fbpx
Wikipedia

Phantasm (film)

Phantasm is a 1979 American science fantasy horror film that was directed, written, photographed, and edited by Don Coscarelli. The first film in the Phantasm franchise, it introduces the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm), a supernatural and malevolent undertaker who turns the dead of Earth into dwarf zombies to be sent to his planet and used as slaves. He is opposed by a young boy, Mike (Michael Baldwin), who tries to convince his older brother Jody (Bill Thornbury) and family friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister) of the threat.

Phantasm
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDon Coscarelli
Written byDon Coscarelli
Produced byD.A. Coscarelli[1]
Starring
CinematographyDon Coscarelli
Edited byDon Coscarelli
Music by
Production
company
New Breed Productions
Distributed byAVCO Embassy Pictures[1]
Release date
  • March 28, 1979 (1979-03-28)[1]
Running time
89 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$300,000[3]
Box office$22 million[4] or $6.8 million[5]

Phantasm was a locally financed independent film; the cast and crew were mostly amateurs and aspiring professionals. Though initial reviews were mixed in regard to the dreamlike, surreal narrative and imagery, later reception was more positive and the film became a cult classic. It has appeared on several critics' lists of best horror films, and it has been cited as an influence on later horror series. It was followed by four sequels: Phantasm II (1988), Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994), Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998) and Phantasm: Ravager (2016).

Plot edit

While having sex in Morningside Cemetery, Tommy is stabbed by a woman, who is actually the Tall Man, the Morningside mortician, in another form. At the funeral, Tommy's friends, Jody and Reggie, believe he committed suicide. Jody's 13-year-old brother Mike secretly observes the funeral and sees the Tall Man placing Tommy's heavy casket, seemingly with little or no effort, back into the hearse instead of completing the burial. Mike then goes to a fortune teller and tells her what he saw. She has him stick his hand in a box, and at first something seems to grab it, but then he removes it unharmed.

Later, Jody is seduced by the Lady in Lavender and taken to the cemetery to have sex. However, they are interrupted by Mike, who has been following Jody and has been driven out of his hiding place by a short, hooded figure. Mike tries to tell Jody about the hooded figure, but Jody dismisses the story. At the mausoleum, Mike is chased by a flying silver sphere and accosted by a caretaker but escapes when the sphere kills the caretaker. He then flees the Tall Man. As Mike slams a door to get away, the Tall Man's fingers get caught and then cut off, but continue to move, dripping yellow ichor. Taking one of the fingers with him, Mike escapes the mausoleum.

The still-moving finger is enough to convince Jody about Mike's stories. Before Jody can bring the finger to the sheriff, it transforms into a flying insect. Reggie, who witnesses the finger-turned-insect attack them, joins the brothers in their suspicions. Jody goes to the cemetery alone but is chased away by dwarves and a seemingly driverless hearse. He is rescued by Mike in Jody's Plymouth Barracuda. Running the hearse off the road, they discover that it was driven by one of the hooded figures, a re-animated and shrunken Tommy, whom they hide in Reggie's ice cream truck.

Reggie and Jody resolve to defeat the Tall Man, while Mike is hidden at an antique store owned by Jody's friends Sally and Sue. There, Mike discovers an old photograph of the Tall Man and insists on being taken home. On the way, Mike, Sally and Sue come across the ice cream truck, overturned. They are attacked by a mob of hooded dwarves. Mike manages to escape, presuming the girls and Reggie dead.

Jody goes to the mausoleum to kill the Tall Man, first locking Mike in his bedroom for safety. Mike escapes, but runs into the Tall Man, who was waiting for him outside his front door. He kidnaps Mike in a hearse, but Mike escapes and causes the hearse to strike a pole and explode. Looking for Jody in the mausoleum, Mike is targeted by the silver sphere until Jody destroys it with a shotgun. Mike and Jody are reunited with Reggie, and together they enter a brightly lit room, which is filled with canisters containing more dwarves. Mike catches a brief glimpse through a portal, seeing a red, hot world where the dwarves are toiling as slaves.

A sudden power outage separates the trio. Left alone in the room, Reggie activates the portal, creating a powerful vacuum from which he narrowly escapes. In the ensuing storm, Reggie is stabbed by the Lady in Lavender while Jody and Mike flee and the mausoleum vanishes. Jody devises a plan to trap the Tall Man in an abandoned mine shaft. The Tall Man attacks Mike at home and chases him outside, where he eventually falls into the mine shaft and is buried under an avalanche of rocks triggered by Jody.

After this, Mike wakes up in his bed, still worried about the Tall Man. Reggie, still alive, tells Mike that he had a nightmare, that Jody died in a car wreck and proposes a road trip. When Mike enters his bedroom to pack, the Tall Man appears and hands crash through the bedroom mirror, pulling Mike inside.

Cast edit

After being intimidated by Scrimm on the set of a previous film, Coscarelli decided that Scrimm would make a great villain.[6] Initially, Scrimm had little input into the character, but he made more of a contribution as Coscarelli began to trust his instincts. Scrimm was outfitted in lifts and a suit too small for him in order to make him seem even taller and skinnier. Coscarelli says of Scrimm, "I really didn't have any idea that he would take it to the level that he did. ... I could see it was going to be a very powerful character."[7]
Coscarelli attributes the enduring popularity of the film to young audiences who respond to Mike's adventures.[7] After they worked together in a prior film, Coscarelli wrote a film in which Baldwin could star.[8]
  • Bill Thornbury as Jody Pearson:
Jody is Mike's older brother. After their parents die, Jody becomes Mike's guardian, but Jody confides in his friends that he's uncomfortable with the responsibility.
Don Coscarelli based the character of Reggie on his friend Reggie Bannister, for whom the role was written; they then twisted the character into new directions.[9] Reggie was designed to be an everyman,[9] a loyal friend,[10] and the comic relief.[11]
  • Kathy Lester as Lady in Lavender:
The Tall Man appears in the form of the Lady in Lavender,[12] which he uses to seduce and kill Tommy, Jody's friend. Laura Mann appears as Kathy Lester's double, credited as Double Lavender.
  • Bill Cone as Tommy
  • Mary Ellen Shaw as the fortune-teller
  • Terrie Kalbus as the fortune-teller's granddaughter
  • Lynn Eastman as Sally

