Phantasm

Phantasm starts pretty slow, or at least it is pretty slow following its outstanding opening sequence that continues the finale of the preceeding film from eight years before.

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…

Chapter Six: Ice Bomb Zero We sat at the edge of the docks and disconsolately ate some more lard. Seagulls circled above, mainly for nautical ambience. I hadn’t even noticed Alphonse wasn’t actually with us anymore when he came back around the corner and flashed us a thumbs up. ‘The expedition is saved!’ he announced…

I continue to want to like this movie far more than I do. For a franchise to have stuck around this long with largely the same people (Don Coscarelli works as producer/writer here, while Bannister, Baldwin, and Scrimm return in their respective roles), you have to appreciate it.

Even though I think the movie ends more on a whimper than a bang, this is still a solid movie, and probably the second best in the always-interesting Phantasm series. I like the first half more than the second, as it has a lot of buildup to it. As the…