

*The Sphere. Enough said right there
*The awesome score, especially the memorable theme song that is always part of the score
*Angus Scrimm (RIP). He was made to look like a scary-looking & menacing dude; he was perfect as The Tall Man

It's not hard for me to understand why something this different for the time ended up becoming a cult hit with its share of famous fans and 4 sequels... and maybe more, despite Scrimm passing away in January. For me, this is a movie that either works aside from or because of its low budget filmmaking flaws.