Review of Phantoms (1998) by Patrick E — 07 Jul 2010

"Phantoms" is a film based on the book of the same name by horror writer Dean Koontz, who also wrote the screenplay. Starring Rose McGowan, Ben Affleck and Liev Schreiber; you would wonder how a film with such a good cast could end being an average horror film, especially considering the very good source material that it's based on. Somehow director Joe Chappelle has managed to create a film with a great opening hour that's full of mystery and intrigue and largely mess it all up with poor storytelling in the second half.

The plot opens up with two sisters traveling to a small mountain town in America. When they get there they find the town completely deserted bar a few corpses that are scattered around the town. The next 20 minutes are great horror fun as the girls get more and more agitated as they try to figure out what's happening. When Affleck and Schreiber turn up as a couple of local cops, the film starts on its downward slope. The ideas behind "creature" and how it does what it does are excellent and quite original but it's how the horror elements and action are handled that lets the film down. The effects are pretty poor, there are very little scares and the final scene is utterly ridiculous. Still though excellent plotline manages to keep the film ticking along nicely and just about keeps the film above the mediocre bracket.

"Phantoms" is a film with an excellent premise that's executed poorly. There was plenty of scope for some great horror action but it never really materialised. The opening half hour is full of mystery and intrigue and coupled with the strong story this makes Phantoms worth checking out. It should have been much better though.