Phantasm Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
If this one doesn't scare you, you're already dead!
Beware the ball, beware the tall man, beware the never dead.
Where the dead are no longer that way...
Mike cannot decide what is real and what isn't, and is plagued by vivid nightmares. He gets the shock of his life when he watches, with binoculars, the conclusion of the funeral of his older brother's friend—the mortician (the Tall Man), by himself, lifts the casket into the back of a hearse. Mike heads to the grounds of the mortuary, which is home to very bizarre happenings, including a unique security device. Enlisting the help of brother Jody and ice cream salesman Reggie, Mike attempts to vanquish the Tall Man.
| A. Michael Baldwin | Michael 'Mike' Pearson |
| Bill Thornbury | Jody Pearson |
| Reggie Bannister | Reggie |
| Kathy Lester | Lady in Lavender |
| Terrie Kalbus | Fortuneteller's Granddaughter |
| Kenneth V. Jones | Caretaker |
| Susan Harper | Girlfriend |
| Lynn Eastman | Sally |
| David Arntzen | Toby |
| Ralph Richmond | Bartender |
| Bill Cone | Tommy |
| Laura Mann | Double Lavender |
| Mary Ellen Shaw | Fortuneteller |
| Myrtle Scotton | Maid |
| Angus Scrimm | The Tall Man |
| Don Coscarelli |
6.60 out of 10 (5997 votes)
Visitor Reviews
phantastic philm!
posted on 31 Aug 2009OK so now that I've annoyed you with really bad phonetic jokes....for the brave few willing to get past that obvious mark of bad taste....phantasm is a truly unique addition to any horror fans library. i remember first seeing the film many years ago and the starkness and eerie quite of the mausoleum is something that has always stayed with me. the flying orbs are a great vehicle for terror. If you are new to Don Coscarelli's movies I hope this will encourage you to check out the sequels to Phantasm and of course the mighty Bubba-Hotep! (Long live the king!) The movie has a great balance of drama and good old 70's cheese (not over the top in my opinion....just enough to make you sit back and smile). After all when was the last time an aging ice cream vendor with pattern baldness was a hero!!? All kidding aside though, as a pretty avid horror movie junkie, and a fan that looks for really good horror films that continue to stand the test of time....this is one of them!
What am I missing?
posted on 30 Aug 2009Maybe I should have seen this when I was a kid. Perhaps viewing it for the first time in the 21st century just doesn't provide the necessary atmosphere to appreciate what this film is about. But for whatever reason, this movie didn't grab my attention at all. It was full of long, and as far as I can tell, pointless shots of people walking, riding bikes, driving cars, or just plain standing around. They were accompanied by spooky noises or music, but they still dragged on for way too long. Maybe that was the late 70's way of building tension, but by the time 20 minutes had gone by, I was so disenfranchised that there was no way I could be apprehensive. And this while watching it in the dead of night alone with the lights off.I love horror movies, and especially hokey ones like Evil Dead. My wife and friends start groaning whenever I go off on some movie that everyone else thinks is stupid. But this one...it just didn't work for me.
Atmosheric horror sleeper
posted on 21 Aug 2009Phantasm is the story of 2 brothers.Older and younger named Jody and Mike;who find out that the tall local mortician is not what he seems to be.When bodies start to disappear from they're graves at the Morningside Mausoleam decide to do something about it.Phantasm is like one of those ABC-after-school specials that used to show in the 80's;although laced with gore,cool images,scares,and a WHOLE Lotta creepy atmosphere.With its Killer Drwarves,Creepy Cemetery,and a shiny-flying-blood-sucking ball Phantasm seeks goes for the Jugular.Angus Scrimm is excellent as the melancholy Tall Man.Grimacing and scowling he gives us a classic horror villain to remember. Michael Baldwin and Bill Thorrberry do a good job and come off genuinely well as the brothers.Baldwin steals many of the scenes.How could I forget Reggie the ice cream man? He is good here as the all around nice guy who gets sucked in to the chaos around him.Don Coscarelli has created a true horror classic.Not to be missed.10/10.
