It warms my heart when i see success stories like this. A one man project and it reached cult status. It really shows that anyone can do something out of a shoe string budget. Well done Coscarelli!
Great point. Original ideas and creativity can overcome a small budget. This guy is inspiring because he just kept grinding away out of his live for the craft.
For sure! It's such an amazing film and just the fact it got finished is amazing. It makes me wonder if Sam Raimi and his gang were inspired by it. It was made a bit before Fangoria magazine, so it never got a full front cover spread but it did get a photo on the famous, lefthand side filmreel. I'm blanking on the exact issue number, but it was early on, definately one of the first 10 issues. Maybe #2 or the one with Fulci's Zombi on the cover. Number 8 possibly. The Memory aint what it once was. Lol Cheers from Canada
I do like this franchise's dedication to it's weird lore and returning characters you never see in other things. I love that the ice cream man ends up being the main character by default just because he keeps coming back.
Do you know the story about the casting for part 2? The studio said to Don, "You can only keep one. Reggie Bannister or Michael Baldwin." Tough choice, considering both were friends but yeah. He picked Reggie, the only true, "Ice Cream Man." LoL It's okay though. Michael is brought back in the next 3 :) Cheers from Canada
I've always liked the background music to this franchise and I've always thought The Tall Man has been severely underrated when it comes down to horror movie villains.
Death Metal legends Entombed used the melody at the end of their song Left Hand Path, which I knew before I saw this movie back in the ninetees. It's an unforgettable melody
It was so WEIRD when I heard it sampled in a Master P song. I bought his Ghetto D album back in 1997, and when "Pass Me the Green" came on, the Phantasm theme was the beat, and it was awesome, but I don't think they credited it in the linear notes. th-cam.com/video/B_yBoAuKTcU/w-d-xo.html
For sure. The character is underated. I love him so much, that when I bought the original McFarland figure, I actually opened it! Lol Usually, us older collectors have to keep everything, MOC and sealed. But this one I had to open!! It comes with a "Jawa" , the killer Sphere and a mini, movie poster! For me, it's all about displayability! Also, Angus was one of the coolest comicon guests ever. Just an awesome, humble man, Who loved to tell stories and hang out with the fans. R.I.P.
Met Don at an Alamo Drafthouse screening, and the vibe I got from him and watching him interact with everyone is that he's a genuinely nice guy. Just seemed to actually care about people and being friendly. He signed my bottle of soy sauce and told me not to die in the end. ;D
Considering the intervals between entries in this series, Coscarelli's dedication to his story and characters is inspiring as well as his ability to get a lot of the same performers back in his projects. It's oddly endearing on some level.
It's great! You just don't see that dedication very often. It was because of Don. When you see a man, who is that passionate about his project, you'll have people working for free, just to help out! Cheers from Canada
Yes, it's finally happening. The talll man gets his 15 minutes of fame. Is Burt and Peral still planing you're soul for feasting. You live a interesting life Brad.
Ice-cream man vs the tall man is the best horror battle from straight forward horror to weird apocalypse horror and horror comedy what a neat series glad I bought the DVD collection of the entire series 2 years ago
That's cool. I'd really like to pick it up but it was really expensive, the last time I checked. I do still have my VHS copies of parts 1 and 2. I looked everywhere, back in the 90's and I could never find the original. I live in Montreal and back then, we didn't even have "Combos", "Pringles", Taco Bell and Dr. Pepper here! Lol It was only when I got my drivers license and a car, that I was able to drive almost 2 hours to Plattsburg New York! The mall there was like Shangri la ;) They had Taco bell, Fangoria magazines, Combos and in one small home movie store, they had Phantasm!! It was close to 30$ U.S. ! A small fortune for me back then. But I had to have it!!! Almost 30 years and a collection of over 2000 movies later and it's still one of my favorites. Right next to Friday the 13, 1 through 4, on Beta! And in French!!! I don't even have a working Beta VCR anymore. LoL Cheers from Canada
I watched this for the first time a couple years ago. I felt like it was really ahead of its time. It really holds up to this day. I also really appreciate the 70's look and feel of the film from the interior house sets to the mainstreet scene.
The Spheres were of course the direct influence for several things such as one of the coolest weapons in videogames,the Cerebral Bore from Turok 2. Don Coscarelli is probably the best out of all the B directors. He always tried to reach as far as he could and sometimes further given his budgets. Films like Beast master,Bubba Ho-Tep and John dies at the End and the other Phantasm films are all extremely interesting and well made. He proves that Hollywood and their bloated budgets for films are unnecessary and have only helped the film to industry slowly die. We need more filmmakers like this.
