Phantasm (1979)

Simply stated, “Phantasm” is one odd movie! I have to admit that it took a few viewings before I was able to get a clear understanding of what was going on. This isn’t surprising considering that the crew was trying to figure out what happens next while they were making it! But in the end, there ended up being one of the more original horror films from the 1970’s and 80’s. It was followed by three sequels that were just as head scratching as the original. The film was written and directed by Don Coscarelli, who would go on to film the sequels, the classic fantasy adventure “Beast Master”, and “Buba Ho-tep”.

“Phantasm” has one of my favorite movie tag lines – “If this film doesn’t scare you, you’re already dead!”

Mike Pearson, his older brother Jody, and their friend Reggie become entangled in the mystery surrounding the mysterious deaths occurring in their small town. Shortly after Mike and Jody’s parents die, their friend Tommy is murdered while having sex in the graveyard. They’re told that it Tommy died by natural causes but Mike notices strange things going on at the cemetery when he sneaks along to the funeral. Later, Jody is nearly seduced and murdered by the same fiendish ghoul that killed Tommy, surviving the encounter only because Mike interrupts them after being chased by a small demon-like jawa-thing. Events only become more bizarre when Mike sneaks into the mausoleum and witnesses a man being killed by a flying silver sphere with knives, spilling the blood in a fountain is it drills into the victims head. Soon Mike and Jody are being chased by the Tall Man, the mortician of the mausoleum and leader of the shrunken demonic servants.

Favorite scene – Mike is able to obtain a cut off finger that continues to move on its own. Mike and Jody plan to use this finger as evidence when they decide to get the police involved but before they can leave the house, the finger turns into a gnarly fly-monster that they end up trapping and killing in their trash disposal, only with the help of Reggie, who didn’t know about the strange occurrences at the mausoleum yet.

Mike and the Tall Man

Reggie the Ice Cream guy and the Tall Man