Classic Filmage in The Latest Issue!

While I do have quite a bit of knowledge pertaining to cinema in general, most of what I know comes from recent films, and when traveling back in time, my information becomes much more scant the further back you go. To those who know me, it's probably not too surprising if I haven't heard of a "classic" film from more than twenty or thirty years ago, and even if I had heard of it, I most probably haven't seen it unless it was a major release. For every Alien or Star Wars, that I've actually seen there are dozens, if not hundreds of less recognized films that I haven't gotten around to yet. So when I was given the cult 70's horror film Phantasm for Christmas, it was a chance to see for the first time a title that has long been considered one of the best "B" movies in existence. The gift came from my old friend 313, who runs his own blog Full Half Glass...No Wait... here on Blogspot. Though it's been a few weeks since Christmas, I hadn't had the chance until a combination of lack of interesting movies and ample time on my hands made itself available. Thank goodness for vacations to make such things possible, and so last night I popped my gift in the DVD player and leaned back to see what the hubbub was about.

Even in the film's beginning, you can tell Scrimm is the bad guy

The first thing you notice - besides the popping bustier - is that even for a film made in the 1970's Phantasm looks OLD. As a low-budget horror film, it was practically created single-handedly by Don Coscarelli. a director and filmmaker known for his inexpensive horror titles. In fact, one of his latest films, 2003's Bubba Ho-Tep, features one of my favorite Bruce Campbell performances. But looking back at the film quality of Phantasm, It's more difficult to take the film seriously when you're used to much more sophistication in acting, special effects and score. Despite this, Phantasm does try as hard as it can to scare you, and certainly has a unique story to try and draw the audience in.

I think The Tall Man wants to kill Reggie for his ponytail

In a small unnamed town, Jody (Bill Thornbury), Reggie (Reggie Bannister) and Jody's young brother Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) are the only hope the people in the town have against a force known only as The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm). The Tall Man has been taking the bodies of the deceased and using them for his own devices, operating out of a creepy mausoleum for seemingly forever. The three face off against paranormal forces unlike anything they or we the audience have seen before, including psychotic dwarfs and the infamous silver spheres of doom.

...And it's in your eye. What have we learned today class?

The acting is downright silly, with barely half of the lines being delivered in anything approaching a believable manner. This alone in a small horror film is no surprise, but what's more insane about the poorly-written and performed dialogue is that this somehow went on for three sequels. After the downright mediocre performances by the three leads, I'm surprised they ever worked in film at all. Only Angus Scrimm was really memorable, and as he doesn't have many spoken lines his appearance here can really better be described as a force than a portrayal. His Tall Man is as memorable as any horror villain should be, and holds up as well over time as Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. A. Michael Baldwin goes from annoying snot-nosed punk to, well, a slightly less annoying snot-nosed punk over the course of the film. Any scene he was in was guaranteed to make me clamp my hands over his ears, and the only reason I don't think he was the worst part of the film is because as a kid he had an excuse for his over-acting. Bill Thornbury and Reggie Bannister share much of the film's burden, but as neither puts forth a good job in the believability department. Thornbury is almost a classic hero type, with long flowing hair and a reluctance about the film's plot that changes to match the story's needs. And Bannister is an odd choice for hero, with his bad hair and sloth-like demeanor surely intending to represent an everyman, but since he's an everyman from the 70's it's not really something someone from today can identify with.

It's about this point that the film simply makes NO sense

But the acting isn't even what's worst about Phantasm. The story is frankly silly, and getting past that (I mean hey, it's a horror film) the incoherence of the film's final act defies logic.Even the most prolific horror fans should probably have been insulted by the cheap attempt at a slick ending, and while The Tall Man and the silver spheres have become scary movie legends, this film is hardly the mecca of horror it would make you believe. Were people just afraid of more back then? Phantasm's tag line would say that if t he film doesn't scare you, that means you're already dead. Sorry, filmmakers, but just because my pulse is so slow after seeing your work that you can't detect it doesn't mean I've left the land of the living. Coscarelli does a good job with darkness but that's true of most horror filmmakers of the era, and I really can't recommend this one to anybody. I know I'll have my detractors on this, but Phantasm simply isn't a good movie, and if I want to see a low-budget horror film from the same era, I'll see Evil Dead instead. At least that one has Bruce Campbell.