It's been revealed by the showrunners that Supernatural's black Impala was based on the Cuda in the movie, and some of the show's elements, like a pair of brothers as the main characters, were inspired from the movie.
I glad that someone on TH-cam has finally did a review of this movie. It's one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. I wish I could have seen it in the theater.
Brandon is awesome! He's a fellow Canadian, plays in a rock band and looks like "Dexter" He's also really good at reviewing movies too!! Cheers from Canada
Thanks for writing back. I'm really happy to "introduce" you to the newer films :) If you enjoy them or not, will be a totally different story, as they can be polarizing at times! I've "only" seen them 2 or 3 times. They are very low budget, leaving some of the special effects looking a bit dated. But most fans are there for the story and mood, so the good news is that the low budget allows the series to return to it's roots! I don't want to say much more because if you're like me, you prefer to approach a movie, as "blindly" as possible. Hope you enjoy them and if you want, feel free to send me a message, letting me know what you think :) Cheers from Canada
I do love this movie. It's got a beauty of a car in that black '71 Cuda, and the relationship between Mike and Jody is great. I would have actually liked to have seen the full 3 hour cut because the slice of life aspects to this movie are pretty entertaining. Seeing Jody trying to deal with raising his brother with Reggie and the girls in the mix would have been kind of fun. There's a deleted scene where Jody gets himself and Mike get drunk, and then they go to Reggie's ice cream parlor and trash the place. The ending disappointed me, though, and I believe that test audiences also felt let down by it. I can understand where Coscarelli was going, but it's such a downer ending for these characters. It also makes a lot less sense if you've read any of the novelization that Coscarelli's mother wrote. The aunt that Jody says he wants to dump Mike with doesn't think Jody is a good guardian and there's no way she's let Mike be taken care of by Jody's hippie ice cream friend. Also, it complicates the sequels in that they shouldn't still have the Cuda if Jody died crashing it.
Thanks for some new facts I didn't know about. Are the books expensive? Did they issue books for all of the movies? I was lucky enough to find the books for Halloween, 1 and 2 but never knew about these. Cheers from Canada
@@steveharvey2102 The novelization was never actually released. You can find the first parts of it online if you search hard enough for it. I forget where I saw it. It encompasses the movie through the point where Mike interrupts Jody's make-out session in the cemetery, and includes a few scenes not in the film. Mike goes to visit their old aunt (I think a great-aunt, actually, cuz she's like 80 or something) for breakfast. It's in this dialogue that her feelings about Jody are revealed. Also the scene when Jody and Reggie are jamming at their house is expanded and Jody laments more about being stuck at home taking care of Mike. Before he came home for their parents' funeral a couple years ago, he was a roadie for the Rolling Stones and misses the travel and "sex, drugs, rock-and-roll" life-style, but he also loves his brother and acknowledges that it would kill the kid if Jody abandoned him. so he feels stuck between a rock and a hard place. Something to remember if you find it, is that Coscarelli's mother wrote romance novels, so there is definitely a feeling of that kind of writing style in the novelization.
That's really fascinating. I'll look around and see what I can find. I really like the fact that the movie is a family affair. Whenever I was working on one of my no budget films, all my Mother did, was complain! about the noise. Lol Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it :) Cheers.
@@steveharvey2102 It looks like I've been mistaken. I decided to dig around a bit and it looks like the full novel did get released, but with only one very limited printing... in Japan. But apparently, a 500 print run was done for the US in 2002. I'd like to find a copy myself, but probably good luck with that. :P
Phantasm turns 45! Rewatched it on Amazon prime video A creative and artful and gothic horror movie It perfectly captures the terror and absurdity of childhood nightmares almost plays out like a hazy memory of a paranoid fantasy So much of the visual imagery has dreamlike sequences and vivid colors What's funny is that this makes so many references to other sci-fi stories of the era The Tall Man himself is mysterious and unsettling along with the lighting, the shadows Plus the tone of the movie are very creepy Although it's not very scary but still cool Not to mention the death spheres are slick, too Fred Myrow's synthesizer score works to great effect complimenting the complex themes throughout such as teenage fears, mourning, loss, and confronting death Mike is pretty good as the protagonist but I like his brother more since they both share that strong bond that gets them through defeating the evil mortician, in a way it might even be an exploration of a grieving child's psyche as a coping mechanism given the final scene at the end Low budget and only 89 minutes but has such imaginative dream like quality It's worth a watch after all this time even if the plot goes from mere camp to ridiculousness and the acting is stiff in spots It's a shame the actor Angus Scrimm as the villain himself passed away in 2016 at 89 But he made a memorable boogeyman in horror
i met my best friend in the 4th grade..after we both saw Phantasm on early 80s cable ...we were both talking about its greatness on the playground the next day... :p
Yeah I remember when me and my brothers was watching his movie when we were young and we were talkin about how freakishly strong The Tall Man was, his deadlifting a coffin.