Analysis edit

Film scholar John Kenneth Muir interprets the film as being about mourning and death.[13] Many of the film's fans are young boys, aged 10–13. According to Angus Scrimm, the film "gives expression to all their insecurities and fears". Scrimm states that the theme of loss and how, by fantasizing about death, the young protagonist deals with the deaths in his family drives the story.[7] Coscarelli identifies it as a "predominately male story" that young teens respond to.[6] Scrimm explains the popularity of the film as fans responding to themes of death,[6] and the Tall Man himself represents death.[7] Muir describes the Tall Man as embodying childhood fears of adults and states that the Tall Man wins in the end because dreams are the only place where death can be defeated.[13] American views of death are another theme:

I had a compunction to try to do something in the horror genre and I started thinking about how our culture handles death; it's different than in other societies. We have this central figure of a mortician. He dresses in dark clothing, he lurks behind doors, they do procedures on the bodies we don't know about. The whole embalming thing, if you ever do any research on it, is pretty freaky. It all culminates in this grand funerary service production. It's strange stuff. It just seemed like it would be a great area in which to make a film.

— Don Coscarelli, Los Angeles Times interview[7]

Dreams and surrealism are also important elements of Phantasm. Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle compares Phantasm to the works of Alejandro Jodorowsky and Luis Buñuel in terms of strangeness. Savlov describes the film as existentialist horror and "a truly bizarre mix of outlandish horror, cheapo gore, and psychological mindgames that purposefully blur the line between waking and dreaming."[6] Gina McIntyre of the Los Angeles Times describes the film as surreal, creepy, and idiosyncratic.[7] Muir writes that Phantasm "purposely inhabits the half-understood sphere of dreams" and takes place in the imagination of a disturbed boy.[13]

Production edit

Development edit

Most of the ideas for Phantasm were developed by Coscarelli from a nightmare he had as a teenager, in which he was chased down a long corridor by a flying chrome sphere which he feared would drill his brain out. After seeing the audience reaction to jump scares in Kenny and Company, Coscarelli, who was the writer and director for the film, decided to do a horror film as his next project.[14] His previous films had not performed well, and he heard that horror films were always successful; branching into horror allowed him to combine his childhood love of the genre with better business prospects.[15] The original idea was inspired by Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Coscarelli had initially sought to adapt the story into a film, but the license had already been sold.[16] The theme of a young boy's difficulty convincing adults of his fears was influenced by Invaders from Mars (1953).[17] Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977) and its lack of explanations was another influence on Coscarelli.[15] The soundtrack was influenced by Goblin and Mike Oldfield. The synthesizers used for the film were so primitive that it was often difficult to reproduce the same sound twice.[18] When writing the film's conclusion, Coscarelli intentionally wanted to shock audiences and "send people out of the theater with a bang."[19]

Filming edit

There were no accountants on the set, but Coscarelli estimates the budget at $300,000.[7] Funding for the film came in part from Coscarelli's father,[20] who was credited as the film's producer;[1] additional funding came from doctors and lawyers.[7] His mother designed some of the special effects,[20] costumes, and make-up.[7] The cast and crew were composed mainly of friends and aspiring professionals. Due to their inexperience, they did not realize that firing blanks could be dangerous; Coscarelli's jacket caught fire from a shotgun blank.[7] Casting was based on previous films that Coscarelli directed, and he created roles for those actors.[16] Because he could not afford to hire an editor or cameraman, Coscarelli did these duties himself.[21]

Filming was done on weekends and sometimes lasted for 20 hours a day over the course of more than a year.[6] Reggie Bannister described the production as "flying by the seat of our pants." The actors would be called to perform their scenes and picked up as soon as they were available.[7][10] Bannister did many of his own stunts.[10] Though set in Oregon, shooting took place primarily in the San Fernando Valley in Chatsworth, California.[7] The script changed often during production, and Bannister says that he never saw a completed copy of it; instead, they worked scene-by-scene and used improvisation.[6][10] The script was characterized by Coscarelli as "barely linear".[15] While it contained the basic concepts of the completed film, the script was unfocused and rewritten during filming.[15] The spheres came from one of Coscarelli's nightmares, but the original idea did not involve drilling.[6] Will Greene, an elderly metal-worker, fashioned the iconic spheres, but he never got to see the finished film, as he died before the film was released.[19] The black 1971 Plymouth Barracuda was used because Coscarelli had known someone in high school who drove one; he realized that he could get his hands on one by using it in the film.[7] An ice cream shop on main street was filmed on the outskirts of San Diego County in Julian, California.[22]

Post-production edit

Post-production took another six to eight months.[7] The first test screening was poorly-received due to the film's length; Coscarelli says that he erred in adding too much character development, which needed to be edited out.[6] Phantasm's fractured dream logic was due in part to the extensive editing.[18] During shooting, they did not have a clear idea of the ending.[15] Several endings were filmed, and one of them was re-used in Phantasm IV: Oblivion. Coscarelli attributed the freedom to choose from among these endings to his independent financing.[7]

