Third Viewing: Phantasm (1979)

I adore Phantasm — the franchise and the original movie — in more or less equal measure. While I’m impressed that every sequel, made decades apart, still continues the story set out here, I have to bow down to the original.

It’s Don Coscarelli’s masterpiece. Just 21 years of age at the time, he had such command of his vision. I can’t imagine most directors could have pulled off a film quite as effective as this, with its budgetary restrictions, and with primarily non-actors in most of the roles. But he did it, and he gave us two icons of the horror genre: The Tall Man, and the silver sphere things.

The entire movie feels like a nightmare. It has these surreal qualities that are really well handled. This movie benefits from being told from a child’s perspective, as initially everything just seems like a nightmare you’d have as a child, and it’s tough to convince somebody that shit is really going down.

But, despite the main character, this is a movie for adults. It’s appropriately violent and gory when it needs to be, though it’s not necessarily intense. It does have some pretty frightening moments, though.

I think what makes this such a great first entry to the series is that while the story is told, it really feels like we’re just scratching at the surface of what the Tall Man is actually up to. It feels like part of a larger story.

Rating: 7/10