I love this series! When i was a teenager i had never really watched horror movies before as they scared me too much, but my stepbrother got me to watch the Evil Dead trilogy. After I watched all of those a lot, i wanted to try something new, and my local video store rental lady recommended Phantasm. I ended up loving it, watched all 3 sequels that were out at the time, got some of my friends into the series, and we all got super excited when the 5th film finally came out a few years back. Unfortunately the 5th film is... not great, but it's tolerable I'd say if you're a big fan of the series.
I never ever thought they were side shadowing Jody's actual fate the whole movie. That really bends the movie in a deep and interesting way. Much thanx!
When I went and stayed with my grandma last month we started rewatching Dallas. It’s all on streaming. It had a disco version of the shows song. I had this movie on vhs as a kid. I watched it thousands of times.
The sequels messed up the way I thought about phantasm. I used to see it as the first part of the franchise. This video helped me see the themes that I missed. Thanks a bunch. Keep up the good work!
My favourite horror film, and my second favourite film of all time. I've watched it dozens of times, including seeing the restored print in cinemas a couple of times, and never get tired of it. Fear of death and what happens after death, loss, loneliness, abandonment, trying to grow up while simultaneously holding on to youth, all themes dealt with in Phantasm. Spoiler alert, but In Phantasm II, we learn Mike is still asleep and dreaming of being pulled through the mirror, and Reggie saving him from the dwarves by blowing up his own house. Mike wakes up in Morningside Psychiatric Hospital, is released the following day, after many years of therapy, and after meeting Reggie later that night, what Mike saw for years in his dreams [ the explosion of Reggie's house ] starts to happen in their real life.
Cool first part of your message but why say spoilers, just to describe the 2nd movie?? It seems a bit pointless. When people say spoilers, it's so they can talk about something a bit more specific, than just describe the story, beat for beat. It's a free country but it would be super cool if you deleted the plot summary, unless you wanted to talk about something specific. Like special effects, a certain actors performance, or maybe what the bigger budget did and how it effected the film. Hope I'm not coming off as rude. I just want to "protect" people who loved this review and wanted to see where things go from here. Cheers.
19:40 When you mentioned, "the mourning process" I had a lash to the name of the cemetary, "Morningside." I can't believe I've seen this movie a dozen times and never noticed that. This movie is so much like a nightmare! I guess I was too entranced by it to see the connection! Thanks Friendly Neighborhood Cinema Snob! :) That's the beauty of this movie, every time I see it, I notice something new. I Love it!
Angus Scrimm. Played the "Tall Man." He was 6'4" so he wore three inch lifts in his shoes. To extend his height to 6'7". Angus was a gifted musician and Grammy winner. He was reputed to be a very kind man. In contrast to the menacing characters he played.
I remember I discovered this movie when the tall man was featured in that horror movie fighting game. I looked up the movie he came from and watched it and I love it so much and always try to show it at hangouts
2:45 Hey, that mansion in the background is in OAKLAND, CA! Near where I live! It was also used for a set in "A View to a Kill". 6:08 "Fear is the tiny death that brings oblivion."
Angus Scrimm also did a commercial for Fangoria magazine in 1988, which is, funnily enough, where I first recognized him from, since I haven't seen this film, but now I definitely want to.
Fun Fact: Don Coscarelli rented all of the filming equipment used to make this movie, always on Fridays so he could use it all weekend and return it on Mondays, all the while only actually having to pay one day's rental on the equipment.
The holy trinity of youtube reviewers covering this movie is complete. Love it when Brandon Tenold, GoodBad Flicks,, and the Snob cover the same movie. Only wish that Snob would go back to being angry. SOO much better
I watched all of these movies a few years ago with my best friend over a series of months. He’s always been a huge fan of the franchise but he knows they “vary in quality”, let’s say. We had a great time, laughed A LOT.
To quote Decker Shado: The man in the suit. He's on the street. The man in the suit. He can't be beat. The man in the suit. He's in control. The man in the suit. He wants your soul.
I'm so glad you finally got to review this! The movie is so good and The Tall Man is up there with my favourite horror icons! Thank you for a great review!
Every time I watch this movie and see The Tall Man, I can’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like if Christopher Lee played him. Don’t get me wrong, Angus Scrimm truly made this character iconic but imagine Lee’s intimidating presence and commanding voice in this film! Would’ve been fascinating and even more terrifying.
