Overall Rating Awesome: 36.96% Worth A Look: 50% Average: 2.17% Pretty Bad: 6.52% Total Crap: 4.35% 2 reviews, 34 user ratings

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Phantasm

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by DarkHorse

"Phantasm is an incoherent and often brilliant mess off a movie."

If you like your plots well defined and character development is a must, leave this one on the shelf. However, if you are in the mood for a movie that wildly veers from ridiculous campiness to cheesy gore and back again with visual flair, then by all means give Phantasm a look.

Angus Scrimm is unforgettable in the role of "The Tall Man." Since the story is basically a sick and fractured fairy tale, we don't need to know much about this character except that he is an old and mean looking fucker who is very tall and speaks in a slow booming voice. His favorite hobby is contorting his face in a painful expression, pointing his finger and screaming "Boyyyyyyy!"

He doesn't do much more than that, but fortunately he employs some really strange henchmen that keep things interesting.

First off, there are these little bastards that look like rabid 3 foot tall monks and come from a weird portal that is connected to the cemetery where everything takes place. None of this makes a whole lot of sense but it hardly matters because, by the time you realize that the last scene makes about as much sense as RuPaul in a teen beauty pagent, another equally bizarre and puzzling scene is sure to follow.

Then, there are the drill equipped metal balls that have a nasty habit of flying through halls, boring into hapless victims and spraying out impressive jets of blood and/or brains out the back. No explanation is given as to the origin of these spheres from hell but by the time you see them you probably won't care anyway. By that time you will probably either hate Phantasm, and me for recommending it, or you will be in on the joke and enjoy this movie for what it is... whatever it is.

The acting is pedestrian, with the exception of Reggie Bannister as the ice cream man who decides to investigate the strange goings-on at the cemetery and the above-mentioned performance by Angus Scrimm as The Tall Man.

If you are still confused about what the fuck this movie is about after reading this review then you've got the general idea.

Roll the dice on this one. Most people I have talked to either think Phantasm is a convoluted piece of shit or a convoluted masterpiece.

Mix one part The Brood, one part Alice in Wonderland, one part Nightmare on Elm Street and two parts drug-induced coma. Stir it the fuck up (making sure to spill half the ingredients) and you might come up with Phantasm. A mind-fuck to be sure. But a damned entertaining one...

link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=2555&reviewer=167
originally posted: 02/23/00 20:33:26

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User Comments

10/30/16 morris campbell im old school myself phantasm rocks avoid the sequels 4 stars

4/11/12 keith miron This horror film looks like a horror eposode of The Partridge Family 4 stars

10/13/10 Josie Cotton is a goddess Classic surrelist-horror. Creepy, somtimes funny and bizzare! 5 stars

11/01/09 art ONLY FOR MANIAC"S! 1 stars

7/10/09 BattleFlag0013 Even Coscarelli doesn't know what it's about! 4 stars

5/02/07 Indrid Cold If this scares you, you're either 6 years old or you've never seen a movie before. 2 stars

5/27/05 Lord Haw Haw Unintentionally hilarious. Wouldn't frighten a chipmunk. 2 stars

10/28/04 anne haven't been able to get this flick out of my mind since 1980 4 stars

9/25/04 Samuel great film, very creepy. 5 stars

6/28/04 matt WOW.... 5 stars

5/20/04 John it works - eerie atmosphere and bizarre concept 4 stars

4/25/04 erich Great movie great plot; so so acting 4 stars

3/03/04 Naturezrevenge Fragmented,choppy incoherent flik with couple neat gore shots. 2 stars

1/17/04 Josh Standlee Bizzare, but I liked it anyway. 4 stars

1/01/04 Punk_Ass One great horror film. Almost traumatized me as a child. 5 stars

11/02/03 American Slasher Goddess Different kind of horror flick, if only the ending made more sense. 4 stars

7/03/03 Lush Boooyyyyyyyyyyy!!! 4 stars

6/23/03 Jack Sommersby Clunky but somewhat involving. Tauter direction and pacing would have helped. 3 stars

3/12/03 Butterball Cenobite frightening, imaginative low budget horror film; now considered a classic 4 stars

1/28/03 Thrash This movie is classic. Love it 4 ever!!! 5 stars

11/22/02 dead no way 1 stars

9/01/02 wayne gayle Very much like a fucked up nightmare. Film has a dream logic. One of my favs! 5 stars

6/24/02 Baal Very Cool. Worth Seeing! Nice sfx for a low budget production, too. 5 stars

6/04/02 Black Night the ultimate mind fuck 5 stars

5/20/02 F@rty Bl@st Designed to put a man down and keep him there. 5 stars

5/19/02 The Tall Man The best movie I ever made. 5 stars

5/17/02 DA MAN DA BEST! 5 stars

4/17/02 Film Dude Go see this. Right now. 5 stars

3/30/02 Jeff Howard-Lindsey One of the best movies! I like it as much as George A. Romero's "DEAD" films!! 5 stars

3/02/02 Alan Smithee Cheesy, but in the coolest way. 5 stars

2/19/02 Kyle Highly entertaining and frightening. 5 stars

1/27/02 Andrew Carden Not Perfect, but A Very Realistic and Emotional Thriller. 4 stars

8/02/01 Elgyn A modern horror classic. Very surreal and dream-like. 5 stars

6/29/01 King Jackass I can't believe nobody has rated this yet! FUCKING KICKS FUCKING ASS! 5 stars

IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA 28-Mar-1979 (R) DVD: 10-Apr-2007 UK N/A Australia 02-Feb-1980

Directed by Don Coscarelli Written by Don Coscarelli Cast Reggie Bannister A. Michael Baldwin Bill Thornbury Angus Scrimm

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