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Summary: The Reason Why They make DVDs
Review: If there was a reason that DVD's should be made. The special edition of Phantasm has almost every one of them. With two menus of extras, interviews, deleted scenes, and commentary by the director and the stars(all totalng at least 1 1/2 hours of extras). This version of Phantasm should be purchased by anyone who enjoys the film. As for the movie, Phantasm is one wicked ride. It is quite possibly one of the most stylish and symbolic films ever made. Is it any good? It depends on your tastes. The movie does have its weaknesses: it is totally nonsensical, dumb and with marginal performances. On the plus side, we've already mentioned the style part, the special effects(for the most part) are still good, and it does have tons of atmosphere(this one almost puts you in the mortuary halls). Some people get the uncomfortable feeling that it feels like death, it does. So I would only recomended for die hard genere fans.
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Summary: Great DVD!
Review: I bought the DVD because I enjoyed the movie, obviously. I wasn't expecting much from the DVD, as you probably already know, DVD releases of older movies generally don't contain any extra features, are probably going to be pan & scan, and have mono sound. Nope! This was great. Loaded with more features than your average Hollywood blockbuster new release! I'm surprised it wasn't 2 disks with all that stuff! Galleries, interviews, a ton of deleted scenes, etc... There was obviously a lot of detail paid to picture and sound mastering. Too good to be true. This DVD was made for the Phantasm fan! Awesome job!
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Summary: A Classic - This Flick Rocks
Review: Just a quick note about PHANTASM - A classic from the 70's. I actually saw it in it's original release at a DRIVE-IN back in the day. The TALL MAN is my favorite horror movie baddie still. If you are a horror fan, you owe it to your self to see this one. It can be confusing at times, but is a great example of the genre. Reggie alone is worth watching. Fear the Sphere!
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Summary: A real Gem
Review: I gotta say, I've seen a bunch of Horror films and I keep going back to this one. It really is a gem. The transfer onto the DVD is great and all the extras are cool. But I guess the thing that keeps me coming back to it is the fact that it shows the innocense of the mid 70's. The characters are very likable and real. Life seemed slower and less complex. And for some reason this film captures that. Great film, very scary (with out being too revealing) and well thought out. A CLASSIC!!!!
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Summary: The greatest "HORROR" film of all time
Review: Leonard Maltin, stick to alleged classics like "Citizen Kane" and "Gone with the Wind." Phantasm is way out of your league. This film stays with you long after you've seen it. At a time when slasher films were being cranked out, Phantasm stood out on its own and no one EVER tried to duplicate Cosarelli's vision. In my teen years I watched the film four times and still could not clearly remember the ending. How many films have you watched in this category that would give you nightmares? There are only a small handful of horror films that rise above the glut of knockoffs that are made today and those that followed Carpenter's Halloween in 1978; this is the best of them. 1. Phantasm 2. Dawn of the Dead 3. Witchboard 4. Anguish 5. ??? (we'll see)
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Summary: great 70's horror flick
Review: Almost up there with Texas chainsaw. If you are into b movie horror this is a good one to try out. Don't waste time with part 2 ,3,4,5,6,,7,8,99,100...
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Summary: The DVD is killer!
Review: The extras on this DVD are killer! The commentary by director Don Coscarelli and actors Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, and Bill Thornbury, and Angus Scrimm was entertaining, and gave me an insight on what went on during the filming. My only complaint about the commentary was that the parts with Angus seemed dubbed in, as if he wasn't there with the others. After awhile, I didn't notice anymore, as I was enthralled with what they were discussing, it really delved into what Don Coscarelli vision for the whole film was. They also went into all the actual locations the film was shot at, which was a real treat for me as a fan of this horror series. It features the original Theatrical trailers, and TV spots, which used to give me the shivers when I was a child. What was also a great addition was deleted scenes and behind the scenes footage shot by a crew member who brought a home movie camera on the set. The gallery of international promo materials such as lobby cards and newspaper ads were great. Angus Scrimm and a very young Don Coscarelli are featured in a 1979 interview which was lots of fun. Another rarity on the dvd was a UK disco version of the Phantasm theme, too much! I used my computer's DVD player (compaq presario pentium III) to view it, and I was concerned with all the extra features it'd freeze up on me, but it didn't. This is a top notch DVD all the way. I'm thrilled to death I got it!