Release edit

To solicit outside opinions, Coscarelli paid an audience to watch an early cut of the film. Although Coscarelli called the result "a disaster," he was encouraged by the audience's reactions to the film.[19] The financial success of the film Halloween released the prior year convinced vice-president of marketing at AVCO Embassy Pictures, Robert Rehme, to purchase Phantasm for distribution.[23] The film was released March 28, 1979 in California and Texas.[24]

It was released in Australia under the alternative title The Never Dead, to avoid confusion with the similarly-named 1976 Australian softcore porn film Fantasm.[25]

Home media edit

MGM released Phantasm on LaserDisc in 1981,[26] and on VHS and DVD in August 1998.[27] Embassy Home Entertainment released it on VHS in 1984, and later reissued it under Nelson Entertainment (after Embassy was sold to Coca-Cola in 1985 and renamed). Anchor Bay Entertainment re-released it on DVD on April 10, 2007.[28]

Restoration edit

In late 2015, Coscarelli showed a work-in-progress 4K resolution restoration of Phantasm (called Phantasm: Remastered) at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon film festival. It was supervised by Coscarelli at Bad Robot.[29] Bad Robot became involved when director J. J. Abrams, a fan of the series, requested a screening of the film. Coscarelli told him that he did not have a high-quality print, but Abrams volunteered the use of his technicians for a restoration. The completed restoration premiered at SXSW in March 2016.[30] Phantasm: Remastered was released in limited theaters on September 24, 2016,[31] and was released on Blu-ray on December 6, 2016.[32]

Reception edit

Critical response edit

Contemporaneous edit

Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times deemed the film "a smooth and terrifically impressive technical achievement, a sort of jeu de spook with all manner of eerie and shocking special effects."[33] In a mostly negative review, critic Roger Ebert described the film as "a labor of love, if not a terrifically skillful one" but admitted Phantasm had a good visual style and sense of pacing.[34] Trevor Johnston of Time Out called the film "a surprisingly shambolic affair whose moments of genuine invention stand out amid the prevailing incompetence."[35] Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader described it as "spotty" and "effective here and there", though he praised Coscarelli's raw ability.[36] Vincent Canby of The New York Times compared it to a ghost story told by a bright, imaginative 8-year-old; he concluded that it is "thoroughly silly and endearing".[37] Variety gave it a positive review that highlighted the use of both horror and humor.[38] Tim Pulleine (Monthly Film Bulletin) described the film as a "dilapidated z-movie" with "singularly unconvincing apparitions and contraptions" and that the film did not have "anything resembling a coherent plot in the course of all the fumblingly juvenile malarkey".[39]

Retrospective edit

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Phantasm holds a 74% approval rating based on 50 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The consensus reads: "Phantasm: Remastered adds visual clarity to the first installment in one of horror's most enduring -- and endearingly idiosyncratic -- franchises."[40] Kim Newman of Empire called it "an incoherent but effective horror picture" that "deliberately makes no sense" and rates it four out of five stars.[41] Scott Weinberg of Fearnet stated the acting is "indie-style raw" and special effects are sometimes poor, but the originality and boldness make up for it.[42] Steve Barton of Dread Central gave the film a score of five out of five stars, calling it a masterpiece and "one hell of a scary film".[43] Bloody Disgusting's John Squires rated it four out of five stars, calling it "truly original" and writing that it "imbues in its viewers is a profound sense of dread".[44] Author John Kenneth Muir called the film striking, distinctive, and original. Muir stated that the film has become a classic, and that the Tall Man is a horror film icon.[13]

Box office edit

Phantasm grossed $15 million in the United States and Canada. In its first 3 months in 10 foreign territories, the film grossed $7 million for a worldwide total of $22 million.[4]

Legacy edit

Phantasm has become a cult film,[6] with Coscarelli attributing its cult following to nostalgia and its lack of clarification, as repeated viewings can leave fans with different interpretations.[15] In 2007, USA Today praised the film for "the touching portrayal of two brothers in danger, an iconic villain in The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) and a floating metallic sphere that's a death-dealing weapon."[3] The film was rated #25 on the cable channel Bravo!'s list of The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.[45] Time Out London placed it at #75 in their list of 100 Best Horror Films.[46] Drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs included it at #20 in his 25 Scariest DVDs Ever list.[47] UGO placed the film at #7 out of 11 in its Top Terrifying Supernatural Moments.[48]

The name of Star Wars: The Force Awakens villain Captain Phasma was chosen as a reference to Phantasm. Director Abrams said, "Phasma I named [sic] because of the amazing chrome design that came from Michael Kaplan's wardrobe team. It reminded me of the ball in Phantasm, and I just thought, Phasma sounds really cool."[49]

In 2014, USA Today quoted Jovanka Vuckovic, editor-in-chief of Rue Morgue, as stating that Supernatural, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and One Dark Night (1983) were all influenced by Phantasm.[3] Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man all identify the Tall Man as an influence on the internet-based character Slender Man.[50]

British Dance act S'Express used Phantasm's main theme in the track Coma II, which was the final track on their debut album Original Soundtrack (1988).

The song "Left Hand Path" by Swedish death metal band Entombed on their 1990 album of the same name features an interpolation of the Phantasm theme.

The 1997 computer game Blood paid homage to the film in the first level of the first episode (E1M1), titled "Cradle to the Grave". This level takes place in the Morningside Mortuary. In the 1998 sequel, Blood II: The Chosen, a weapon named The Orb emulates the metal spheres in Phantasm by flying into the head of the enemy and drilling their brain out, spraying blood everywhere.

