Phantasm chilled on my watch list for a year but slipped my attention for far longer.
With my weak stomach and proclivity for powerful childlike nightmares (I have a diagnosable reaction to zombies), I only started exploring the horror genre in recent times.
Yet the film is old news to horror buffs. The fanbase has been large enough to prompt a franchise of five pictures to date (the most recent entry, 2016’s Phantasm: Ravager). And the movie’s villain, The Tall Man, holds iconic status.
And luckily for me, Phantasm is scary but reached cult status for its cinematic imagination, not gore or body count (though later entries may up the gross factor).
But don’t be fooled – there are humble origins here.
The film is a lesser-known entry in the under-budget horror masterpiece tradition of movies like Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), and Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead (1981).
It’s the third feature-length film of celebrated indie director Don Coscarelli (Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-Tep). Still, he was far from seasoned and only 25 at the time.
The film’s $300,000 budget was scraped together from family and other contributors.
And the picture’s cast and crew were mainly aspiring professionals. These included Coscarelli’s mother, who helped design some costumes, makeup, and special effects (what a mom!).
According to Coscarelli’s memoir, the making was sometimes flat-out dangerous. The movie’s car chase was unpermitted and shot guerilla, relying on amateurs where professional stuntmen were needed. Coscarelli himself, at one point, was nearly decapitated during shooting.
Yet within that organized chaos, Coscarelli, cast, and crew managed to execute a vision – and not an exploitation film squirting a lot of blood for easy bucks (though Coscarelli had turned to horror after his first two films didn’t make much money).
An underdog success, the film grossed $22 million worldwide – quite an achievement for a makeshift production.
But we don’t grade on a curve here.
So let’s set the sentiment aside and ask: is Phantasm a good movie today?
Please Note: This review is for the 2016 Bad Robot remaster.
The Plot of Phantasm:
After the death of their friend Tommy (Bill Cone), Jody Pearson (Bill Thornbury) and Reggie (Reggie Bannister) attend his funeral.
Meanwhile, Jody’s younger brother, Mike Pearson (A. Michael Baldwin), observes suspicious behavior from the Morningside Mortuary mortician (Angus Scrimm) and hears strange noises in the graveyard.
As Mike further investigates, he is drawn into a deadly game against the mortician, known only as “The Tall Man.”
The Rest of the Main Cast Includes:
- Kathy Lester as Lady in Lavender
- Mary Ellen Shaw as the fortune-teller
- Terrie Kalbus as the fortune-teller’s granddaughter
- Lynn Eastman as Sally
What’s Working Well Here:
Creepy High-Art Visuals, +6 Points
At the movie’s release, critics like Marc Salic of the Austin Chronicle likened the film’s brand of strangeness to the works of Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo) and Luis Buñuel (Un Chien Andalou).
Though idiosyncratic, I wouldn’t say the picture’s visual language goes into those depths of obscurity. But it’s certainly vibrating on an off-kilter frequency.
The film choreographs its scares with aplomb, relying on atmosphere over gross-out gore. It gives us moments of paused, near surrealism.
There’s the slow, indulgent moment where Mike sees The Tall Man in town, the sound of his steps fading into echoes as he seems to either enjoy the cold or the smell of ice cream.
Mike awakens from a nightmare in his bed. But the camera zooms out, and he’s lying in a graveyard, The Tall Man above him, the undead suddenly grabbing him from the dirt.
And when Mike meets The Tall Man in the mortuary, he tries to think of a way out but gives up, The Tall Man mirroring his steps as they come toward one another.
Still, the most beautiful thing in the film may be Jody’s all-black ’71 Plymouth Barracuda.
Unreality, +3 Points
Coscarelli based the picture on his nightmare about a spinning orb chasing him and the mystery of after-dead processes in American mortuaries.
And that’s about where the clarity ends. He has called the script “barely linear,” often rewritten during filming.
After watching the film for a mesmerizing and disorienting ~30 minutes, I realized it would just be this way the whole time.
