Starring: A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister, Kathy Lester, Terrie Kalbus Directed By: Don Coscarelli Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC Label: AVCO Embassy Pictures Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: April 10, 2007 Running Time: 88 minutes Theatrical Release Date: March 28, 1979
Description: The Original Classic From The Director Of THE BEASTMASTER and BUBBA HO-TEP Michael Baldwin and Bill Thornbury star in the shocker that started it all, in which two brothers discover that their local mortuary hides a legion of hooded killer dwarf creatures, a flying drill-ball, and the demonic mortician known as The Tall Man (an iconic performance by Angus Scrimm) who enslaves the souls of the damned. More than 25 years later, it remains unlike any fright film you’ve ever seen. Reggie Bannister co-stars in the heart-stopping classic from writer/director Don Coscarelli that launched the most uniquely chilling series in horror history and is still hailed as one of the scariest movies of all time. Experience PHANTASM again, now featuring frightening extras never before seen in America! Features:Widescreen Presentation TV Spots Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Don Coscarelli and Stars Michael Baldwin, Angus Scrimm and Bill Thronbury Deleted Scences, Also on DVD PHANTASM Trailer, PHANTASM III Trailer PHANTASM: Behind-the-Scences, PHANTASM: Actors Having a Ball Phantasmagoria, 1979 PHANTASM Interview, 1988 Fangoria TV Commerical
Amazon.com: Jody is the kind of guy that every 1970s teen looked up to. He's in his early 20s, has a cool car, splendid '70s hair, leather jacket, plays guitar and (naturally) snags all the girls. His little brother, Mike, in particular, admires him and emulates him at every turn. Things start to go astray, however, when the two brothers and their friend Reggie attend a funeral for a friend. Mike notices a tall man working at the funeral home; in the course of his snooping, he sees the tall man put a loaded coffin into the back of a hearse as easily as if it was a shoebox. Jody doesn't believe his little brother's stories, though, until he brings home the tall man's severed finger, still wriggling in what appears to be French's mustard. From there, the film picks up a terrific momentum that doesn't let up until the sequel-ripe twist ending. Phantasm was one of the first horror movies to break the unspoken rule that victims were supposed to scream, fall down, and cower until they were killed. Instead, Mike and Jody are resourceful and smart, aggressively pursuing the evil inside the funeral home with a shotgun and Colt pistol. Furthermore, the script has a great deal of character development, especially in the relationship between the two brothers. The film even has a surprisingly glossy look, despite its low-budget origins, and little outright gore (except for the infamous steel spheres that drill into victims' heads). This drive-in favorite was a big success at the time of its release, and spawned three sequels. Little wonder; it includes an inventive story, likable characters, a runaway pace, and, of course, evil dwarves cloaked in Army blankets. The end result is one of the better horror films of the late 1970s. Hot-rod fans take note: Jody drives a Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda, the pinnacle of 1960s muscle cars, rounding out his status as a Cool Guy. --Jerry Renshaw
Scary in 1979, hilarious now, but still a treasure This movie is a classic. I am sure it scared the heck out of the viewers the first time it was released. It is funny for us now in 2009, but it is still a treasure for collectors of movie memorabilia. I collect horror movies from the original "Nosferatu" until the stuff like "Drag me to hell". It is not that I like to be frightened, but it is exciting to scream and laugh afterwards because of how silly was what got us scared. Excellent movie to see the traditional middle 70s to middle 80s horror movies.
Great movie, I met Angus once... One tall man, three heroes, several small jawas, one black Plymouth Cuda, a flying ball that'll drill ya, and a partridge in a pear tree!
Great movie. Weird as heck, but fun! I met Angus Scrimm at a Fangoria horror movie convention as a teen back in 1987. Wow. What fun. He was really adept at being able to laugh about the Tall Man character and enjoying the role for what it was. He talked about how little dialogue he actually had in Phantasm I and II. He actually had it all memorized and said it to us...something like, "Boy! Boy! Boy! You play a good game boy but the game is finished, now you die! Boy!" and a few other lines. It took him like fifteen seconds lol. We all cracked up. I got his autograph. It was my first convention for sci fi/horror.
Reggie Bannister is the greatest. "We're hot as love!" oh man, classic
And for corn's sake, the CUDA! Plymouth Cuda! Oh baby! That and the Dodge Challenger, the two greatest cars ever made!
This is a fun frightfest. My wife is just terrified of this flick so it's fun to watch at Halloween.
I think it's an UTTER TRAVESTY that Phantasm II is STILL not available on Region I! Total blasphemy folks!
It was little and brown and low to the ground! Right from the first scene in the movie you know this isn't going to be your average horror movie. There really isn't much of a plot, but what little there is isn't revealed until about halfway through the movie. The acting is sub-par, but it's not to the point of turning the whole movie into a joke. The cinematography is interesting to say the least. It isn't bad or anything, just really weird. The special effects are pretty corny and laughable, but they have their uses. The soundtrack is one of the better ones I've heard in a horror movie. The movie has it's moments, but they are few and far between and very short. Horror fanatics will want to watch this once through just for the heck of it, everyone else probably shouldn't bother.
phantasm Dvd was in excellent shape as was the art work & case . Was happy to see all was right with movie dvd i order . what needs to be learn is a better way of asking seller about a movie and fast shippping is most inportant .
A must for every Tall Man and Boooy Made with a very low budget and filmed over a period of several years (whenever they came up with more money), Phantasm is original and creepy. It's also a bit more thoughtful than most horror films.
A young boy, anxious about the further breakup of his family following his parents' death, becomes aware of sinister happenings at the local funeral home. Seems the caretaker, the super-creepy horror legend 'The Tall Man' (the incomparable Angus Scrimm) is robbing graves and transforming the bodies into miniature creatures for use as slave labor in another dimension (I think). Along with his brother and their balding ice-cream man buddy, they set about to stop the Tall Man and his flying crystal balls. The full story is never really explained (what is the Tall Man?), but all of this works to the advantage of the film, which is well-paced and still pretty eerie. In this era of over-production and effects-laden freak shows, Phantasm still has a pretty original idea behind it, which while not explained is still atmospheric. Ultimately, the film is as much about the breakup of a family and a young boy's anxiety about abandonment, with the horror story as a dream-like metaphor.
The film looks very good, even on a low budget. In one of the extras Coscareli and Bannister mention that they didn't skimp on the cameras or lenses. The extras also give insight into the making of a low-budget film in the 70s, quite a different effort from today. This was a labor of love among friends and associates as everyone pitched in, from lugging equipment to coming up with makeup techniques and will remind folks of the stories of the making of Halloween, also from the same time. This is in contrast to today, where the remakes of classic horror films are big-budget, ultra-slick affairs that use countless more dollars and resources and often fail to generate anything close to the atmosphere of the earlier entries.
The music score by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave raises the stakes significantly, and is a highly recommended disc. The spooky theme and some jazzy noodling are perfect, I'm surprised nobody has sampled the theme in another song (I could be wrong).
This 2007 release is definitely an improvement on the 1999 version, as it adds a new commentary (including Scrimm), as well as a making-of documentary, also new. And it looks great, though I'm beginning to wonder the limit on how good they can make older movies look anymore. Either way, I think it's worthwhile upgrade, even if you have to 'double-up' or even 'triple-up' on your Phantasms.
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