The 2014 song "Headless Ritual" by Army of the Pharaohs from their album In Death Reborn was inspired by the flying death ball from the film.[citation needed]

Awards edit

Don Coscarelli won the Special Jury Award in 1979 at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival,[1] and the film was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film in 1980.[citation needed]

Angus Scrimm was introduced into the Fangoria Hall of fame in 1993 for his iconic portrayal of The Tall Man.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e "Phantasm (1979)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  2. ^ "PHANTASM (X)". British Board of Film Classification. April 26, 1979. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Snider, Mike (July 9, 2007). "'Phantasm' up for Grabs". USA Today. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  4. ^ a b "'Phantasm' in 10 Foreign Lands At $7,018,000 So Far". Variety. October 3, 1979. p. 3.
  5. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 292. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Savlov, Marc (March 31, 2000). "Sphere of Influence". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o McIntyre, Gina (October 16, 2009). "Happy Birthday, Tall Man! 'Phantasm' Turns 30". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  8. ^ Baldassarre 1999, p. 51.
  9. ^ a b Yapp, Nate (November 25, 2008). "Reggie Bannister ("Phantasm") Interview". classic-horror.com. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  10. ^ a b c d Johnson, Steve (July 28, 2009). "30 Years of Phantasm". Icon vs Icon. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  11. ^ Hennessey & McCarty 2005, p. 79.
  12. ^ Newman 2011, p. 278.
  13. ^ a b c d Muir 2002, pp. 611–613.
  14. ^ Yapp, Nate (November 25, 2008). "Reggie Bannister ("Phantasm") Interview". Classic-Horror.com. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Sutton, David (2006). . Fortean Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  16. ^ a b McCabe, Joseph (April 9, 2007). "Don Coscarelli Talks Phantasm and Bubba". Fearnet. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  17. ^ Piepenburg, Erik (January 24, 2013). "Just So You Know: 'John Dies at the End'". The New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  18. ^ a b Gilchrist, Todd (April 10, 2007). "Exclusive Interview: Don Coscarelli". IGN. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  19. ^ a b c Duvoli, John (February 26, 1984). "'Cult' films Spell Success for Movie-Maker". The Evening News. Newburgh, New York. Retrieved March 5, 2014 – via Google News.  
  20. ^ a b Pace, Dave (April 11, 2013). . Fangoria. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  21. ^ Baldassarre 1999, p. 50.
  22. ^ "Filming Locations for Phantasm (1979), in California". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  23. ^ Nowell, Richard (2011). "The Ambitions of Most Independent Filmmakers: Indie Production, the Majors, and Friday the 13th (1980)". Journal of Film and Video. 63 (2): 32. doi:10.5406/jfilmvideo.63.2.0028. S2CID 194097731.
  24. ^ "'Phantasm,' $4,178,352". Variety. May 9, 1979. p. 10.
  25. ^ "Phantasm aka The Never Dead 1979 Horror Sci Fi Lobby Card 5 | Moviemem Original Movie Posters". www.moviemem.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  26. ^ "Phantasm; Laserdisc Database". Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  27. ^ "New on Video". Star-News. 1998-08-28. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  28. ^ Jane, Ian (April 10, 2007). "Phantasm". DVD Talk. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  29. ^ Collis, Clark (December 14, 2015). "Phantasm director talks J.J. Abrams' 4K restoration: 'The Tall Man's balls are a lot more shiny'". Entertainment Weekly.
  30. ^ Gorman, Howard (March 14, 2016). "Don Coscarelli Muses Over Phantasm Remastered Ahead of SXSW Screening". Scream Magazine. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  31. ^ "The Colonial Theatre - Phantasm: Remastered". Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  32. ^ "Phantasm: Remastered - Blu-ray". Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  33. ^ Champlin, Charles (March 28, 1979). "A Screamer in 'Phantasm'". Los Angeles Times. pp. 11–12 – via Newspapers.com.  
  34. ^ Ebert, Roger (March 28, 1979). "Phantasm". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  35. ^ Johnston, Trevor. "Phantasm". Time Out. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  36. ^ Kehr, Dave (24 November 2006). "Phantasm". Chicago Reader. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  37. ^ Canby, Vincent (June 1, 1979). "Phantasm". The New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  38. ^ Variety Staff (January 1979). "Review: Phantasm". Variety. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  39. ^ Pulleine, Tim (1979). "Phantasm". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 46, no. 540. London: British Film Institute. p. 182. ISSN 0027-0407.
  40. ^ "Phantasm". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  41. ^ Newman, Kim. "Phantasm". Empire. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  42. ^ Weinberg, Scott (April 12, 2007). "Phantasm (1979)". Fearnet. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  43. ^ Barton, Steve (April 8, 2007). "Phantasm: The Anchor Bay Collection (DVD)". Dread Central. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  44. ^ Bloody Disgusting Staff. "Phantasm". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  45. ^ . Bravo. Archived from the original on November 2, 2004. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  46. ^ "100 Best Horror Films". Time Out London. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  47. ^ Joe Bob Briggs (2005). Giant (October/November 2005). Cited on The Official Home of Joe Bob Briggs. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  48. ^ Cornelius, Ted (July 22, 2008). "Top Terrifying Supernatural Moments". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  49. ^ Breznican, Anthony (August 12, 2015). . Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Archived from the original on August 22, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  50. ^ Chess & Newsom 2014, pp. 58–59.