Plan 9 1/2 from Outer Space
posted on 09 Aug 2009Wonderful, excellent, delightful, for an utter piece of crap. Utilizing much the same story, budget and Z-movie trimmings as Ed Wood's best-known film, PHANTASM is eminently watchable trash. It is as delicious for its awfulness as much as for its willingness to do all kinds of absurd things, like turning corpses into Jawas and storing them in an ice cream truck. Complete with screamingly bad acting and ridiculous, unnecessary, illogical plot contrivances, this movie also features a gateway to another dimension, an abandoned mineshaft, a flying ball-bearing, some severed fingers, a couple of unmotivated sex scenes, a giant housefly on wires, a few shotgunned dwarfs, a bald guy with a ponytail and a 1970 Barracuda. Plus Angus Scrimm as Tor Johnson.It says something about the acid generation that while PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE was a dismal box office failure in 1959, twenty years later PHANTASM was popular enough to achieve international release, spawn at least four sequels, and launch the career of questionable auteur Don Coscarelli. Thanks, Timothy Leary.
Most awful film of my life.
posted on 31 Jul 2009This is definitely one of the worst films I've seen in my life. The acting, if you can call it that, is horrendous. The plot, once discovered, is laughably weak. Even the villains in this movie fail to be frightening. The dwarfs actually caused those around me to laugh out loud and the little sphere that is supposed to frighten does nothing even close to that. There is nothing I can find in this movies that is even slightly redeeming, and the fact that it's a cult classic makes me wonder what people are thinking to turn this piece of utter trash into any kind of classic. Honestly, after watching this movie, I was angry that I had wasted two hours of my life, and the person who picked the movie promptly received a verbal thrashing from all who had watched Phantasm. Please, don't watch this horrible excuse for a film. The only thing even that is scary is the fact that people actually made this film. What was anyone involved in this film thinking?!?! So, if anyone around ever suggest watching Phantasm, run far far away.
An awesomely bizarre horror classic!
posted on 28 Jul 2009PHANTASM is nothing short of a true classic and one of my all time favorite horror movies. It is one of the earliest horror films I remember seeing and really jump-started my lifelong love and fascination for things that have since poisoned my once innocent little mind and turned me into the crazed fanatic I am today. The film follows a young boy who witnesses some strange goings-on at the nearby Morningside Cemetery. Him, his older brother, and their ice cream truck driving buddy all investigate, and end up getting mixed up in a life threatening nightmare involving some seriously bizarre stuff, such as evil dwarfs that roam around, hiding in the shadows, flying spheres that eject blades which pierce the skull and drain the victims brains. And who could forget that towering, sinister S.O.B. The Tall Man, played brilliantly by Angus Scrimm. Director Don Coscarelli's unforgettably strange independent masterpiece is an absolute must see for anyone who call themselves a horror fan. The movie has it all: gore, some nudity, explosions, a cheezy bug creature, and plenty more. If you haven't seen this movie than definitely do so, or if you have not seen it in a while, give it another go and enjoy!
...
posted on 23 Jul 2009I really hated this movie. I guess it's because when I saw "Phantasm" in the late 80's when there was a lot more to horror movies than that. I thought the plot was a crock however, I did watch "Phantasm 2" when it came out, and in my opinion it was way better than the first one.
ALRIGHT!ALRIGHT! I SEE IT NOW. WE'VE GOT TO GRAB THAT TALL DUDE AND STOMP THE S#$T OUTTA HIM!!!
posted on 08 Jul 2009My poor Phantasm. It never seems to be in with the likes
of Friday the 13th or HELLRAISER and NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST.
That's a shame for I put it right there with Hell and Night
and OVER the OVERRATED 13th(it is overrated FACE IT)Don Coscarelli
made this at 23??? And at 23 he blew the doors off so many older
directors making HORROR films now. Phantasm does have flaws
budget being a big part of it,but also has so much going
for it. First a CREEPY story. Dead people are being sent to
Hell/another Universe. From a character we only know as
The TALL MAN. The Tall Man is a great villan. Also we have
GOOD acting from a bunch who have not done to many films.
