Seeing Phantasm: Remastered in the theater earlier this year was like experiencing a whole new film. I had grown up with Phantasm on VHS, which the quality of added to the film's surreal nature but limited my appreciation of the film's visual style. Luckily this amazing version of the Don Coscarelli's cult classic is now on BluRay and looks just as amazing as it did in the theater. This is truly the only version of Phantasm to own.
At age 21, Coscarelli did just about everything on the film. This was his passion project. One that lead him to make 4 sequels including the final and brand new Phantasm Ravenger. The original film here is a unique and creative horror film that often feels like some sort of nightmare.
The film follow Mike (Michael Baldwin), a 15-year-old who witnesses some odd things. At the funeral for a murdered friend some odd creatures are seen. This sends Mike on a quest to investigate. He gets the help of his older brother Jody (Bill Thornbury) as they head to a creepy mausoleum to look around for that's going on.
Once there, they uncover the liar of The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) who has some sort of plan to connect to the netherworld and take over the planet. To boot, The Tall Man has a number of weapons and traps. One of the films enduring creations is his flying silver spheres that drill through people's heads.
Coscarelli achieves a surreal quality throughout the film. This dream-like nature is the most evocative thing about Phantasm. The gorgeous picture quality found on this BluRay release only accentuates that quality of the film. For horror fans, this is a must have but because the film is so odd, creative and often times funny I think wider audiences should seek this one out.
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