Phantasm

Rating:
Summary: one of the most innovative horror films
Review: for a horror film ,there is little gore and i think thats genius. the story of Mike. this little boy who idolozes his older brother Jody and follows him everywhere. the loss of Jody's friend (Tommy) brings thenm to morningside funeral hoemwhere mike strats noticing all things are not as they appear.
he notices the tall man, one of the best villians to grace the small screen, and so begins our movie. a trip filled with deadly silver spheres, ghoulish dwarves (which are actually half humans) and at the center of it all is Mike, Jody and their friend Reggie fighting the Tall Man. The great thing about our heroes is that they are not stupid as in most horror films. the hero does not fall down repeatedly as the killer plods along slowly behind them. Jody, Mike and Reggie are smart and resourceful using their heads for more than a place to have a machete inserted.
one of the better horror films of its time and stil stands up today especially when today's horror is nothing to scream about.
As for the dvd features, as a fan of this movie and its sequels, it was interesting to see the tall man, played by Angus Scrimm, as a human. he did various horror conventions and spoke a bit and it was, after only knowing him as the Tall Man, interesting to see him as a human. he is quite diverse as an actor (and quite funny) Angus also introduces the movie which is cool as is the behind the scenes documentary which gives you a good look at the world behind the phantasm. very cool stuff indeed.

Rating:
Summary: Still one of my top horror flicks of all time!
Review: I saw the first Phantasm back in 1979. I was a little 6th grader with no clue what I was getting into. Back then the shows didn't check for I.D's. The movie freaked me out so that, that Saturday I was to have a sleep over at my girl friends. I ended up going home instead and ended up sleeping in my parents bedroom for two nights. And, anyway what where my P's thinking letting a 6th grader go to a horror movie. They just left me money and I went to see what ever I wanted. Maybe that is why at 36 nothing scares me anymore. I do own Phantasm 1. but not the others. Was not thrilled about the sequels, sorry. I still watch it every fall with friends from that era. We always have a good time, and I still get creped out.
Great job on the original movie.
Most Sincerely,
Ms. Rebecca M. Pfarr

Rating:
Summary: Watch out for that Silver Sphere, Boy!
Review: Jody (Bill Thornbury) is at the Morningside Funeral Home. He is there for the funeral of his brother Tommy. As Jody walks thruogh the funeral house in the crypt chambers, he hears a scratching noise. His younger brother, 13-year old Michael (A. Michael Baldwin) is outside in the cemetary. He too hears the scrathy noise but sees a cloaked figure in hiding. Jody then too sees a cloaked figure in hiding. Suddenly, a tall old man (Angus Scrimm) with an eerie voice grabs Jody by the shoulder and tells him, "The funeral is about to begin, Sir". Michael still at the cemetary sees the old man lift the casket by himself and put it back in the funeral car. Later, Michael continues to be disturbed and terrorized by those cloaked figures and sees the old man too. Even in his dreams. Michael decides to go to the funeral home at night time. He sneaks in and while he is in the crypt chambers, a silver sphere racing in the air like a bullet chases after him. The groundkeeper (Ken Jones) is also after Michael. So is the tall man. This silver sphere can stop at a person's forehead and expose three spikes and can drill. Reggie Bannister as Jody's friend who also owns an ice cream truck is along to help. Be prepared for 87 minutes of suspense and terror. Sometimes comedic. This is the film where Angus Scrimm says the memorable line, "Boy!". This particular VHS video, the film print isn't very good, but watchable. Best to buy it on DVD. The next films are: PHANTASM II (1988), PHANTASM III (1994), PHANTASM IV: OBLIVION (1998) and a new fifth film is in limbo.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Kitch that doesnt stand the test of time
Review: I watched the Phantasm not with a dismissive mind, but with one expecting to enjoy this proclaimed 'horror' classic. But I didn't, in fact I fast forwarded through a lot of it, which is unusual for me, I can happily sit through campy gorefests like Zombie all night long.
That got me thinking about exactly why this movie was popular at one point and how I couldnt like a movie that so many people obviously have fond memories of.
Well it all boils down to this, the unpretentious nature of the film and the fact that the main character was a kid drew the late 70's generation teenage audience into the picture.
It became their world.
Fulci's Zombie and other horror movies wore their camp proudly, Phantasm's strength on release however was its low key setting, and its typical 70's suburbian environment.
Now me as a twenty-something new viewer, the whole setting seemed rather stupid, the dialouge was poor and the 70's era everything seemed cheeseball. I didnt get pulled in and I cant imagine any new viewer getting pulled in, the plastic critters and bad costumes didnt help. If this film was your first taste of terror then its probably worth buying it just to reclaim your teens, however if you've never seen it, don't feel like you have to bother adding it to your collection to have all the good horror films, stick with films that despite their age still feel vital and invite you in: Dawn of the Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, etc.
On an upbeat note I did like the ball scene though.