How about music you say? GREAT soundtrack score that you will
be humming long after the movie is over. If you never seen
PHANTASM or watched it and say EGH! Please see it again.
I really love this film and have 2 disc of it(M.G.M. and
Anchor Bay) There is something about a Tall Man taking the
dead and shrinking them into dwarves for use as slave labor
in Hell and a brain drilling silver sphere that makes me say
COOOOOOOOOOOL! PHANTASM! IF THIS MOVIE DOES NOT MAKE YOU SQUIRM
OR SHRIEK.....YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD!
Unusual Movie
posted on 29 Jun 2009I became intrigued with this movie way back before DVDs even existed. I liked it so much I had the word 'PHANTASM' tattooed on my arm.
In a way it's all weird science fiction but yet in a way it deals with real emotions and experiences. The fears that the main character has about his family come alive in his own mind in a most unique way. That seems to be the underlying message that I figured out when I just watched it again recently on DVD.
I wonder about how somebody could think of creating a movie like this. This would be someone who has a very vivid and active imagination and most likely experienced some of the things that happen in the movie.
It's like all these people are trying to unravel the mysteries about their lives, good and evil, life and death, etc..
Interestingly the older brother and Reggie have a rock band but Reggie has a day job driving an ice cream truck.
Jeff Marzano
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Gojira / Godzilla Deluxe Collector's Edition (Gojira/Godzilla [1954] / Godzilla, King of the Monsters [1956])
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla / Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
The Manster
THE BEST!
posted on 26 Jun 2009This was the film that turned me on to the whole horror scene. I own 4 different releases of it....original VHS......new release VHS......DVD....and the limited release Laser Disc....I don't even own a laser disk player anymore. I love it!
I was so glad when they finally released this awesome film on DVD. It's loaded with cool features....always a plus. After all these years it still holds up the test of time. I first watched Phantasm when I was a youth (5).....yep, very open minded parents......no sex or nudity for me (had to turn my head), but violent death was a family outing. I'm looking forward to Phan 2 being released on DVD....in Europe 1-4 are already in a DVD box set or should I say sphere. Even though Phan 2 is my least favorite of the 4 I still want it in my collection. Loyalty to a true genius (the production of that film was out of Coscarelli's hands). There is much more to the orginal Phantasm than on this DVD. Originally it was a 3 hour movie, alot was cut (Rumored). There is actually a version that was made for some of the people involved in the making of this film where everything was edited back in. They did a very good job at it from what I hear. Perhaps someday we'll get a taste of that one.
Some of the unused footage was used in the making of Phan 4. It really added to the over all atmosphere of that film.
Check out my Oblivion(Phan 4) review to see how I believe it was perfect closure for the Phantasm story. (definately a rewinder)
One of the greats...
posted on 26 Jun 2009If your like me you appreciate great horror movies and understand that there are very few really great horror movies made. Well, this is one of them. It exudes the creepy atmospheric quality that is so elusive for directors and writers to capture. It is also surreal without being confusing. The ominous music score is nearly as perfect as John Carpenter's Halloween score and the Tallman is one of the best horror villians of the last 30 years...
Wildly effective and risky horror classic!
posted on 22 Jun 2009This is the creme de la creme of horror films, with what might even be the best score even in one. The score is so famous, that several top hip hop artists have sampled it to make hit records (DMX and Doug E. Fresh). The atmosphere is excellent, the around-the-way, average joe characters make the film very believable. I've always thought this was a great film, but I recently found new respect for it after seeing the director's commentary on DVD, where I see how seriously the filmmakers took this project when they made it, and that is wasn't no joke to them. This was not a great film made by default, they meant to make it great. Fellas, want to get a pretty girl to jump into your lap late at night, make sure she's never seen Phantasm and put this bad boy on with all the lights out. The tall man will appear before the film is over!
