“Phantasm” (1979)

Phantasm

Grade: A-

There’s never been a Colin’s Review Guilty Pleasure film as great as Phantasm, a low-budget sci-fi horror film from 1979 that doesn’t really make much sense but is highly entertaining and enjoyable nonetheless. A few more notes on Phantasm:

Directing:

Don Coscarelli serves as the writer, director, cinematographer and editor of Phantasm. His all-encompassing vision has a keen eye for scary imagery (e.g., mysterious, dark, hooded figures in the cemetery) and atmospheric settings (e.g., the brightly lit mausoleum behind said cemetery) and knows how to convey them in a semi-artful cost-effective style. Just like Tobe Hooper or John Carpenter, Coscarelli’s lo-fi scenery feels more genuine than it would in a more expensive production. Even though the imagery is presented without much explanation, Phantasm successfully creates a unique sci-fi world all its own.

Acting:

Nobody is going to nominate A. Michael Baldwin or Bill Thornbury for Oscars any time soon. Come to think of it, they probably wouldn’t win any best actor nominations at a local high school play. But their clumsy awkwardness becomes endearing and makes for great laughs, whether intentional or not. In the strange world of Phantasm — a world which centers entirely around Morningwood Cemetery — the inexperienced cast is believable.

Writing:

The events of Phantasm have no discernible explanation: the town mortician known as the Tall Man can shapeshift into a beautiful woman, lures victims to the cemetery to kill them after fornicating with them, turns them into mini-wraiths, maybe sends them to another planet to fulfill his evil plans. Sure, I can buy that.

But Phantasm is a movie based totally on vibes: descriptions and expositions are deemed inessential to the plot. Two orphaned brothers must stop the Tall Man; nothing more, nothing less. It’s great fun to watch it all unfold — Coscarelli’s screenplay is so nonsensical that the entire film becomes gloriously unpredictable, even on second and third watch.

Music:

Fredric Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave provide the soundtrack, which is a pitch perfect — or maybe out of tune — mixture of analog synths, organs and the occasional guitar jam session. Influenced by Halloween, Suspiria and The Exorcist, the soundtrack for Phantasm is another lo-fi stroke of brilliance. I applaud its amateurishness.

Ending (SPOILERS):

Surprise, surprise: the ending of Phantasm is random as fuck and confusing as hell. But because of how confounding the rest of the film is, the unexpected “it was all a dream!” plot twist is one of the rare instances where such a gambit is not only suitable and satisfactory, but somehow emotionally stirring. I didn’t expect Phantasm to become a metaphor for childhood trauma in its final frames, but I should’ve known that Coscarelli’s film wasn’t as dumb as it looked.

“You don’t aim a gun at a man unless you intend to shoot him. And you don’t shoot a man unless you intend to kill him.” – Mike Pearson

Why Phantasm gets an A-:

Phantasm contains an all-around spooky atmosphere, with plenty of hilarious jokes thrown in for good measure. As far as B movies go, they don’t get much better than this mash-up of horror/sci-fi/comedy.

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