Rating:
Summary: 9 out of 10
Review: First of all, I checked out other user comments. Very mixed results. When I saw the film, I liked it. Then, I saw it few more times in the span of time passing. I was looking for logic being represented in the film. Tell you the truth, the jury is still out now. Anyway, I want to give you the best opinion as possible. This film is definitely strange, in a bizarre way. The boy runs. Then, I see couple having sex on graveyard. Then, I see the boy running. The plot flies all over the place. Running from one scene to another scene totally unconnected. The film reeked stupidity also. You couldn't tell if the people who made this could follow the story. Nevertheless, this is one damn fine horror film. Very creative. The imagination is very great, yet strange. I don't believe we need to see Catch-21 here, man. What I am talking about, we should be believing that Don Coscarelli wanted to make a film that supposed to be pure crap, but actually he made the film into a work of art. What Coscarelli did was to put a rubbish story into a sculpture as left by Michelangelo. We need not to stay there, say "Garbage". We need to think about the film, although how deeply strange it looks. To me, this is a great horror film, all messed up like a trash pile, too heterogenous to know what is the difference and yet we can't put the pieces together. I mean, he made the movie for one simple fact...the Tall Guy. Look at that guy. He is the monster. In the meanwhile, you couldn't help wondering about the ball, the guy who got killed by the ball, the lady in the purple dress, the deaths surrounding the boys' family, and the slaves or dwarves. This film was focused entirely at the Tall Guy. Of course, the film didn't leave the audience satisfied about not having the questions answered. This is a work of a genius. Don Coscarelli has mastered the idea of placing the mirror in front of you to see only your face, but he never lets you look at the pore by pore of the skin or even at the background. Unbelievable.

Rating:
Summary: A stranger visits from far away...
Review: When Jody Pearson attends the funeral of a friend his 13 year old brother Michael spies from a distance with a pair of binoculars. After the funeral Michael discovers something very strange, a tall man lifting the 500 pound coffin with Jody's body inside by himself. Michael reports this to an old fortune teller who in return teaches Michael to push himself despite his fears. On a night when Jody's in the graveyard with a strange girl that he met at a local bar, Michael follows them. At the graveyard Michael is attacked by some strange short creatures and this leads to Michael launching his own investigation of the graveyard and the funeral home. However, Michael finds something far more disturbing than what he expected. Phantasm is a horror film that does not provide much horror for the audience, since the stiff and unnatural acting by the casts limits the authentic feel of fear within the characters. In addition, the story sometimes feels incoherent and choppy, which makes the cinematic experience more difficult than enjoyable or horrifying.

Rating:
Summary: DVD is Loaded
Review: Of note to all "Phantasm" fans out there who, like me, were impressed, inspired and even influenced by Bill Thornbury's unforgettable ditty "Sittin' Here At Midnight"--a 1995 studio recording of this song is included in the supplementary material of a DVD already loaded with cool bonuses. Although different in tone and arrangement (no electric guitar strumming here or dual guitar jam, this is strictly acoustic) the original atmosphere of the song remains intact and Thornbury's beautiful vocals deliver a previously-unheard chorus guaranteed to stay in your head long after your first listen. If that's not enough to tickle the fancy of any die-hard "Phantasm" fanatics, the DVD also treats you to a two-part tv interview with director Don Coscarelli and "Tall Man" Angus Scrimm just after the film's release in 1979. This DVD is definitely a steal at such a low price.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: 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 5 years old.....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 2 and 3 being released on DVD....in europe 1,2 & 3 are already in a DVD box set. Allthough I hate Phan 2 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. There is actually a version that was made for some of the people involved of the making of this film where everything was edited back in.....a very good job at it from what I hear...perhaps someday we'll get a taste of that one. The only thing not edited into that one was the end sequence from Phantasm 4 (Oblivion)....where Mike and Reggie ride away in the ice cream truck....understandable considering the atmosphere it gave the end of that film. (definately a rewinder)

Rating:
Summary: THE BEST!
Review: This is absolutely one of the best horror films ever. I remember seeing it when I was 5 years old (parents are awesome)and have loved it ever since. This 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, lol. I love it!

Rating:
Summary: BOY!![.]
Review: I have always held a special place in my heart for this movie, call it simple respect for a well done low budget horror film. It is always difficult to pull off a good film while managing a low budget. The film works on many levels.

The basic part where you can turn off your brian and watch the furious action of this movie build up and a bond develop between the two main characters.

Or you can actually delve into the metaphysics of "The Tall Man".

One question you must ask yourself is the Tall Man actually an alien from another planet? Or is he simply the product of an overactive and emotionally bereft young man. Or in other words is he just a figment of Mike's imagination?

Is he a manifestation of something? An all encompassing force like death from which there is no escape?

Or is the tall man simply a British actor named Angus Scrimm and there is no deeper meaning to the movie then that?

You will have to decide for yourself. I like to watch it from a different viewpoint each time.

I also liked the cast/director commentary unlike in most DVD commentaries they actually tell you things that a true fan would like to know. The commentary is very good and very in-depth and manages to be done without the usual self congratulations and hour long pat on the back most directors and cast members feel is nessacary.

This movie is great weather you are a stright out and out horror fan, looking for a good movie or just want to make fun of something. It works on all levels that's what makes this movie so good.