Totally Disjointed But Enjoyable
posted on 08 Jun 2009People have said to me that they can't make heads nor tails out of this odd flick, which a mixture of horror, comedy, and science fiction. The plot is simple enough: a kid enlists his friends to help him gather evidence on the town's local undertaker, who is the prime suspect in several mysterious murders and disappearances. The movie employs a lot of weird camera tricks and special effects, some done quite effectively on the low budget the producers had to work with. However, there are many eerie sequences that have left audiences confused as to what exactly was going on: is the kid dreaming this stuff or not? Don't take it too seriously! Enjoy this quirky gem.
The worst movie I ever enjoyed
posted on 18 May 2009This film is a great late 70's classic, despite (or is it because?) of its paper-thin plot and low-budget production. The Tall Man is a relentless foe who pursues overly-curious 13-year-old Michael Pearson. Mike discovers the towering undertaker is no ordinary funeral director. The Tall Man's real job is to process corpses into 3-foot dwarves that he ships to another planet to perform slave duties. Mike's crusade is joined by his brother Jody, who cool guy image is not enhanced by the scenes of him wearing a ridiculous looking pith helmet while strumming the guitar, and pal Reggie, who wears a huge bow tie and peddles ice cream. Along the way there are car chases, gun battles and hand to hand combat with evil little dwarves that bleed yellow oily stuff. The ending is a tad predictable, but provides a good lead in to the second film, which was mediocre. The 3rd and 4th ones were progressively bad. The original Phantasm, however, remains a decent flick for afficianados of horror and cult films.
HELLO BOOOOOOOOOYYYYYY!
posted on 15 May 2009If you're into the stereotypical trash-come-horror film then you'll love this. It's astounding ability to invoke uncontrollable laughter in the viewers is incredible...not a film to be viewed with the intentions of being frightened to death, however it is ideal for those of you who are interested in brain surgery. WATCH OUT - THE BRAINDRILLS ARE NIGH!!!
Silver bells, silver bells
posted on 05 May 2009I mean, silver balls.... Yes, the ball is back. This film is so unusual that it could have only come from a dream, which is exactly where the director got the idea. Sometimes that's where the best ideas come from. This film has a few things going for it, which I'll mention before I harp on it.Angus Scrimm created a horror icon in the Tall Man. I prefer his character in Phantasm II to this film, but he still does a creepy fine job. Reggie Bannister as, well, Reggie, was lame in this movie, but he seemed much improved for the sequel. Still, I liked the character of Reggie in the movie, even if most of his lines were bad and weren't delivered well at all. The sweeping runs through the mortuary corridors were great, reminding me of One Dark Night(though Phantasm makes that film look like a school film class project). The silver ball had limited screen time, and one wishes the red POV would have gotten a little more presence in the film. I think the best thing about the movie is the plot. It's so different from anything else up to that point, you can't help but have some admiration for it and also wonder how the director sold the idea of this picture to get the funds. A possibly indestructible alien(?) and a league of undead dwarfs run a funeral home with a secret gateway inside that leads to another planet and possibly another dimension. The music was great. I think it owed a lot to some Italian horror soundtracks of the time, and is just as creepy as any tracks John Carpenter ever wrote. A very memorable theme.The ending of the film is the worst. It is slipshod and feels like it was tacked on. I know the original idea for the film had a runtime of close to 3 hours, but certainly more could have been done with the ending. Jody's fate seemed like an afterthought, and how much of the film was supposed to be real up until the ending? And, ewww, did both Tommy and Jody make out with the Tall Man and did Tommy have sex with him in the guise of that nasty beast of a girl with the horrid robin's-egg-blue eye shadow? Now, that is scary. Also, I hated the repeated shots of the funeral home exterior from the exact same angle in several shots. I'm not sure if they just kept recycling the footage of that shot or what, but it was annoying.The DVD includes a few deleted scenes, the best of which should have been left in the film. Within the mortuary, Mike and Jody encountered the Tall Man, with Jody unloading his pump shotgun into the weirdo, but having no effect, Jody and Mike get slapped around a bit. Mike remembered the Tall Man's aversion to cold and sprays him with the fire extinguisher with gooey results. That could have been left in the movie and still used the same ending to maintain the Tall Man's indestructible nature.I'm not a huge fan of the Phantasm series as a whole, I think III and IV are not that great. I love part II, which was actually the first of the series I ever saw(I can still remember seeing the great trailers on TV). The original is still pretty good, if you can overlook the bad editing, the often rancid acting and dialogue, and the insipid finale. You'll be hard-pressed to find much more original fare in terms of old horror. Maybe a remake would be better than a part V.