It's an interesting what if? I Love Angus Scrimm in the role because he is, "The Tall Man" Christopher Lee is an All-Time legend, around the same notoriety as Vincent price. Lee is greqat in everything he does. Everything! There are no exceptions! Well, there was that one character he played. What was his name? I think Nic Cage played him too. I never saw the movie but the preview looked great ;) I'm sure you realised I was Troll2ing after 2 or 3 sentences. It's evident you know a lot about film. Please allow me to continue, in total sincerity. My issue with Lee as the tall man, has to do with his notoriety. No matter how good of an actor he is, or how strong the performance was. He would still be playing a role. That's also why Angus IS The Tallman. It's his overall lack of notoriety, plus his great performance. I guess it depends on the person but when I watch Phantasm and see The Tall Man, I don't want to think of, Dracula, The man with the Golden gun or count Dooku. Which I know came after, chronologically but I hope I'm getting my point across. At least a bit. Lol It's the same reason Lucas wanted fresh faces, for his trio and fought against putting Harrison Ford in there. It all comes down to immersion and I feel the same way here. Yes, having a big name for Phantasm, could have made it a massive moneymaker but the film would have lost a lot of it's impact, imho. So, my eyesight is crap but it looks to me that you may have made your own "bot"! Is that the case? Are you a fellow fan of the Masters of the Riff? The Film Crew? LoL Sorry, I'm a snarky asshole, I know. But we are in the right place for it ;) My sister and I made our own Tom Servo and Cosplayed as Mike & Joel! That was at the Toronto, Fanexpo, (essentially, the Canadian Comicon). Anyway, your bot looks cool and I wanted to give you "props". I know they can be "trouble" sometimes. Cheers from Canada
Hey Snob, I deal with alot of stuff (Bi-polar type 2, ADHD and PTSD) and watching your videos really keeps me positive. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! Cheers Snob!
I would love to see a three hour cut of Phantasm. I didn't get to see this until it played on HBO in either very late '79 or 1980, but I knew from that very first viewing that this was going to be a cult classic. It has a wonderful otherworldly quality that doesn't make sense if you think about it too much but I'm not one of those people who needs to pick apart a movie and expand on plotholes and just enjoy the experience. I'm not sure if I saw Kenny and Company before or after seeing Phantasm. I really liked it and it's a little gem that needs to be rediscovered. I sometimes wish these review videos would spotlight overlooked films from the past instead of featuring trash like Caddyshack 2. I still haven't seen any of the sequels. I was happy when it was released on blu-ray a few years ago and is now part of my library. The 70's and 80's were the Silver Age of horror films and Phantasm was a good send off to the 70's.
I love how the movie kind of anticipates and answers criticisms of it. We have this somewhat nonlinear phantasmagoria of American teenage boyhood obsessions - dirt bikes, cars, guns, sex, science fiction, death - that doesn't seem to be anything more than strong subconscious associations bumping into each other and bubbling up until the ending when it is revealed that that was the entire point.
The Thing, this movie, Dead & Buried, The Changeling and Alien were my favorite horror movies. Phantasm delivers more bang for the buck than flicks with ten times the budget.
Angus Scrimm is my favorite actor. And Phantasm is my favorite series. Everything is so weird! When one of your main characters is an ice cream man with a quad shotgun, you know you have something awesome! But Scrimm makes everything SUPER intense and spooky!
This is one of the best reviews I've seen on Phantasm and it's themes. The majority of the reviews I've seen focus more on the surface level details rather than what the imagery represents. I love this series. The original is by far my favorite but every one of them has something to enjoy and the end of Oblivion, while a flawed film, sets up some fascinating ideas and serves as a perfect ending to the series and Mike's journey. Ravenger is nice epilogue that concludes Reggie's character arc.
I own the Anchor Bay collections on dvd of Phantasm which I really loved it and last year I own the remastered edition on blu-ray which includes part 2 of Phantasm and a double side posters and the film got me the Claremont California vibe when I walking in the sidewalk and I could hear the theme song in my head and phantasm does have some horror reference and that guy who got drill on he's head and then he pissed himself I had a feeling he never went to the bathroom during his late shift🤷♂️
I've never been a horror-phile, but I remember with a bizarre fondness these flicks of my youth. Hell, I'm still trying to track down the one where an asylum is slowly getting murdered off by golums controlled by a paralyzed maniac.
UH, Speaking from experience... Coffins are HEAVY. A wooden coffin is VERY HEAVY. A typical wood coffin is 150-250 lbs, add the weight of an average person, around 200+. So very easy to have about 500+ lbs of weight to carry. Not easy.