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Summary: PHANTASM is PHANTASTIC!!
Review: Phantasm is the 2nd horror movie that I saw as a kid that scared the living blood out of me. The first was Halloween, both are with me to this day! All I have to hear is the errie theme music and see a glimpse of The Tall Man and I head for a well lit room! The DVD is great and brings back fond memories of my younger days The extras are worth it Especially the Aussie ad commercial and the commentary by Don Coscarelli and actor Angus Scrimm If you are a fan--a must have-if you have never seen it--you should treat yourself to a winner!!!
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Summary: It just wasn't scary
Review: Well, I bought this movie based on the numerous 4/5 stars given by other reviewers. Waited for quite some time till it got delivered and was expecting to see something outstanding (smth you cant put your hands on in the middle of Region 2...). But frankly I was disappointed. This movie is not scary at all. It has some interesting scenes (the tension is quite OK when inside the funeral house, liked the head drilling sphere, maybe the dwarfs) but not much else. The plot is easy, the caracters are somehow (maybe only for me) not really believable. The Tall Man is "advertised" as a dreadful, evil caracter. For me he's just a weird guy (I don't mean to offend any Phan, sorry). To be fair, I'll give it one more trial. There are movies you need to digest and at the second watch they may prove to be better. I'm now working hard convincing myself that Phantasm has it's place in my collection as a horror classic but this does not seem to help. Luckily it did not cost a fortune.
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Summary: Before the Sequels...
Review: The legend of Phantasm seems to have taken a life of its own. This first in a series of four movies just never seemed to be the beginning of a such a legend. Instead, it's one complete story by itself. The story begins with a murder and subsequent funeral. Mike Pearson, 13, is not invited since several members of his family have recently died, including his mother and father. Mike, in response to the deaths in his family, has grown attached to his one remaining brother, Jody. Mike, against his brother's wishes, attends the funeral and watches from the bushes. When everyone leaves, he sees the very tall undertaker grab the 500 lb casket and without any help, puts in back into the car. The subsequent events, some which appear illogical, involve Mike breaking into the funeral home (at night!) to investigate what's going on. Other than doing this, Mike seems to spend his time following his brother. This becomes increasingly unusual since his brother is moving around in his car. You begin to wonder, how did Mike catch up to him? At the funeral home, Mike confronts dwarfs, a killer sphere, and the Tall Man. He manages to escape, with one of the fingers of the Tall Man. With this very lively finger, he convinces his brother that something is wrong at the funeral home. His brother enlists the help of ice-cream man, Reggie, to fight the forces of evil. At the center of this evil is the Tall Man's plan of stealing dead bodies, shrinking them to dwarfs, and sending them through a dimensional door to serve as slaves in another world. Now for the truth. Jody, Mike's brother, died in a car accident before the movie even began. The entire movie, until the end, is a nightmare Mike is having. This explains some of the illogical occurrences in the movie. The nightmare is obviously the result of Mike coping with the recent deaths of his family members, the questions of where do we go when we die, and the despair of being alone. When he wakes up from the nightmare, Reggie is there to console him and promises that he will take care of him. Unlike The Sixth Sense, where everyone applauded the surprise ending, most will feel the Phantasm ending is a let down. It just seems like such a wasted effort for the director/writer to have created such a story and have it end up as a dream. Still, it really is a great story about a young teenager coping with the death of his family. Of course, not wanting it to go to waste, the myth of the Tall Man story was subsequently changed to allow 3 sequels to this movie. One interesting note, this DVD comes with an audio commentary which includes the director. At the end, the director makes a reference to "this laserdisc commentary".
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