Works cited edit

External links edit

phantasm, film, this, article, about, 1979, horror, film, similarly, named, 1976, pornographic, film, fantasm, other, uses, phantasm, phantasm, 1979, american, science, fantasy, horror, film, that, directed, written, photographed, edited, coscarelli, first, fi. This article is about the 1979 horror film For the similarly named 1976 pornographic film see Fantasm For other uses see Phantasm Phantasm is a 1979 American science fantasy horror film that was directed written photographed and edited by Don Coscarelli The first film in the Phantasm franchise it introduces the Tall Man Angus Scrimm a supernatural and malevolent undertaker who turns the dead of Earth into dwarf zombies to be sent to his planet and used as slaves He is opposed by a young boy Mike Michael Baldwin who tries to convince his older brother Jody Bill Thornbury and family friend Reggie Reggie Bannister of the threat PhantasmTheatrical release posterDirected byDon CoscarelliWritten byDon CoscarelliProduced byD A Coscarelli 1 StarringMichael Baldwin Bill Thornbury Reggie Bannister Kathy Lester Angus ScrimmCinematographyDon CoscarelliEdited byDon CoscarelliMusic byFred Myrow Malcolm SeagraveProductioncompanyNew Breed ProductionsDistributed byAVCO Embassy Pictures 1 Release dateMarch 28 1979 1979 03 28 1 Running time89 minutes 2 CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 300 000 3 Box office 22 million 4 or 6 8 million 5 Phantasm was a locally financed independent film the cast and crew were mostly amateurs and aspiring professionals Though initial reviews were mixed in regard to the dreamlike surreal narrative and imagery later reception was more positive and the film became a cult classic It has appeared on several critics lists of best horror films and it has been cited as an influence on later horror series It was followed by four sequels Phantasm II 1988 Phantasm III Lord of the Dead 1994 Phantasm IV Oblivion 1998 and Phantasm Ravager 2016 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Analysis 4 Production 4 1 Development 4 2 Filming 4 3 Post production 5 Release 5 1 Home media 5 2 Restoration 6 Reception 6 1 Critical response 6 1 1 Contemporaneous 6 1 2 Retrospective 6 2 Box office 7 Legacy 7 1 Awards 8 References 9 Works cited 10 External linksPlot editWhile having sex in Morningside Cemetery Tommy is stabbed by a woman who is actually the Tall Man the Morningside mortician in another form At the funeral Tommy s friends Jody and Reggie believe he committed suicide Jody s 13 year old brother Mike secretly observes the funeral and sees the Tall Man placing Tommy s heavy casket seemingly with little or no effort back into the hearse instead of completing the burial Mike then goes to a fortune teller and tells her what he saw She has him stick his hand in a box and at first something seems to grab it but then he removes it unharmed Later Jody is seduced by the Lady in Lavender and taken to the cemetery to have sex However they are interrupted by Mike who has been following Jody and has been driven out of his hiding place by a short hooded figure Mike tries to tell Jody about the hooded figure but Jody dismisses the story At the mausoleum Mike is chased by a flying silver sphere and accosted by a caretaker but escapes when the sphere kills the caretaker He then flees the Tall Man As Mike slams a door to get away the Tall Man s fingers get caught and then cut off but continue to move dripping yellow ichor Taking one of the fingers with him Mike escapes the mausoleum The still moving finger is enough to convince Jody about Mike s stories Before Jody can bring the finger to the sheriff it transforms into a flying insect Reggie who witnesses the finger turned insect attack them joins the brothers in their suspicions Jody goes to the cemetery alone but is chased away by dwarves and a seemingly driverless hearse He is rescued by Mike in Jody s Plymouth Barracuda Running the hearse off the road they discover that it was driven by one of the hooded figures a re animated and shrunken Tommy whom they hide in Reggie s ice cream truck Reggie and Jody resolve to defeat the Tall Man while Mike is hidden at an antique store owned by Jody s friends Sally and Sue There Mike discovers an old photograph of the Tall Man and insists on being taken home On the way Mike Sally and Sue come across the ice cream truck overturned They are attacked by a mob of hooded dwarves Mike manages to escape presuming the girls and Reggie dead Jody goes to the mausoleum to kill the Tall Man first locking Mike in his bedroom for safety Mike escapes but runs into the Tall Man who was waiting for him outside his front door He kidnaps Mike in a hearse but Mike escapes and causes the hearse to strike a pole and explode Looking for Jody in the mausoleum Mike is targeted by the silver sphere until Jody destroys it with a shotgun Mike and Jody are reunited with Reggie and together they enter a brightly lit room which is filled with canisters containing more dwarves Mike catches a brief glimpse through a portal seeing a red hot world where the dwarves are toiling as slaves A sudden power outage separates the trio Left alone in the room Reggie activates the portal creating a powerful vacuum from which he narrowly escapes In the ensuing storm Reggie is stabbed by the Lady in Lavender while Jody and Mike flee and the mausoleum vanishes Jody devises a plan to trap the Tall Man in an abandoned mine shaft The Tall Man attacks Mike at home and chases him outside where he eventually falls into the mine shaft and is buried under an avalanche of rocks triggered by Jody After this Mike wakes up in his bed still worried about the Tall Man Reggie still alive tells Mike that he had a nightmare that Jody died in a car wreck and proposes a road trip When Mike enters his bedroom to pack the Tall Man appears and hands crash through the bedroom mirror pulling Mike inside Cast editAngus Scrimm as The Tall Man After being intimidated by Scrimm on the set of a previous film Coscarelli decided that Scrimm would make a great villain 6 Initially Scrimm had little input into the character but he made more of a contribution as Coscarelli began to trust his instincts Scrimm was outfitted in lifts and a suit too small for him in order to make him seem even taller and skinnier Coscarelli says of Scrimm I really didn t have any idea that he would take it to the level that he did I could see it was going to be a very powerful character 7 A Michael Baldwin as Mike Pearson Coscarelli attributes