I've been dreaming for this one, for a long time! Haven't rewatched "Phantasm" in about a year but I did watch, "The Pit" last month! So around the 8 minute mark, when Michael A. is running in the dark, I got worried for a second. Watch out for holes in the ground!! Even if they're only 6 feet deep!! Where's Michael C. ? ;)
It warms my heart when i see success stories like this. A one man project and it reached cult status. It really shows that anyone can do something out of a shoe string budget. Well done Coscarelli!
Great point. Original ideas and creativity can overcome a small budget. This guy is inspiring because he just kept grinding away out of his live for the craft.
If I recall his Father funded the project. But it's still impressive. Listen to the director commentary.
I'm 51 years old now I still remember when I was like 11 or 12 when I saw this scary sh*t especially Angus scrimm playing the tall man
For sure! It's such an amazing film and just the fact it got finished is amazing.
It makes me wonder if Sam Raimi and his gang were inspired by it.
It was made a bit before Fangoria magazine, so it never got a full front cover spread but it did get a photo on the famous, lefthand side filmreel.
I'm blanking on the exact issue number, but it was early on, definately one of the first 10 issues. Maybe #2 or the one with Fulci's Zombi on the cover. Number 8 possibly.
The Memory aint what it once was. Lol
Cheers from Canada
No matter how successful the movie was it’s impressive what they managed to do.
Rest in peace Angus Scrimm. Phenomenal actor.
Ya he was a lot better actor than modern people. Super smart guy should of been in more stuff.
&, like a lot of actors who were known for playing villains or unsavory characters, by all accounts, a genuine gentleman.
I do like this franchise's dedication to it's weird lore and returning characters you never see in other things. I love that the ice cream man ends up being the main character by default just because he keeps coming back.
Do you know the story about the casting for
part 2?
The studio said to Don,
"You can only keep one. Reggie Bannister or Michael Baldwin."
Tough choice, considering both were friends but yeah. He picked Reggie, the only true, "Ice Cream Man." LoL
It's okay though. Michael is brought back in the next 3 :)
Cheers from Canada
To bad we will never get a new phantasm movie. Now that Angus is dead. Nobody else can play the tall man.
I've always liked the background music to this franchise and I've always thought The Tall Man has been severely underrated when it comes down to horror movie villains.
Death Metal legends Entombed used the melody at the end of their song Left Hand Path, which I knew before I saw this movie back in the ninetees. It's an unforgettable melody
Same. I have it on a new metroid game playlist
It was so WEIRD when I heard it sampled in a Master P song. I bought his Ghetto D album back in 1997, and when "Pass Me the Green" came on, the Phantasm theme was the beat, and it was awesome, but I don't think they credited it in the linear notes.
th-cam.com/video/B_yBoAuKTcU/w-d-xo.html
Cool fact! Thanks
For sure. The character is underated. I love him so much, that when I bought the original McFarland figure, I actually opened it!
Lol
Usually, us older collectors have to keep everything, MOC and sealed.
But this one I had to open!! It comes with a "Jawa" , the killer Sphere and a mini, movie poster!
For me, it's all about displayability!
Also, Angus was one of the coolest comicon guests ever. Just an awesome, humble man, Who loved to tell stories and hang out with the fans.
R.I.P.
Met Don at an Alamo Drafthouse screening, and the vibe I got from him and watching him interact with everyone is that he's a genuinely nice guy.
Just seemed to actually care about people and being friendly.
He signed my bottle of soy sauce and told me not to die in the end. ;D
Hahaha that's awesome. Do you still have the soy sauce bottle?
I wish they would make a Phantasm tv show. But nobody can play the tall man. RIP Angus
Considering the intervals between entries in this series, Coscarelli's dedication to his story and characters is inspiring as well as his ability to get a lot of the same performers back in his projects. It's oddly endearing on some level.
It's great! You just don't see that dedication very often.
It was because of Don. When you see a man, who is that passionate about his project, you'll have people working for free, just to help out!
Cheers from Canada
Agreed…and something that isn’t derivative. Very unique. A very weird universe.
It's the only horror franchise that had the same people. Except part 2 but that movie kicks ass.
Yes, it's finally happening. The talll man gets his 15 minutes of fame. Is Burt and Peral still planing you're soul for feasting. You live a interesting life Brad.
The Tall Man always seemed so overwhelming as a kid. I love it.
Ice-cream man vs the tall man is the best horror battle from straight forward horror to weird apocalypse horror and horror comedy what a neat series glad I bought the DVD collection of the entire series 2 years ago
That's cool. I'd really like to pick it up but it was really expensive, the last time I checked.
