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Phantasm – Anchor
bay Collection Written and Directed by Don
Coscarelli
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PHANTASM
is the first R-rated movie I ever saw without a parent or guardian.
It scared the crap out of me in the theater and I’ve loved it
ever since. The
parents of Jody (Bill Thornbury) & Michael Pearson (Michael Baldwin)
pass away. The younger
brother becomes fearful that his older brother will leave him too, so he
starts following him around town. When
Michael trails his brother to a funeral, he sees something astonishing
that changes the direction rest of the movie.
Michael (Mike) sees the Tall Man lift the casket with dead body
into the hearse without help and then turns to look straight at Mike. This
leads Mike to follow the Tall Man to a local funeral home where he
discovers the evil secrets within the creepy mortuary: the Tall Man
controlling a legion of hooded killer dwarf creatures, and that within the
mortuary there is a portal to hell. Throw
in the deadly fast flying silver orb that embeds itself into the heads of
anyone who sneaks into the mortuary’s long haunting hallways, and these
ingredients all add up to one of the better, more memorable horror films
ever made. The real
success of this film for me, was the emotional attachment I felt to young
teenage boy Mike (Michael Baldwin), because I was basically the same age
at the time. So when Mike
stands up to fight the imposing Tall Man, I felt the amazing courage and
conviction of this character and in some ways wished I could be as cool as
him. I mean for Christ sakes,
he was battling demons, had a great brother and drove an awesome car (a
1971 Plymouth Barracuda). PHANTASM is an instance where everything came together. The story was never done before, it has the right combination of developed characters, a purely evil antagonist, excellent visual look, creepy music and the locations that add to the film’s overall scare quotient. Writer Director Don Coscarelli has to be given his due for the film’s success. He focused on the right things as a writer and director and he’ll always be remembered for this film. The casting of this movie was also done right. Michael Baldwin comes off as a believable kid who is scared of the situation he’s put into but is able to face his fears and try to battle The Tall Man. Bill Thornbury is so likable and seems like the kind of person who you can count on. Reggie Bannister who plays Reggie (the Ice Cream Man) is just so easy going and cool, you’ve got love him. Anchor Bay does a bang-up job with special features: Phantasmagora is a 30-minute documentary with cast and crew of PHANTASM. Don Coscarelli and stars Michael Baldwin, Angus Scrimm and Bill Thornbury all join in for the Audio Commentary. Deleted Scenes, PHANTASM: Behind-The-Scenes, PHANTASM: Actors Having A Ball. There’s also PHANTASM TV interview, Fangoria TV Commercial with Angus Scrimm, TV Spots, PHANTASM Trailer and Phantasm III Trailer. PHANTASM is one of the top 20 horror films of all-time. If that’s not a good enough reason to add it to your collection, then don’t consider yourself a serious fan of horror. | ||