the enduring popularity of the film to young audiences who respond to Mike s adventures 7 After they worked together in a prior film Coscarelli wrote a film in which Baldwin could star 8 Bill Thornbury as Jody Pearson Jody is Mike s older brother After their parents die Jody becomes Mike s guardian but Jody confides in his friends that he s uncomfortable with the responsibility Reggie Bannister as Reggie Don Coscarelli based the character of Reggie on his friend Reggie Bannister for whom the role was written they then twisted the character into new directions 9 Reggie was designed to be an everyman 9 a loyal friend 10 and the comic relief 11 Kathy Lester as Lady in Lavender The Tall Man appears in the form of the Lady in Lavender 12 which he uses to seduce and kill Tommy Jody s friend Laura Mann appears as Kathy Lester s double credited as Double Lavender Bill Cone as Tommy Mary Ellen Shaw as the fortune teller Terrie Kalbus as the fortune teller s granddaughter Lynn Eastman as SallyAnalysis editFilm scholar John Kenneth Muir interprets the film as being about mourning and death 13 Many of the film s fans are young boys aged 10 13 According to Angus Scrimm the film gives expression to all their insecurities and fears Scrimm states that the theme of loss and how by fantasizing about death the young protagonist deals with the deaths in his family drives the story 7 Coscarelli identifies it as a predominately male story that young teens respond to 6 Scrimm explains the popularity of the film as fans responding to themes of death 6 and the Tall Man himself represents death 7 Muir describes the Tall Man as embodying childhood fears of adults and states that the Tall Man wins in the end because dreams are the only place where death can be defeated 13 American views of death are another theme I had a compunction to try to do something in the horror genre and I started thinking about how our culture handles death it s different than in other societies We have this central figure of a mortician He dresses in dark clothing he lurks behind doors they do procedures on the bodies we don t know about The whole embalming thing if you ever do any research on it is pretty freaky It all culminates in this grand funerary service production It s strange stuff It just seemed like it would be a great area in which to make a film Don Coscarelli Los Angeles Times interview 7 Dreams and surrealism are also important elements of Phantasm Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle compares Phantasm to the works of Alejandro Jodorowsky and Luis Bunuel in terms of strangeness Savlov describes the film as existentialist horror and a truly bizarre mix of outlandish horror cheapo gore and psychological mindgames that purposefully blur the line between waking and dreaming 6 Gina McIntyre of the Los Angeles Times describes the film as surreal creepy and idiosyncratic 7 Muir writes that Phantasm purposely inhabits the half understood sphere of dreams and takes place in the imagination of a disturbed boy 13 Production editThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it May 2019 Development edit Most of the ideas for Phantasm were developed by Coscarelli from a nightmare he had as a teenager in which he was chased down a long corridor by a flying chrome sphere which he feared would drill his brain out After seeing the audience reaction to jump scares in Kenny and Company Coscarelli who was the writer and director for the film decided to do a horror film as his next project 14 His previous films had not performed well and he heard that horror films were always successful branching into horror allowed him to combine his childhood love of the genre with better business prospects 15 The original idea was inspired by Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury Coscarelli had initially sought to adapt the story into a film but the license had already been sold 16 The theme of a young boy s difficulty convincing adults of his fears was influenced by Invaders from Mars 1953 17 Dario Argento s Suspiria 1977 and its lack of explanations was another influence on Coscarelli 15 The soundtrack was influenced by Goblin and Mike Oldfield The synthesizers used for the film were so primitive that it was often difficult to reproduce the same sound twice 18 When writing the film s conclusion Coscarelli intentionally wanted to shock audiences and send people out of the theater with a bang 19 Filming edit There were no accountants on the set but Coscarelli estimates the budget at 300 000 7 Funding for the film came in part from Coscarelli s father 20 who was credited as the film s producer 1 additional funding came from doctors and lawyers 7 His mother designed some of the special effects 20 costumes and make up 7 The cast and crew were composed mainly of friends and aspiring professionals Due to their inexperience they did not realize that firing blanks could be dangerous Coscarelli s jacket caught fire from a shotgun blank 7 Casting was based on previous films that Coscarelli directed and he created roles for those actors 16 Because he could not afford to hire an editor or cameraman Coscarelli did these duties himself 21 Filming was done on weekends and sometimes lasted for 20 hours a day over the course of more than a year 6 Reggie Bannister described the production as flying by the seat of our pants The actors would be called to perform their scenes and picked up as soon as they were available 7 10 Bannister did many of his own stunts 10 Though set in Oregon shooting took place primarily in the San Fernando Valley in Chatsworth California 7 The script changed often during production and Bannister says that he never saw a completed copy of it instead they worked scene by scene and used improvisation 6 10 The script was characterized by Coscarelli as barely linear 15 While it contained the basic concepts of the completed film the script was unfocused and rewritten during filming 15 The spheres came from one of Coscarelli s nightmares but the original idea did not involve drilling 6 Will Greene an elderly metal worker fashioned the iconic spheres but he never got to see the finished film as he died before the film was released 19 The black 1971 Plymouth Barracuda was used because Coscarelli had known someone in high school who drove one he realized that he could get his hands on one by using it in the film 7 An ice cream shop on main street was filmed on the outskirts of San Diego County in Julian California 22 Post production edit Post production took