Phantasm

Kill it.

Is today a record day or what?

Chud Podcast #20. Or maybe it's #21

I'm a "Phan" from waaay back so here's some info for you.

1) Go to the official website here: http://www.phantasm.com

2) Buy the PHANTASM DVD. There's a shitload of behind-the-scenes features. Besides the tons of interviews, the commentary track by Coscarrelli is one of the most informative I've heard. And that's on the old DVD! The new DVD has a brand newdocumentary on the making of the film.

3) PHANTASMS 1, 2, & 4 are available here on DVD (thru Anchor Bay I think). However, PHANTASM 2's U.S. distribution rights are owned by Universal, so unless you have a PAL or region-free DVD player, you'll have to track down a VHS copy.

Besides being a Phan, my pal Kerry Prior built the Spheres for #3 and friend Guy Thorpe worked on 3 & 4. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions and I'll answer what I can.

I hope this helps.

So, is it supposed to be a joke that Reggie lives and Jody dies when the scene before showed the exact opposite?

I love this series to death and I hope the Coscarelli can someday find the funding for a fifth film, which he has supposedly already scripted.

"...and so this is Christmas, and what have you done?..."

At least we have Coscarelli's Bubba Nosferatu (starring Ron Perlman & Paul Giamatti) to look forward to, which should be filming this fall.

people saying a new PHANTASM film is already filmed, for this the 30th anniverary year

http://www.horroryearbook.com/545967...on-the-horizon

Ugh bet it will be some stupid webisodes or something.

So long as we're talking Movie-with-a-capital-M and not a series of webisodes or something equally budget, colour me very excited.

Edit: Oops - beaten to the punch.

Can't be any worse than the last two Phantasm films. Right....?

Phantasm 3 and 4 are just as entertaining as the other ones if you dig the series

I love all of the Phantasms. As long as Angus Scrimms heart still moves, they should do a final one.

Well actually 4 was kind of disappointing. I mean the reveal of Tall Man wants a replacement was interesting but there was no budget and the footage from the first film was just confusing. Sense it did not make.

Really? You know I haven't seen IV in a while. But I don't recall it being that confusing, I really should revisit it.

Oh don't get me wrong I could just be stupid but yeah when they spliced in alernate takes from the first film it really loses me.

LA Times 30th anniversary of PHANTASM article is probably the best Phantasm piece I ever read

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/hero.../phantasm.html

Just watched Phantasm for the first time in years. Although I was a little wary at first, I was very entertained. It's such a surreal experience, with little thread or explanation for scenes that follow one another. There's also a palpable sense of dread, which I mentioned in the desolation thread over in the Creature Corner.

Unfortunately I can't find the sequels at any video store. I've only seen two, I may have to buy the others.

They're on Netflix.

Don't have netflix. I'm behind the times.

Vern has reviewed all the Phantasm films, and I really enjoyed his take on them.

Go to outlawvern.com if you want to check them out.

So I bought Phantasm 3 & 4 for $7 each this passed weekend, and just got done watching them.

The third one was very good, creative and actually progressed the story. Had very clever camera work aping Sam Raimi, including shots from a knife's pov as it flies at a woman and one of the spheres as it chases Reggie. The kid, Tim, is a nice twisted version of Kevin from Home Alone, but Rocky the cliche tuff black chick was a little much. Yeah there was a little more humor, but it worked for me.

OblIVion is a mixed bag. This far into the series there's a lot of good will, but the continuity porn and complete lack of budget hurt the movie. Most of Reggie's stuff in the first half feels like wheel spinning (I swear there's a fight with a zombie cop that goes on for ten minutes). All of the actors are really showing their age as well, considering this movie only takes place like a week after part II. Still, there's a nice sense of dread and atmosphere with the implication that most of Smalltown, USA has been wiped out.

Most clever use of old footage in any series? Maybe.

Part 3 was a little too mainstream for me, all in all, but they made up for it with how fucked up Part 4 is. Part 4 takes repeated viewings until you finally can convince yourself that there is some kind of logic to the madness

Actually, I think 3 is the most successful of the sequels. Its up there with the 1st one for me. The 4th one has some nice use of old footage but the film leans too hard on it, and its usefulness is outmatched by the demands of the story. Also, Reggie is totally superfluous to the plot. The 2nd one is okay, but has that middle child syndrome like a mid season cliffhanger episode.

It's been so long since I've seen the sequels that I'm struggling to remember much about them. Looks like I need to catch them again someday. I do rememeber enjoying all of them to some extent, though.

For me, this has been the year I got into Phantasm. I just finished watching OblIVion yesterday and got through the other entries in the series over the last two months or so.

Wow. This is a special film franchise, all of them directed by Coscarelli with the same (for the most part) recurring cast across 20 years, that's pretty amazing for any series, but considering how completely fucked up this one is...

...and every entry outdoes the previous one. I think these films, along with The Manitou, populate their own sub-genre of Fever Dream Horror. They don't even attempt to explain what the fuck is happening until part three, and even then its way left-field. I read/saw and interview with Coscarelli where he said that the inspiration for the first film was the way our society deals with death, that the bodies of the deceased are taken by the shadowy undertaker figure to have secret surgeries and God knows what performed on them and we never really know what happens once we leave the funeral home. I told this to my girlfriend, who I dragged through every installment of this series, to which she responded, "wow, he REALLY took that theme in different direction than I expected."

I would say that Phantasm II is probably my favorite of the series; it being the most Evil Dead II-esque and just a lot of fun, the chainsaw fight, the beginning in the house, and the American Excalibur being highlight. Plus: JAMES LEGROS.

Honestly, though, I enjoyed every one of these films. The first is definitely an eerie classic, the third felt sequel-ly to me but there was so much to enjoy that it didn't bother me at all, and the fourth was just off the wall insane despite the obvious budget constraints. One of the most enjoyable things is how the beginning of each film takes you through everything that happened before in like 90 seconds. This should be mandatory for sequels, or maybe I feel that way because of how much fun it is to watch these movies pull it off. I also love how The Tall Man is described: "Well, he's a very tall man."

If this is old news to everybody and covered elsewhere, sorry, it's all been new to me. I really do hope that Coscarelli gets the funds to do a fifth film. The horror, drama and hilarity of the Phantasm movies is totally unique.

This one?

Agreed on your assessment/s for sure.

Thank you, thank you for introducing me to that thread. Should have done my research.