Review of Phantasm (1979) by Scott P — 16 Mar 2011

I'm re-writing my review here. For years I owned this film, but kinda dismissed it. I enjoyed certain parts of the film, but the 70's pacing of the film REALLY got to me. I would only occasionally watch the film, but if I was remotely tired I would pass out. Then I watched Phantasm II after hearing that it was better than the first, which it is. After II blew me away, I decided to go back and check out the original.

The original is slow, dreamlike, and is very much influenced by Italian Horror. However under the right circumstances, this film is amazing. As another reviewer wrote that Phantasm is Don Coscarelli's acid trip on the dark side, and that is more or less exactly how this film should be treated and watched. Yes, it's sense of pacing and flow is somewhat off, but really that only helps further accomplish what this film sets out to do in the first place.

This film is weird and has a lot of the unexpected. The plot and ideas contained within are some of the most original and bizarre in any horror series. Trying to explain the plot of these films without giving too much of the craziness away is a difficult thing to do. Just grab a friend, sit them down, and watch this film because it's amazing. It's far from perfect (like Phantasm II) but man, is it awesome.