another six to eight months 7 The first test screening was poorly received due to the film s length Coscarelli says that he erred in adding too much character development which needed to be edited out 6 Phantasm s fractured dream logic was due in part to the extensive editing 18 During shooting they did not have a clear idea of the ending 15 Several endings were filmed and one of them was re used in Phantasm IV Oblivion Coscarelli attributed the freedom to choose from among these endings to his independent financing 7 Release editTo solicit outside opinions Coscarelli paid an audience to watch an early cut of the film Although Coscarelli called the result a disaster he was encouraged by the audience s reactions to the film 19 The financial success of the film Halloween released the prior year convinced vice president of marketing at AVCO Embassy Pictures Robert Rehme to purchase Phantasm for distribution 23 The film was released March 28 1979 in California and Texas 24 It was released in Australia under the alternative title The Never Dead to avoid confusion with the similarly named 1976 Australian softcore porn film Fantasm 25 Home media edit MGM released Phantasm on LaserDisc in 1981 26 and on VHS and DVD in August 1998 27 Embassy Home Entertainment released it on VHS in 1984 and later reissued it under Nelson Entertainment after Embassy was sold to Coca Cola in 1985 and renamed Anchor Bay Entertainment re released it on DVD on April 10 2007 28 Restoration edit In late 2015 Coscarelli showed a work in progress 4K resolution restoration of Phantasm called Phantasm Remastered at the Butt Numb A Thon film festival It was supervised by Coscarelli at Bad Robot 29 Bad Robot became involved when director J J Abrams a fan of the series requested a screening of the film Coscarelli told him that he did not have a high quality print but Abrams volunteered the use of his technicians for a restoration The completed restoration premiered at SXSW in March 2016 30 Phantasm Remastered was released in limited theaters on September 24 2016 31 and was released on Blu ray on December 6 2016 32 Reception editCritical response edit Contemporaneous edit Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times deemed the film a smooth and terrifically impressive technical achievement a sort of jeu de spook with all manner of eerie and shocking special effects 33 In a mostly negative review critic Roger Ebert described the film as a labor of love if not a terrifically skillful one but admitted Phantasm had a good visual style and sense of pacing 34 Trevor Johnston of Time Out called the film a surprisingly shambolic affair whose moments of genuine invention stand out amid the prevailing incompetence 35 Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader described it as spotty and effective here and there though he praised Coscarelli s raw ability 36 Vincent Canby of The New York Times compared it to a ghost story told by a bright imaginative 8 year old he concluded that it is thoroughly silly and endearing 37 Variety gave it a positive review that highlighted the use of both horror and humor 38 Tim Pulleine Monthly Film Bulletin described the film as a dilapidated z movie with singularly unconvincing apparitions and contraptions and that the film did not have anything resembling a coherent plot in the course of all the fumblingly juvenile malarkey 39 Retrospective edit On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes Phantasm holds a 74 approval rating based on 50 critic reviews with an average rating of 6 5 10 The consensus reads Phantasm Remastered adds visual clarity to the first installment in one of horror s most enduring and endearingly idiosyncratic franchises 40 Kim Newman of Empire called it an incoherent but effective horror picture that deliberately makes no sense and rates it four out of five stars 41 Scott Weinberg of Fearnet stated the acting is indie style raw and special effects are sometimes poor but the originality and boldness make up for it 42 Steve Barton of Dread Central gave the film a score of five out of five stars calling it a masterpiece and one hell of a scary film 43 Bloody Disgusting s John Squires rated it four out of five stars calling it truly original and writing that it imbues in its viewers is a profound sense of dread 44 Author John Kenneth Muir called the film striking distinctive and original Muir stated that the film has become a classic and that the Tall Man is a horror film icon 13 Box office edit Phantasm grossed 15 million in the United States and Canada In its first 3 months in 10 foreign territories the film grossed 7 million for a worldwide total of 22 million 4 Legacy editThis section may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia s quality standards You can help The talk page may contain suggestions January 2020 Phantasm has become a cult film 6 with Coscarelli attributing its cult following to nostalgia and its lack of clarification as repeated viewings can leave fans with different interpretations 15 In 2007 USA Today praised the film for the touching portrayal of two brothers in danger an iconic villain in The Tall Man Angus Scrimm and a floating metallic sphere that s a death dealing weapon 3 The film was rated 25 on the cable channel Bravo s list of The 100 Scariest Movie Moments 45 Time Out London placed it at 75 in their list of 100 Best Horror Films 46 Drive in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs included it at 20 in his 25 Scariest DVDs Ever list 47 UGO placed the film at 7 out of 11 in its Top Terrifying Supernatural Moments 48 The name of Star Wars The Force Awakens villain Captain Phasma was chosen as a reference to Phantasm Director Abrams said Phasma I named sic because of the amazing chrome design that came from Michael Kaplan s wardrobe team It reminded me of the ball in Phantasm and I just thought Phasma sounds really cool 49 In 2014 USA Today quoted Jovanka Vuckovic editor in chief of Rue Morgue as stating that Supernatural A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984 and One Dark Night 1983 were all influenced by Phantasm 3 Folklore Horror Stories and the Slender Man all identify the Tall Man as an influence on the internet based character Slender Man 50 British Dance act S Express used Phantasm s main theme in the track Coma II which was the final track on their debut album Original Soundtrack 1988 The song Left Hand Path by Swedish death metal band Entombed on their 1990 album of the same name features an interpolation of the