Phantasm was a movie that was on my to-watch list for literally decades. From the genesis of my horror movie fandom I have seen images of the Tall Man and the Screamer ball, but had no idea what the movie was about.
As time progressed I continued to see it on lists, but the fandom of the movie was never as enthusiastic as Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, or even Fright Night. That is to say, it is sort of non-existent.
So I decided to prioritize viewing it this October and finally drill down into the skull of this film. Overall, I had a great time watching this movie, but for reasons that aren’t necessarily glowing.
For one, the acting is delightfully amateurish. Not bad, mind you. In fact, the child lead Michael Baldwin (who plays, appropriately enough, Mike) was pretty great as a real kid in an unreal situation. It reminds me of other grassroots, indie films in horror – like Night of the Living Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre – in which the actors cannot detract from their characters because they are new to the viewer, and new to the screen.
Secondly, the editing of the film is bonkers. Don Coscarelli, the writer and director, shot a load of film, not having a concrete script or ending in mind. The editing was done in a manner that creates a dream state for both plot and the passing of time. Narration over a scene will continue even as the visuals move on. The movie hops from A plot to B plot to C plot without much consideration for the audience keeping apace. Add to all of this the fact that Coscarelli had in his mind that a horror movie would be novel if there was a scare every 5 minutes or so, and you get quite the quilt of scenes… even adding in “cheap” scares and dream sequences when the plot sags.
Lastly, the movie looks fantastic. Coscarelli had a real vision for how he wanted the movie to look, even when the “why” was undecided. The endless marble crypt, the haunted mansion looking funeral home, the foggy graveyard, the goofy watering hole, the 70’s boy’s bedroom, the Screamer ball, the weird Space Gate room and the dwarf pods (probably one of the coolest sets of all)… all of it builds a feast for the eyes.
Overall the plot is a little odd, but don’t listen to modern reviewers that constantly refer to how confusing it is. Yes, it is a little incoherent and has a few detours that make no cinematic sense, but this is hardly a riddle.
The movie follows a pair of brothers who have experienced great loss. Their parents died, and the older brother (Jody) is back from Vietnam (although looking all of 19) and finds himself guardian for young Mike. Not much ties Jody to the town otherwise, and he is desperate to get out into the big world and find his way.
In the opening scene we see a young man murdered after being led into the graveyard for sex with “the Lady in Lavender.” This is Tommy, one of Jody’s dear friends, and part of a trio. The remaining friend is Reggie, a local ice cream man that himself (along with his truck) is one of the S tier visuals in this film.
Jody is dealing with all this loss by wanting to run away from it all and rebooting, shirking any responsibility. Mike, on the other hand, is coping by doubling-down on his attachment to Jody, to the point of following him all over town and spying on him, afraid that if he does not, this hero and ersatz father figure of his will blow town.
The brothers soon discover that the funeral home, and its adjacent cemetery, are a front for evil, otherworldly beings – the Caretaker, the Tall Man, and a bunch of Jawa-esque dwarves. Their plot? Reanimate the dead and alter them into shrunken versions (the dwarves) to serve as slaves in another dimension/planet.
Along the way we see a lot of nods to other influences and ideas that might have been best excised and kept for another film altogether, but somehow the shepherd’s pie construction of it all works.
For example, there is a fortune teller and her granddaughter, who Mike has come to trust as his confidants and seeks direction from them. Also, for some reason, they make him do the Gom Jabbar. No, really. The lesson Mike learns is the pain is only his own fear manifest, which at the film’s climax he sort of calls upon to keep focus whilst being chased.
Other odd inclusions are the fact that severing the fingers off the Tall Man yields yellow, slimy blood and a wriggling finger that does not die. Oh, and it goes through a Kafka inspired metamorphosis into a vicious, giant fly. The Tall Man regenerates his lost body parts, and seems quite unkillable. In fact, his entire “power set” is poorly defined in that deliciously appropriate monster movie way, adding new ways to spread his horror even up to the last scene of the movie.
There is a hint of heart in the script, as the brothers try to find a way to relate to a world with grief weighing heavy on them. There were moments of character development that could have made for a much more literate script, but its been said much more of that was left on the cutting room floor. Still, there is enough there that you care about the characters. And, you get a scene where the ice cream man stops to have a jam session with Jody on the front porch, just happening to have his guitar with him.
In the end, Phantasm was, and is still, a unique horror movie. It was released in 1979, which means it was made before the slasher craze really took off, and in context stands out as an absolute visual anomaly. The elements of its horror are decidedly modern too, as The Lady in Lavender, the Tall Man, Screamer ball, and even the interdimensional space gate are all very creepypasta. No part of this film would feel out of place in SCP Foundation fiction.
I would highly recommend viewing this if you have not, or if you have not since the days of 3-Day VHS rentals. It is a movie without a formula and an embarrassment of fresh approaches, a stew of big ideas from a singular mind. It is elevated above Troma style horror, yet doesn’t quite reach Halloween’s promise of auteur scares. This isn’t intentional schlock, nor is it cookie cutter B content, but is instead raw imagination put on film. Just turn off your brain and enjoy the ride.
PS – I have to add this… if Coscarelli’s name doesn’t sound familiar, it should – especially if you are a cable TV viewer of a certain age. Coscarelli was responsible for the epic fantasy riff The Beast Master, and later the masterfully zany Bubba Ho Tep.