At first, I wanted to knock the film for not doing what it “should” be doing – setting dominoes to topple and making character arcs. But I rolled into the joy of a blurred reality you can float with instead.
The picture rarely offers explanations, finally revealing The Tall Man’s origin and game in about two lines of exposition.
And somewhat along the lines of a David Lynch vehicle (Mulholland Drive), the unreality becomes its own continuity instead of the plot. Not knowing what’s a dream and what’s a reality, why the Tall Man hangs out with dwarves or can shapeshift into a woman stops mattering.
Instead, the movie’s most grounded moment is a realistic detail left out of most films – when a dead body dribbles pee all over the floor.
Sound Mix and Soundtrack, +4 Points
The soundtrack was influenced by Goblin (Suspiria) and Mike Oldfield (whose Tubular Bells is The Exorcist’s theme).
Made with synthesizers, the John Carpenter-esque vibes are immediate.
But the rocking drumbeat separates Phantasm’s theme from other synthy horror tunes, like a badass pulse beating under an eerie refrain.
Another one for your Halloween playlist, no doubt.
And when you watch the film, be sure to crank up the sound in your home theater. With scuttling sounds and odd vibrations, the sound design welds together the audience’s immersion.
Pacing and Spreading Scares Out, +3 Points
The film is well cut and paced, not wasting any time plopping you into the mystery of The Tall Man.
And there’s a good balance of action. Unlike films that bookend the conflict, making acts one and three the fun parts and just building all of act two, there are little conflagrations and scares all throughout the movie.
What’s Not Working So Well:
Repeating Cycle, -2 Points
You could argue the picture’s events get repetitive.
There’s a cycle of confronting The Tall Man, escaping and regrouping, and confronting him again because that’s the film’s A-game.
There is a car chase, some other drama in a different car, and short trips to a bar and antique shop for variety.
But since Mike, Jody, and Reggie know where to find The Tall Man and vice-versa, we largely flip back and forth between the Pearson home and the Morningside Mortuary for cat-and-mouse games.
Due to budget, locations were likely hard to come by. But more variety in the flow of events could have helped freshen it up.
I Think I Saw this in Dune? -0 Points
Criticizing movies for borrowing from other films or works is tricky territory because it happens all the time. Intentional tips of the hat, similar camera angles, or even sneaky lifted scenes are common (and it’s a whole article where that line is crossed or not crossed).
But in this film, there’s a blind, fortune-telling grandma who is surely a Bene Gesserit (Dune).
Speaking through her granddaughter, she reveals Mike’s fortune. Then she orders him to shove his hand in a box and tells him not to fear because “fear is the killer,” Mike grimacing in pain.
Neither the David Lynch nor Denis Villeneuve film adaptations with “the box” scenes were released yet. But considering Dune’s status as a landmark sci-fi novel, I’m surprised this moment is in the film as, complete with that dialogue, it’s a little too close to be anything but suspicious.
This could be a parallel idea, and the scene has so little to do with the film’s plot. But for me, this context of lifting, if that’s what’s here, still draws a frown.
Go Watch Phantasm
Total Arbitrary Points Score: 14 Points
Phantasm is a dark journey into a childlike nightmare.
A visually provocative film with a surreal sensibility, its low body count and gore factor (at least for this initial entry in the series) make it accessible to non-horror fans.
It falls into a cycle of confrontation and retreat from the monster. But you’ll be spellbound by its witchy creepery, bopping along to its spooky synth theme and crisp pacing.
Despite the odds against them, Coscarelli, cast, and crew created a monster – The Tall Man.
Phantasm is directed by Don Coscarelli.
You can stream it on Peacock or rent it from other streaming sites.
You can watch the trailer here.
Disclaimer:
This review’s factual information was gathered through online sources, like Wikipedia, IMDB, or interviews. Misrepresentations and errors are possible but unintentional.
Making art is hard. This is a fan’s blog. Any criticisms are meant to be constructive.
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