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Phantasm (2007 re-release DVD) Directed by: Don Coscarelli Starring: A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister, and Angus Scrimm Reviewed by: D. Macabre |
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"You play a good game boy, but the game is over and now you die" is a quote from one of my favorite horror films of all time Don Coscarelli's Phantasm. Young Mike Pearson has lost his parents and fears he will loose his older brother Jody as well, so he has taken up stalking in order to insure Jody will not leave him again. Mike is spying on Jody at a friends funeral when he sees a tall man lift an entire casket and place it into a hearse and drive off. He goes on to tell Jody, but his brother does not believe him, after severing the Tall Man’s finger and bringing it home in a box, his brother begins to believe. Mike and Jody’s curiosity lead them to the funeral home nearby where they soon realize the Tall Man has a plot unfolding where he is enslaving the dead for his evil bidding. Phantasm has a wonderfully dark storyline, which I think was quite refreshing for the Horror genre at that time, I like to call 78-82 the "Slasher era" of horror films with such films as Friday the 13th and Halloween gracing the silver screen. Phantasm really delivered a more psychological film, something which was not common with the aforementioned films. The cinematography of the film was good for it’s time, it would not compare to movies of this "day in age", but Coscarelli did a great job with shooting it, especially for the budget he was working with, which was $300,000. I have always believed the best shot scene in this film is when you’re traveling with "The Sphere" and everything is red, it really had a great effect seeing from the point of view of The Sphere. My favorite character in the film is by far Angus Scrimm's character The Tall Man, he is down right creepy and his voice is one that would make you cringe if he were standing over you, the use of platform shoes and smaller suits really helped to make Angus "The Tall Man". The soundtrack of Phantasm is top notch, it’s eerie and really helps carry each of the scenes and adds an intensity I don’t think the film would have achieved without the soundtracks help, I personally have the soundtrack on CD and enjoy listening to it, almost daily. It’s a must have for any Phantasm fan, or any soundtrack fan. I absolutely hate re-releases because 9/10 you get the same ole crap you got from the last release with a different cover, this is not the case with Phantasm. I really enjoyed the special features of this DVD, I think I actually enjoyed them more than the film itself. A few of the most note worthy special features are Phantasmagoria, which is a documentary about the making and creation of Phantasm, it features much face time with Don Coscarelli and others who were "very deep" in the project. I hope you guys enjoy Angus Scrimm's convention visit from 1989, what a personable guy. I would love to meet him. The special features have much more to offer than what I spoke about. I really enjoyed watching all the deleted scenes in this, I really wish some of them had made it into the film, I imagine they would have pleased everyone as much as they did me. Along with the other great additions to the "special features" option included commentary from Don Coscarelli, Angus Scrimm, and A. Michael Baldwin. The video on this re-release was stellar, the pictures were more crisp and clear, less dingy looking in comparison to the original release in addition the film received new anamorphic widescreen transfer, I hate watching films in FULL SCREEN, so I was very pleased when I saw that it was available in widescreen. The sound was cleaned up immensely and sounds as clean and clear as motion pictures released today, which included audio tracks in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo since they cleaned the sound up so much, it really helped to project the emotion behind the music, something which made Phantasm the favorite it is today. Don Coscarelli and company really went out of their way to give Phantasm fans what they have wanted for years. This film was re-released by Anchor Bay and holds a small price tag of only $14 at your local Best Buy store, if you only pick this film up for the special features then I assure you that you will not be disappointed. I gave this release 5 stars is because for once a re-release was worth the money spent on it, time and time again DVDs are re-released and the original transfer is used, no clean up of video and sound are evident and the lack of special features makes the money spent a total waste. My last and final thought is a question for Anchor Bay, so where is our region 1 Sphere box set? Back to Reviews |
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