Fun But Ultimately Disappointing
posted on 20 Apr 2009Don Coscarelli's third film, "Phantasm" (1979), is a fairly freaky, often startling but ultimately disappointing horror outing that has managed to accrue quite a cult following over the years. It tells the story of the Pearson brothers, Jody and Michael, and the very strange goings-on at their local Victorian-style mausoleum, presided over by a character only referred to as The Tall Man. As personified by Angus Scrimm (great name, that!), The Tall Man makes for one memorable character indeed, despite his speaking (as Scrimm reveals in one of this DVD's many extras) only five lines of dialogue, totalling 28 words. Coscarelli throws a lot into his film to keep the viewer surprised and unsettled. Thus, the mysterious cowled dwarfs, a dismembered finger turning into a monstrous flying insect, the homicidal Lady in Lavender, a gateway to another dimension (?), and, of course, the flying metal orbs that suck the blood out of their victims' skulls. The movie is a nonstop roller coaster of sorts, with likable characters, an effectively creepy score and adequate FX. It could have been a minor masterpiece of the horror genre. Sadly, however, not a single one of the bizarre happenings is ever solidly explained, and by the film's head scratcher of a finale, I was left thinking, "What the hell was THAT about?" Is The Tall Man an alien or an immortal or a dead person? Is that Red Land another planet or another dimension or what? Was the entire movie a dream? Either Coscarelli couldn't be bothered to supply us with answers or he decided to leave those answers for this film's three belated sequels. But after this letdown of a movie, I'm not overly motivated to check out "Phantasm II" to find out....
excellent a masterpiece
posted on 27 Mar 2009yip,this film 2 me is one of them classic horror movies,I personally think don coscarelli is a very unique director,he knows how 2 deliver a movie that is totally original,thats what I find very impressive about this movie and all phantams films,they are full of originallity,and 2 me thats wot makes a real film. The music is also very good I just love the music in this film,and the way the music fits along with the images in the film,makes this film quite enjoyable 2 me. I know probably no one will agree with me when I say I actually think phantasm and phantasm 2 are the greatest horror movies ever made.thats how much I like them. Also there are dwarves in it 2 which look uncannilly like the jawas in star wars,but on the directors comentary he says they were in his movie b 4 they were in star wars,so there u go originality. I think it must b hard 2 make an original type movie,I mean don coscarelli directed beastmaster as well,that 2 was not copying anything else thats about,not that i know of anyway,if u like something thats different,phantasms 4 u. But bear in mind if u want something that has a believable storyline ,its not.But thats wot i like,something u dont see every day phantasy,and 2 me thats the whole point of watching movies.
Flawed but unique
posted on 24 Mar 2009I loved "Phantasm" when I saw it in 1980 on a double bill with "The Fog" at a drive-in. I've seen it a few times over the years and while it's not a particularly good film, it's pretty inventive. I know the acting is poor, the script doesn't always make sense and there's quite a few dull spots but give them credit for doing something different. The pacing is often slow but it has an effectively creepy atmosphere and a lot of nice touches (the silver sphere, the dwarfs, that fly creature). Angus Scrimm is wonderfully menacing as the Tall Man. The late 70's/early 80's were the last golden era of horror films. "Phantasm" is one of the more memorable ones and if it had been better written it could have been a classic. Followed by several inferior sequels. **1/2 (of four).
Awsome! Great dark atmosphere!
posted on 31 Aug 2009This is a movie at it`s best.When I watched it 1st time, I adored it, cause Don Coscarelli had created a suspense, dark PhantasMy. The characters are as well selected as the locations. There is a lot crap in the genre, but fortunately this is one of the greatest movies the 70`s gave us. You'll hiding behind your couch when stell balls flying towards you, but first you have to rent or buy this movie , if you're fan of great, good entertaining Horrorthriller!!