Phantasm Review

buy it on dvd here

In 1979 a movie that would spawn several sequels came out, and it’s still a classic in the world of horror, Phantasm. I see it get a lot of talk on the internet, and I still enjoy it from time to time. It’s another example of what you can do without a lot of fancy computer graphics, or top level stars. The movie did star Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Ken Jones and was directed by Don Coscarelli. The 1970s were rocking the hell out of the cinema world with horror movies, more so than any other period of time. Sure, the 1980s had a lot, and the 90s were packed with teen scream, but nothing compares to the sheer terror and horror that came out during the 1970s epic movie making time frame.

Phantasm features a creepy tall man and an insane premise, that a silver ball could very well impale you and treat you like a slave forever. When a small town is plagued by something mysterious, a group of friends go and find out what’s up, targeting a mortician and all hell breaks loose as they start to unravel the mystery.

This low budget horror movie can very well be a cult classic on some lists, but it’s one of my personal favorites today. There are a lot of moments that are absurd and don’t really have a lot of benefit to the casual viewer today. The orbs are super cool, and historically, the gore in this film should’ve gotten the movie the dreaded X rating that was getting pushed, but instead, by some miracle it got a hard R rating and many folks got to see it. I wasn’t born yet, but I sure as hell rented this and the sequels from the Korean video store I lived next door to.

Phantasm features a lot of the clichés that you would expect in horror. A group of naïve but determined friends, a creepy mortician, and a simple antagonizing weapon with supernatural elements thrown in for good measure. With limited budget, and gore throughout, you’ll definitely love this one as I found it to be quite interesting, even after all these years. Look out for the classic make up tricks, and cinematography that speaks of the late 1970s horror movement.

Phantasm is creepy, funny, and a welcome view for horror movie fans that are interested in something unique. It strays from the overdone zombie, vampire, and werewolf genres to give you a taste of the unreal. I recommend it highly.

Looking for grindhouse, horror, or sci-fi films? Please check out our amazon astore featuring all things horror. Don't trust astore? Check out amazon.com, surprisingly they have more grindhouse,horror,and rare sci-fi than you may not have thought possible.