so far so good ...

Phantasm may have inspired me more than anything. I'll rank 'em in the order I saw them.

Phantasm II: Always will be my favorite. Saw it when I was 10, way too young for it, and it scared me so much I kept changing the channel. It seemed terribly evil and mean spirited but then it had these awesome heroes who could actually take care of themselves! A real shocker for a horror movie. The ending seemed mean to a 10 year old who didn't understand it was a bigger story. I thought it was just a single entry with random characters thrown in, no continuity from movie to movie.

Phantasm: When I saw this years later as a 16 year old I started grasping the great mythology behind the series, the characters were bigger than the things that happened in the second film. It was kind of an epic journey and not really a slasher film at all (which had really been my only exposure to horror at this point in my life).

Phantasm III: So glad to see Reggie bouncing around, didn't care much for this one.

Phantasm IV: I have to say this is equal to the first one for me, though not quite as good as the second. I didn't like Oblivion when I first saw it, the ending felt like another cheap cliff hanger in a film that promised to be the end.

Spoilers for Oblivion:

But upon further viewings I have come to believe Michael is dying at the end, those last good memories leaking out of the hole in his head, and Reggie's futile hunt after the Tall Man will never end. Even Michael's last memory seems to echo this, almost as if Reggie gets caught in a loop of time only to live out his unending hunt for the Tall Man again and again as his friends are taken. It's incredibly sad in this lens.

Sorry for the long post, I just never found a place to vent my Phantasm love. No one gets it!

I am a big fan of the phantasm movies and have seen them all multiple times. I can't wait for raVager.

Phantasm 2
Phantasm
Phantasm 4
Phantasm 3.

My least favorite is the third one because i'm not a big fan of the horror-comedy approach to it.

I have a feeling Ravager will be my third favorite after the first two when it's finally out.

At a recent convention, Ravager was confirmed for a 2015 release by Don Coscarelli. Can't wait, hope it turns out good.

News has been pretty quiet so far on Ravager. Hope we get a release date soon.

yo
 

phantasm 2 is my fave, i love that movie.

Mine as well. I have a feeling Ravager will be the best since 2, though I do have a lot of love for 3 and 4 as well.

I rank Phantasm1 10/10

Have you seen the others?

I wonder when the release date for 5 will finally be announced? All that's known is it's coming out sometime this year for sure.

Phantasm 2 - I'm on the line to whether it's better than the first movie but I find it to have better rewatchablity.

Phantasm - Despite the acting being pretty bad it makes up to it with pure originality. Particularly liked the ending.

Phantasm 3 - This is where the series started to get bad. It started off alright but when they brought the little kid into it, It lost alot of appeal for me.

Phantasm 4 - Shit.

Still no word on the fifth one's release according to those who were at the recent Texas Frightmare convention and asked Don Coscarelli about it. Hope we get some information soon.

Can't believe I only just heard about this movie. But Coscarelli isn't directing right? He has found someone else? This is crazy. I can't believe Angus can still pull it off.

Yes, David Hartman is directing. But Coscarelli is still heavily involved.

Two great bits of news for any Phantasm Phans here:


1. None other than J.J. Abrams (who's a big phan and named Phasma in The Force Awakens after the series as a direct homage) is assisting with a 4K restoration of the first film (no word if he's also going to help do the same with the sequels, hopefully he does after the first is finished).

2. Ravager is said to finally see released sometime within the first or second quarter 2016.


2016 is looking to be the year to be a fan of the series.

Ah, Jigs, when we finally are gifted with Phantasm Five I am going to howl at the fucking moon! So many delays and false release dates, it's been torture. I know that kind of thing usually signals trouble and possibly some bad product, but it looks like most of the holdups have been caused by distribution disputes and Coscarelli's unwillingness to prostitute himself and his work to make a few extra bucks.

I need this damn sequel!

Anyway, my Phantasm rankings are..

1--Phantasm
2--Phantasm IV
3--Phantasm II
4--Phantasm III

Truth be told, I see all four as a whole piece and I'm madly in love with every installment of the franchise. The Phantasm universe isn't for all fans, but those of us who have fallen into the Tall Man's snare will always be loyal and fervent.

Bring the ball back! ::devil::

Angus Scrimm's passing still hits me hard :( I'm just glad he got to do a final film before he passed and hope it's a damn good finale.

I've never seen a single one. My best mate has been trying to get a hold of the first movie but is having a bugger of a time. All the sequels are available but the Phantasm 1 is out of print, on DVD and Blue Ray. He can't even find it online to watch? From what I've heard about it I wouldn't mind giving it a go, myself.

Phantasm is readily available here in Blighty,not sure why you are having trouble obtaining it.