I do still have my VHS copies of parts 1 and 2.
I looked everywhere, back in the 90's and I could never find the original.
I live in Montreal and back then, we didn't even have "Combos", "Pringles", Taco Bell and Dr. Pepper here! Lol
It was only when I got my drivers license and a car, that I was able to drive almost 2 hours to Plattsburg New York!
The mall there was like Shangri la ;)
They had Taco bell, Fangoria magazines, Combos and in one small home movie store, they had Phantasm!!
It was close to 30$ U.S. !
A small fortune for me back then. But I had to have it!!!
Almost 30 years and a collection of over 2000 movies later and it's still one of my favorites.
Right next to Friday the 13, 1 through 4, on Beta!
And in French!!!
I don't even have a working Beta VCR anymore. LoL
Cheers from Canada
I watched this for the first time a couple years ago. I felt like it was really ahead of its time. It really holds up to this day. I also really appreciate the 70's look and feel of the film from the interior house sets to the mainstreet scene.
For sure!
One of the most important things for me, when it comes to horror movies, is mood and this one is seeping out with mood and style!
Cheers.
I used to love these movies when I was a teen. The metal balls freaked me out, lol. Also r.i.p Angus Scrimm.
I have an unreasonable level of love for this film, partly because the commercials were the first freak my shit out when I was 8. Best tagline ever!
love this series! my favorite line is from the second one: "You think when you die you go to Heaven? YOU COME TO US."
Great line scary to think how true that could be😢😢😢
The camera angels in Phantasm are textbook Hitchcock. Such a vibe!
The Spheres were of course the direct influence for several things such as one of the coolest weapons in videogames,the Cerebral Bore from Turok 2. Don Coscarelli is probably the best out of all the B directors. He always tried to reach as far as he could and sometimes further given his budgets. Films like Beast master,Bubba Ho-Tep and John dies at the End and the other Phantasm films are all extremely interesting and well made. He proves that Hollywood and their bloated budgets for films are unnecessary and have only helped the film to industry slowly die. We need more filmmakers like this.
It's been revealed by the showrunners that Supernatural's black Impala was based on the Cuda in the movie, and some of the show's elements, like a pair of brothers as the main characters, were inspired from the movie.
This movie is soooo amazing.
I glad that someone on TH-cam has finally did a review of this movie. It's one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. I wish I could have seen it in the theater.
If you search for reviews of this movie on TH-cam you will find mountains of them.
Brandon Tenold did one as well.
@@hew2356Theres another youtuber called Decka Shadow who has fone the entire franchise. It goes.... places.
Brandon is awesome!
He's a fellow Canadian, plays in a rock band and looks like "Dexter"
He's also really good at reviewing movies too!!
Cheers from Canada
@@steveharvey2102 He is, I'm a fan of his work, and I think he's cute.
My favorite line in the whole movie, "You gotta be shittin me man, that mothers strooooong!" - Mike
these three films are legendary horror, and it goes without saying a must watch for horror fans. so awesome.
Five.
I'll be a bit more classy and ask you if your "3" was a typo?
Or, if there are only 3 of the 5 that you have seen, or liked.
Cheers from Canada
@@steveharvey2102 awesome! i only knew of the first 3! thanks brother you rock!
@@shardinhand1243 4 and 5 weren't the best but I did enjoy them immensely myself.
Thanks for writing back. I'm really happy to "introduce" you to the newer films :)
If you enjoy them or not, will be a totally different story, as they can be polarizing at times!
I've "only" seen them 2 or 3 times. They are very low budget, leaving some of the special effects looking a bit dated.
But most fans are there for the story and mood, so the good news is that the low budget allows the series to return to it's roots!
I don't want to say much more because if you're like me, you prefer to approach a movie, as "blindly" as possible.
Hope you enjoy them and if you want, feel free to send me a message,
letting me know what you think :)
Cheers from Canada
I do love this movie. It's got a beauty of a car in that black '71 Cuda, and the relationship between Mike and Jody is great. I would have actually liked to have seen the full 3 hour cut because the slice of life aspects to this movie are pretty entertaining. Seeing Jody trying to deal with raising his brother with Reggie and the girls in the mix would have been kind of fun. There's a deleted scene where Jody gets himself and Mike get drunk, and then they go to Reggie's ice cream parlor and trash the place.
The ending disappointed me, though, and I believe that test audiences also felt let down by it. I can understand where Coscarelli was going, but it's such a downer ending for these characters. It also makes a lot less sense if you've read any of the novelization that Coscarelli's mother wrote. The aunt that Jody says he wants to dump Mike with doesn't think Jody is a good guardian and there's no way she's let Mike be taken care of by Jody's hippie ice cream friend. Also, it complicates the sequels in that they shouldn't still have the Cuda if Jody died crashing it.
