I know a lot of people love this movie but....it made no bloody sense. So the tall man's an alien? Then how can he cause zombie hands to pop out of mirrors and kill you? Is that something aliens can do? Why does he turn into a lady sometimes? Does he really have THAT hard a time kidnapping people that he needs to entice them with tits? Why does his severed finger turn into a bug? Why are there evil Jawas? Who are the old woman with the "makes your hand hurt box" from Dune and the blonde chick with her? What's the flying death ball thing? Try coming up with any explanation you like, this is just nonsensical!
So the Tall Man turns corpses into Jawa-sized slaves because of . . . heat and gravity . . . ? Consequently, the fortune teller's advice of "don't be afraid" comes naturally.
Don Coscarelli's Phantasm is a big bag of "what the hell am I watching?" and normally, that wouldn't be a problem. It spawned a number of sequels (impressively using the surviving cast into the 2000s), and though none of them are subtitled Phantasm: The Explanation, I'm sure this tale of an alien(?) undertaker turning people into slaves eventually pins down its mythology. To me here, it's a collage of ideas. Halloween's music, Argento atmospherics, heck, they even steal a scene from Dune... though the crossbreed of horror and sci-fi is most analogous to Hellraiser. What sinks Phantasm for me is the acting. The emotions are way off, and the actors often just seem like improv players blanking on what to do next. There's some stylish imagery - the disembodied finger, the killer ball, and so on - but I felt so disconnected from the whole, disjointed thing, that I'm in no hurry to sample the follow-ups.
Severly cut down from 3 hours of footage serves the movie well as the disjointed and disrupted flow in the editing and narrative contributes to an eerie, mysterious atmosphere reminiscent of the later Italian horror flicks of the 80s. A lot of creative special effects and inspired camera work keep things interesting despite the low budget, questionable acting and nonsense plot developments. Recommended for horror buffs.
Even tough, there are a few things that you can point your finger at in this movie. Such as the acting and it's nonsensical story(Which I acturlly think, was kind of the point) This is one of those movies, that just has an odd quality to it. For my money, this was one the most unique movies within the horror-genre I have seen for quite some time.
The film has a very dreamy and surrreal look to it, that is captured by beautiful cinematography and decent special effects, also not to mention the haunting atmosphere, which is an absolute delight.
It will not be a movie for everybodys tastes, but if you're a horror-movie fan, I highly recommend that you check it out, or if you're a person, that is just looking for a unique surreal experience.
This film was unlike anything I've ever seen, and I highly recommend it. Yes, it was confusing, but it was INTENTIONALLY confusing. The director intended the film to feel surreal and dreamlike, and he did a marvelous job. It wasn't about the characters or the story so much as it was about the experience. Honestly, it's one of the most cinematic films ever made, and it deserves a watch (the music was excellent too, really set the atmosphere).
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ThomasFTB
I know a lot of people love this movie but....it made no bloody sense. So the tall man's an alien? Then how can he cause zombie hands to pop out of mirrors and kill you? Is that something aliens can do? Why does he turn into a lady sometimes? Does he really have THAT hard a time kidnapping people that he needs to entice them with tits? Why does his severed finger turn into a bug? Why are there evil Jawas? Who are the old woman with the "makes your hand hurt box" from Dune and the blonde chick with her? What's the flying death ball thing? Try coming up with any explanation you like, this is just nonsensical!thestuman101694
So the Tall Man turns corpses into Jawa-sized slaves because of . . . heat and gravity . . . ? Consequently, the fortune teller's advice of "don't be afraid" comes naturally.Siskoid
Don Coscarelli's Phantasm is a big bag of "what the hell am I watching?" and normally, that wouldn't be a problem. It spawned a number of sequels (impressively using the surviving cast into the 2000s), and though none of them are subtitled Phantasm: The Explanation, I'm sure this tale of an alien(?) undertaker turning people into slaves eventually pins down its mythology. To me here, it's a collage of ideas. Halloween's music, Argento atmospherics, heck, they even steal a scene from Dune... though the crossbreed of horror and sci-fi is most analogous to Hellraiser. What sinks Phantasm for me is the acting. The emotions are way off, and the actors often just seem like improv players blanking on what to do next. There's some stylish imagery - the disembodied finger, the killer ball, and so on - but I felt so disconnected from the whole, disjointed thing, that I'm in no hurry to sample the follow-ups.Zeltaebar
Severly cut down from 3 hours of footage serves the movie well as the disjointed and disrupted flow in the editing and narrative contributes to an eerie, mysterious atmosphere reminiscent of the later Italian horror flicks of the 80s. A lot of creative special effects and inspired camera work keep things interesting despite the low budget, questionable acting and nonsense plot developments. Recommended for horror buffs.Groovy09
Even tough, there are a few things that you can point your finger at in this movie. Such as the acting and it's nonsensical story(Which I acturlly think, was kind of the point) This is one of those movies, that just has an odd quality to it. For my money, this was one the most unique movies within the horror-genre I have seen for quite some time.The film has a very dreamy and surrreal look to it, that is captured by beautiful cinematography and decent special effects, also not to mention the haunting atmosphere, which is an absolute delight.
It will not be a movie for everybodys tastes, but if you're a horror-movie fan, I highly recommend that you check it out, or if you're a person, that is just looking for a unique surreal experience.
Oneironaut
Fun to watch, will definitely check out the rest of the series.arrbrr
Horrible.. Stupid BGM for a horror movie :-/mittens
great movie. the late seventies is when horror movies really started to get goodAFGiant
This film was unlike anything I've ever seen, and I highly recommend it. Yes, it was confusing, but it was INTENTIONALLY confusing. The director intended the film to feel surreal and dreamlike, and he did a marvelous job. It wasn't about the characters or the story so much as it was about the experience. Honestly, it's one of the most cinematic films ever made, and it deserves a watch (the music was excellent too, really set the atmosphere).