I live in The States bruv. It's not available on this side of the pond. ::big grin::

I thought this was a funny short review of Phantasm 2, by Roger Ebert, from 1988. (in quotes below)

Despite my hobby-study of symbolism, the subconscious and horror, I've never seemed to enjoy much "dream surreal horror" -- the 'not making sense', without much of anything else of interest, burns me up, basically. There's certainly some I have liked, including the original Phantasm, but films like "The Beyond" just leave me shaking my head.

I haven't seen Phantasm 2, but from most reviews I've read, I doubt it will ever hit the top of my "to see" list.

Those aren't my views, entirely, but that is really funny. ::big grin::

I have all of them. They're in a Sphere.

After seeing Ravager, my revised ranking:


2
1
4
3
5


I didn't hate 5 but it's definitely the weakest, IMO.

http://www.horror.com/forum/images/icons/icon9.gif
I haven't seen it yet.
The trailer made it look so good.

I love all of the Phantasm films. And I really enjoyed part 5! For me it's great to see all of the characters again.

Just saw the dvd for Phantasm 5, last night. And a buddy told me they re-released the first one on Blu-Ray!

on the subject of Phantasm
 

On the subject of this movie, a discussion of this movie in some magazine said that is has enough satisfying surprises for 3 horror movies and not enough logic for one.
I was posting to some forum a few years ago, and some idiot said he could not see the appeal of this movie. Well, the first half hour is pretty slow. But the payoff in this movie is when the door flies open and there's the Tall Man, big as life and twice as ugly. He growls out "Boy-y-y-y!" And Michael starts to run, and the Tall Man chases him, and that eerie music starts up again, and we are right back in the middle of a classic nightmare: being chased by the Bad Man.
If you leave the theater 5 minutes too early, you miss the twist ending.
I didn't think the sequel so much. The director seems to think that if one blood-sucking sphere is scary, then 3 are scarier. Not true. They made the same mistake in the sequels to Aliens.

it was good because...
 

I loved it, even tho it seemed to me that the director, after some good ideas in Phantasm, spent the rest of his career trying to exploit those same ideas. It's a common mistake horror film makers make: if one flying blood-sucking steel sphere scary, then three must be three times as scary. I mean Silver Sphere. I thought it was witty when the critic, when the movie came out, said that it had the best flying blood sucking sphere so far that year.

I think I read this review in Castle of Frankenstein. The guy wrote that Phantasm has enough satisfying surprises for three horror movies, but not enough logic for one.

Here's what's the pay-off for me: When the door bursts open and there's the Tall Man, big as life and twice as ugly. He growls out "Boy-y-y-y!" and starts to chase Michael, and Michael starts to run, and that eerie music starts up again, and there we are, right back in the middle of a classic nightmare: being chased by the Bad Man.

The first half hour of the movie was slow. but the rest of the movie makes u for it.

And, of course, if you think the movie is over and leave a couple of minutes too soon, you miss the surprise ending.
What ever happened to Angus Scrimm?

He sadly passed away back in 2016.

My ranking for the series is still the same:


2
1
4
3
5


The series deserved a much better finale than 5. What a disappointment.

All but II are showing on Shudder. Giving them a re-watch.....its been many years/

Just finished 1. Doesn't particularly age very well. Kudos for originality but some of the acting was sub par and overall the story was a tad weak. I'm not a big fan of remakes but I would welcome one for this.

It has it's flaws but for the budget it's pretty impressive. Up there with Evil Dead in that respect. I think a remake would be tricky as Scrimm's performance and presence is too iconic... look at the reception to the Elm Street remake.

Jeremy Irons

Irons would make a good Tallman

Ok...finished 2— story was a bit more cohesive and perhaps a bigger budget so as to add some of those practical puppet effects so commonly found in movies of the genre in the late 80s. A new Michael added to the cast a la James Le Gros. He was fine but still not overjoyed by the movie as a whole.

On the part III SOON

I remember #3 being more memorable to me.
4 was kind of a let down...but interesting in it's own way.

Have never seen the last one they did a few years back...largely because of the horrendous reviews, that and I'd like to see if I can get the entire collection on BluRay to kind of soften the value-hit if it's not up to scratch.

For as much as #4 and #5 have got crap - at least I know they haven't sunk to the depths of most of the Hellraiser subtitle-sequels.

and Mads Mikkelsen would make a good Krueger.
and Greg Kinnear would make a good Riddler.

I was disappointed by III and IV. They did add some interesting backstory to the overall plot.

I should watch these again but I've still got shitloads of stuff I haven't watched before to get thru.

Phantasm II
Phantasm
Phantasm IV: Oblivion
Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead
Phantasm V: Ravager


What a disappointment Ravager was. 18 years of waiting for that.