Thanks for some new facts I didn't know about.
Are the books expensive?
Did they issue books for all of the movies?
I was lucky enough to find the books for Halloween, 1 and 2 but never knew about these.
Cheers from Canada
@@steveharvey2102 The novelization was never actually released. You can find the first parts of it online if you search hard enough for it. I forget where I saw it. It encompasses the movie through the point where Mike interrupts Jody's make-out session in the cemetery, and includes a few scenes not in the film. Mike goes to visit their old aunt (I think a great-aunt, actually, cuz she's like 80 or something) for breakfast. It's in this dialogue that her feelings about Jody are revealed. Also the scene when Jody and Reggie are jamming at their house is expanded and Jody laments more about being stuck at home taking care of Mike. Before he came home for their parents' funeral a couple years ago, he was a roadie for the Rolling Stones and misses the travel and "sex, drugs, rock-and-roll" life-style, but he also loves his brother and acknowledges that it would kill the kid if Jody abandoned him. so he feels stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Something to remember if you find it, is that Coscarelli's mother wrote romance novels, so there is definitely a feeling of that kind of writing style in the novelization.
That's really fascinating. I'll look around and see what I can find.
I really like the fact that the movie is a family affair. Whenever I was working on one of my no budget films, all my Mother did, was complain! about the noise. Lol
Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it :)
Cheers.
@@steveharvey2102 It looks like I've been mistaken. I decided to dig around a bit and it looks like the full novel did get released, but with only one very limited printing... in Japan. But apparently, a 500 print run was done for the US in 2002. I'd like to find a copy myself, but probably good luck with that. :P
Man I miss watching these movies. They were always a great time and so spooky too.
Phantasm turns 45!
Rewatched it on Amazon prime video
A creative and artful and gothic horror movie
It perfectly captures the terror and absurdity of childhood nightmares almost plays out like a hazy memory of a paranoid fantasy
So much of the visual imagery has dreamlike sequences and vivid colors
What's funny is that this makes so many references to other sci-fi stories of the era
The Tall Man himself is mysterious and unsettling along with the lighting, the shadows
Plus the tone of the movie are very creepy
Although it's not very scary but still cool
Not to mention the death spheres are slick, too
Fred Myrow's synthesizer score works to great effect complimenting the complex themes throughout such as teenage fears, mourning, loss, and confronting death
Mike is pretty good as the protagonist but I like his brother more since they both share that strong bond that gets them through defeating the evil mortician, in a way it might even be an exploration of a grieving child's psyche as a coping mechanism given the final scene at the end
Low budget and only 89 minutes but has such imaginative dream like quality
It's worth a watch after all this time even if the plot goes from mere camp to ridiculousness and the acting is stiff in spots
It's a shame the actor Angus Scrimm as the villain himself passed away in 2016 at 89
But he made a memorable boogeyman in horror
i met my best friend in the 4th grade..after we both saw Phantasm on early 80s cable ...we were both talking about its greatness on the playground the next day... :p
I love this movie i picked the Blu-Ray up on a whim at walmart a couple of years ago and didn't regret it.
Yeah I remember when me and my brothers was watching his movie when we were young and we were talkin about how freakishly strong The Tall Man was, his deadlifting a coffin.
And also Corcarelli's 2000 era movie Bubba Ho Tep - Starring Bruce Campbell as retirement home Elvis, fighting an ancient egyptian demon! \😸/
That is a phenomenal movie!😊
It's based on a short story by Joe Lansdale but still totally feels like something Coscarelli would come up with on his own.
I love this series! When i was a teenager i had never really watched horror movies before as they scared me too much, but my stepbrother got me to watch the Evil Dead trilogy. After I watched all of those a lot, i wanted to try something new, and my local video store rental lady recommended Phantasm.
I ended up loving it, watched all 3 sequels that were out at the time, got some of my friends into the series, and we all got super excited when the 5th film finally came out a few years back. Unfortunately the 5th film is... not great, but it's tolerable I'd say if you're a big fan of the series.
I never ever thought they were side shadowing Jody's actual fate the whole movie. That really bends the movie in a deep and interesting way. Much thanx!
The 1970's, The Most Underrated Decade!! 😎
My favorite thing about this channel is finding movies that I wouldn't have looked at twice and falling in love with them.
Always been one of my favorites. Great to see all the love it gets
When I went and stayed with my grandma last month we started rewatching Dallas. It’s all on streaming. It had a disco version of the shows song. I had this movie on vhs as a kid. I watched it thousands of times.
