Review of Phantasm (1979) by Grant P — 12 Oct 2008

Don Coscarelli's Phantasm is a unique horror film; perhaps my view of it is skewed as a result of a 29-year interval, but I feel that it has aged particularly well. In a time where horror is too literal, convoluted and tasteless, the majority of Phantasm is delightfully abstract and mysterious; Coscarelli is hesitant to paint a proverbial portrait or stage a predictable sequence. This is effective in the genre, because too frequently is an audience able to conclude a film before its final act.

Horror plots don't necessarily require a sense of logic (in fact, you'd find that most horror films play upon false scare tactics or image/shadow trickery), and Phantasm moderately operates within these means, but it remains curiously self-aware in tone. Phantasm's main characters possess a humorous disposition to an extent but not enough to qualify them as B-movie characters; the film is incredibly sly the way it utilizes story elements and genre conventions. It is not genuinely scary, but it is genuinely interesting.

For me, the most identifying scene in the entire film is Mike's first appearance, hidden in the bushes leering through a pair of binoculars at a funeral procession for his brother's friend, Tommy, who recently died. Another horror film would use gore and chaos to prove its point; Phantasm just lets the short scene quietly play with mystique. Later Tommy visits a fortune teller and explains that he "saw something really scary," and more is revealed. There's something elegant about this approach, and I admired it.

Conversely, however, the final act of the film becomes a bit silly and absurd. Although not entirely predictable, the action scenes overlap and also encumber the slower, more engrossing ones of the first half. Still, there's plenty to like here.