Phantasm (1979) Review

"You play a good game, boy, but the game is finished.  Now you die."

-The Tall Man

After the mysterious death of his friend Tommy (Bill Cone), Jody (Bill Thornbury) bans his little brother, Michael (A. Michael Baldwain), from attending Tommy's funeral, afraid it will be too traumatic for Michael after the recent death of their parents.  Michael attends the funeral anyway, watching the burial from the buses.  After everyone leaves, the mysterious mortician, known as the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm), single-handedly picks up Tommy's coffin, puts it in his hearse, and drives away.  Intrigued and scared, Michael starts to investigate the Tall Man and discovers something far worse than he could have imagined.

What Works:

Phantasm is a very low-budget, independent film, but, boy, is it impressive.  The practical effects in this movie are astoundingly amazing.  The blood and various gore, though used infrequently, is incredible, especially the infamous sphere scene.  I have no idea how they pulled some of this off with such a low budget.

This film is also really creepy.  The editing is surreal, so you're never quite sure what's real and what isn't.  It reminds me a lot of some of David Lynch's work, and it's pretty effective.  Coupled with Angus Scrimm's performance and appearance as the Tall Man, Phantasm is a legitimately scary movie.

The film's protagonist, Michael, is awesome.  He's a young kid trying to cope with the death of his parents and his fear that his brother will leave him too.  He's super relatable.  Plus he's really resourceful and comes up with some pretty ingenious plans to escape from dangerous situations.  He helps ground this strange film and gives the audience someone to relate to. 

Finally, I just want to acknowledge the hard work put into this film by Don Coscarelli, who directed, wrote, produced, edited, and shot this movie.  It's an impressive feat.  It's obvious he was very passionate about this film and did an amazing job considering his budgetary limitations.

What Sucks:

I'll admit I don't love the first act of this movie.  It's very strange, right off the bat, and it takes awhile to get used to.  The editing is pretty surreal from the beginning, but the story isn't interesting enough to justify the strangeness until over 30 minutes into the movie.  The first act is overwhelming and not super interesting.

There are definitely moments when the movie's low budget is apparent.  There are a few moments, especially in the film's finale, where it feels like a scene is missing here or there.  It's not a huge deal, but it's noticeable.

Finally, I don't love the film's ending.  SPOILER ALERT:

The film ends with the reveal that it was all Michael's nightmare stemming from Jody's death in a car accident.  I despise the "it was all a dream" ending.  It's not as bad as it normally is in Phantasm, because this movie was so surreal and made you question what was real anyway.  Plus the Tall Man returns and attacks Michael.  I don't love this ending, but it doesn't ruin the movie for me.

Verdict:

Phantasm is a flawed film to be sure.  With such a low budget, that's to be expected.  But what Phantasm does accomplish with its limitations is super impressive, with an awesome hero, a haunting villain, amazing practical effects, and a creepy atmosphere, it's about as good as you can get with this type of movie and I highly recommend it to all horror fans out there.

 7/10: Good