Phantasm theme The 1997 computer game Blood paid homage to the film in the first level of the first episode E1M1 titled Cradle to the Grave This level takes place in the Morningside Mortuary In the 1998 sequel Blood II The Chosen a weapon named The Orb emulates the metal spheres in Phantasm by flying into the head of the enemy and drilling their brain out spraying blood everywhere The 2014 song Headless Ritual by Army of the Pharaohs from their album In Death Reborn was inspired by the flying death ball from the film citation needed Awards edit Don Coscarelli won the Special Jury Award in 1979 at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival 1 and the film was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film in 1980 citation needed Angus Scrimm was introduced into the Fangoria Hall of fame in 1993 for his iconic portrayal of The Tall Man References edit a b c d e Phantasm 1979 AFI Catalog of Feature Films Retrieved June 4 2018 PHANTASM X British Board of Film Classification April 26 1979 Retrieved January 17 2012 a b c Snider Mike July 9 2007 Phantasm up for Grabs USA Today Retrieved August 11 2013 a b Phantasm in 10 Foreign Lands At 7 018 000 So Far Variety October 3 1979 p 3 Donahue Suzanne Mary 1987 American film distribution the changing marketplace UMI Research Press p 292 Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada a b c d e f g h i Savlov Marc March 31 2000 Sphere of Influence Austin Chronicle Retrieved August 9 2013 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o McIntyre Gina October 16 2009 Happy Birthday Tall Man Phantasm Turns 30 Los Angeles Times Retrieved August 10 2013 Baldassarre 1999 p 51 a b Yapp Nate November 25 2008 Reggie Bannister Phantasm Interview classic horror com Retrieved October 11 2013 a b c d Johnson Steve July 28 2009 30 Years of Phantasm Icon vs Icon Retrieved August 25 2018 Hennessey amp McCarty 2005 p 79 Newman 2011 p 278 a b c d Muir 2002 pp 611 613 Yapp Nate November 25 2008 Reggie Bannister Phantasm Interview Classic Horror com Retrieved August 10 2013 a b c d e f Sutton David 2006 Don Coscarelli Fortean Times Archived from the original on November 5 2013 Retrieved August 11 2013 a b McCabe Joseph April 9 2007 Don Coscarelli Talks Phantasm and Bubba Fearnet Retrieved August 10 2013 Piepenburg Erik January 24 2013 Just So You Know John Dies at the End The New York Times Retrieved August 11 2013 a b Gilchrist Todd April 10 2007 Exclusive Interview Don Coscarelli IGN Retrieved August 11 2013 a b c Duvoli John February 26 1984 Cult films Spell Success for Movie Maker The Evening News Newburgh New York Retrieved March 5 2014 via Google News nbsp a b Pace Dave April 11 2013 Q amp A Don Coscarelli on John Dies amp Independent Filmmaking for 30 Years Fangoria Archived from the original on November 9 2013 Retrieved August 11 2013 Baldassarre 1999 p 50 Filming Locations for Phantasm 1979 in California The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations Retrieved 2022 12 09 Nowell Richard 2011 The Ambitions of Most Independent Filmmakers Indie Production the Majors and Friday the 13th 1980 Journal of Film and Video 63 2 32 doi 10 5406 jfilmvideo 63 2 0028 S2CID 194097731 Phantasm 4 178 352 Variety May 9 1979 p 10 Phantasm aka The Never Dead 1979 Horror Sci Fi Lobby Card 5 Moviemem Original Movie Posters www moviemem com Retrieved 2021 07 09 Phantasm Laserdisc Database Retrieved August 1 2020 New on Video Star News 1998 08 28 Retrieved 2014 03 05 Jane Ian April 10 2007 Phantasm DVD Talk Retrieved March 5 2014 Collis Clark December 14 2015 Phantasm director talks J J Abrams 4K restoration The Tall Man s balls are a lot more shiny Entertainment Weekly Gorman Howard March 14 2016 Don Coscarelli Muses Over Phantasm Remastered Ahead of SXSW Screening Scream Magazine Retrieved April 15 2016 The Colonial Theatre Phantasm Remastered Retrieved July 5 2018 Phantasm Remastered Blu ray Retrieved July 5 2018 Champlin Charles March 28 1979 A Screamer in Phantasm Los Angeles Times pp 11 12 via Newspapers com nbsp Ebert Roger March 28 1979 Phantasm Chicago Sun Times Retrieved August 25 2018 Johnston Trevor Phantasm Time Out Retrieved August 25 2018 Kehr Dave 24 November 2006 Phantasm Chicago Reader Retrieved August 25 2018 Canby Vincent June 1 1979 Phantasm The New York Times Retrieved August 25 2018 Variety Staff January 1979 Review Phantasm Variety Retrieved August 11 2013 Pulleine Tim 1979 Phantasm Monthly Film Bulletin Vol 46 no 540 London British Film Institute p 182 ISSN 0027 0407 Phantasm Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved November 28 2023 Newman Kim Phantasm Empire Retrieved August 25 2018 Weinberg Scott April 12 2007 Phantasm 1979 Fearnet Retrieved August 25 2018 Barton Steve April 8 2007 Phantasm The Anchor Bay Collection DVD Dread Central Retrieved August 25 2018 Bloody Disgusting Staff Phantasm Bloody Disgusting Retrieved August 25 2018 The 100 Scariest Movie Moments Bravo Archived from the original on November 2 2004 Retrieved August 25 2018 100 Best Horror Films Time Out London Retrieved August 25 2018 Joe Bob Briggs 2005 Giant October November 2005 Cited on The Official Home of Joe Bob Briggs Retrieved August 14 2013 Cornelius Ted July 22 2008 Top Terrifying Supernatural Moments UGO Networks Archived from the original on August 19 2013 Retrieved August 25 2018 Breznican Anthony August 12 2015 Star Wars The Force Awakens J J Abrams explains what s in a name Entertainment Weekly Time Inc Archived from the original on August 22 2015 Retrieved August 22 2015 Chess amp Newsom 2014 pp 58 59 Works cited editBaldassarre Angela 1999 The Great Dictators Interviews with Filmmakers of Italian Descent Guernica Editions p 49 ISBN 978 1 550 71094 6 Chess Shira Newsom Eric 2014 Folklore Horror Stories and the Slender Man The Development of an Internet Mythology Palgrave Macmillan US ISBN 978 1 137 49113 8 Hennessey Cristopher McCarty Michael 2005 The Phantasm Man More Giants of the Genre Rockville Maryland Wildside Press ISBN 978 7 770 04706 0 Muir John Kenneth 2002 Horror Films of the 1970s McFarland ISBN 978 0 786 49156 8 Newman Kim 2011 Nightmare Movies Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN 978 1 408 81750 6 External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Phantasm film Phantasm at IMDb nbsp Phantasm at the TCM Movie Database Phantasm at AllMovie Phantasm at Box Office Mojo Phantasm at Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Phantasm film amp oldid 1216002237, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.