Phantasm Tetralogy

Icon Films Australia

R4 DVD

Phantasm is a low-budget sci-fi horror film released in 1979. The film was directed, written, photographed, co-produced and edited by Don Coscarelli. It introduced The Tall Man, quite a startling and innovative horror character. The Tall Man is a malevolent undertaker who takes the bodies of the deceased and somehow transforms them into dwarf zombies who do his bidding. The film mixes cult, science fiction and horror elements in quite an intriguing plot and was highly successful. It has solid character development and offers excellent suspense and gore. It spawned three sequels Phantasm II, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, Phantasm IV: Oblivion.

Phantasm was released as a DVD by MGM in the U.S in 1999 and then re-released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment on April 10, 2007. A special edition was released in the U.K. including all four films in a collectible sphere. A full set of all four films have been released by Icons films in Australia in 2010.

After the death of their parents Jody Pearson is raising his 13 year old brother Mike in a small town disturbed by the mysterious deaths of its citizens. Reggie, who works as the local ice cream vendor and provides a certain comic element to the film, is a good friend to the boys and believes that the local mortician is the cause of the towns trouble. The mortician is a strange character; he is called The Tall Man due to his extreme height and the strange large steps he takes when he walks. He has a menacing presence and creates a dark mood whenever he enters a scene.

Mike decides to investigate the funeral home and finds that The Tall Man is digging up the dead and turning them into zombie dwarves. When Mike, his brother and Reggie investigate further they find a strange white room in which some sort of transporter is in operation. It seems that The Tall Man is creating slaves from the bodies of the dead and shipping them back to his home planet for menial labour. This strange combination of science fiction and horror is what makes Phantasm (and its sequels) so fascinating. Another is the strange weapons The Tall Man unleashes on those on intrude on his domain, spinning silver balls with sharp blades which cut into anything they land on. These balls provide some of the more gore ridden aspects of the series including heads being bored into and hands being ripped apart. The violence of many of the early films caused headaches for the censors and in some localities the first uncut editions appeared only with the DVD release.

Phantasm II continues on from the first film expanding and refining the tale with loads more action and some excellent horror sequences. By this stage the series had certainly become a cult classic. The 1994 sequel Phantasm III:Lord of the Dead pushes the horror envelope with lots more gore and emphasizes the sci fi element with the dwarves now called Lurkers and the spheres Sentinels. There is also a more comprehensive exploration of how humans are transformed into Lurkers with Mike himself being transformed into a Lurker, but one who is on the side of good and working to destroy The Tall Man.

The final film brings together all the elements of the series even including a rollicking time travel sequence.

Phantasm is an unusual horror sci fi franchise in that while it was clearly not as successful as The Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween, it developed a very devoted cult following. The Tall Man is a truly impressive horror character, Angus Scrimm has a powerful presence and really carries the films, I do not believe any sequel could have been successful with anyone else in his role. While there has been some internet gossip about a further sequel it seems unlikely. The first three films all ended with someone being pulled through a mirror or pane of glass to represent the continuation of the tale, this did not happen at the conclusion of the fourth film. The final film really did tie all the ends together and it seems unlikely it could be taken further, but one can never tell !

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 4 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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