The sequels messed up the way I thought about phantasm. I used to see it as the first part of the franchise. This video helped me see the themes that I missed. Thanks a bunch. Keep up the good work!
My favourite horror film, and my second favourite film of all time. I've watched it dozens of times, including seeing the restored print in cinemas a couple of times, and never get tired of it. Fear of death and what happens after death, loss, loneliness, abandonment, trying to grow up while simultaneously holding on to youth, all themes dealt with in Phantasm.
Spoiler alert, but
In Phantasm II, we learn Mike is still asleep and dreaming of being pulled through the mirror, and Reggie saving him from the dwarves by blowing up his own house. Mike wakes up in Morningside Psychiatric Hospital, is released the following day, after many years of therapy, and after meeting Reggie later that night, what Mike saw for years in his dreams [ the explosion of Reggie's house ] starts to happen in their real life.
Cool first part of your message but why say spoilers, just to describe the 2nd movie??
It seems a bit pointless.
When people say spoilers, it's so they can talk about something a bit more specific, than just describe the story, beat for beat.
It's a free country but it would be super cool if you deleted the plot summary, unless you wanted to talk about something specific.
Like special effects, a certain actors performance, or maybe what the bigger budget did and how it effected the film.
Hope I'm not coming off as rude. I just want to "protect" people who loved this review and wanted to see where things go from here.
Cheers.
it's been years, and finally this series will be snobbed, nice
19:40
When you mentioned, "the mourning process" I had a lash to the name of the cemetary, "Morningside."
I can't believe I've seen this movie a dozen times and never noticed that.
This movie is so much like a nightmare! I guess I was too entranced by it to see the connection!
Thanks Friendly Neighborhood Cinema Snob! :)
That's the beauty of this movie, every time I see it, I notice something new. I Love it!
Angus Scrimm. Played the "Tall Man." He was 6'4" so he wore three inch lifts in his shoes. To extend his height to 6'7". Angus was a gifted musician and Grammy winner. He was reputed to be a very kind man. In contrast to the menacing characters he played.
Bicycle Repairman....my favorite Monty Python sketch haha
One of the best film scores from the 70s for me - Love it! 😀👍
I remember I discovered this movie when the tall man was featured in that horror movie fighting game. I looked up the movie he came from and watched it and I love it so much and always try to show it at hangouts
I know a lot of people didn't care for the sequels but I enjoyed all of them. Even Ravager was a great farewell tot he series.
2:45 Hey, that mansion in the background is in OAKLAND, CA! Near where I live! It was also used for a set in "A View to a Kill".
6:08 "Fear is the tiny death that brings oblivion."
Angus Scrimm also did a commercial for Fangoria magazine in 1988, which is, funnily enough, where I first recognized him from, since I haven't seen this film, but now I definitely want to.
Kenny & company is one of my favorites of all time!
Fun Fact: Don Coscarelli rented all of the filming equipment used to make this movie, always on Fridays so he could use it all weekend and return it on Mondays, all the while only actually having to pay one day's rental on the equipment.
Yeah he said that
Cool. I watched the video, too.
His rich Father also funded the movie.
Its so ironic I been seeing all these videos about the Phantasm....I watched all of them last week lol....such a classic RIP Angus Scrimm.
Finally!
Beautiful! ☆☆☆☆☆
Best to you-
The holy trinity of youtube reviewers covering this movie is complete. Love it when Brandon Tenold, GoodBad Flicks,, and the Snob cover the same movie. Only wish that Snob would go back to being angry. SOO much better
I watched all of these movies a few years ago with my best friend over a series of months. He’s always been a huge fan of the franchise but he knows they “vary in quality”, let’s say. We had a great time, laughed A LOT.
Hilarious 😂
Thanks, Brad. 🤘
Hope we eventually get reviews of the next 4!
I remember this movie being in heavy rotation on 'Sammy Terry' in the early 80's.
I saw Jump Scare Myrtle live in '76!
give me a hand/welcome to the dark brotherhood. Love this film, a lot of love and fun went into making it.
To quote Decker Shado:
The man in the suit. He's on the street.
The man in the suit. He can't be beat.
The man in the suit. He's in control.
The man in the suit. He wants your soul.
Phantasm is my favorite horror film for many reasons and this review was way funnier than I expected! I'm glad you enjoyed the movie.
I'm so glad you finally got to review this! The movie is so good and The Tall Man is up there with my favourite horror icons! Thank you for a great review!
Woo!!! Finally! I've seen this on the polls so many times and it's one of my favorites. Love the whole series honestly.
This movie ranked at #25 in the 100 scariest movie moments on Bravo, cool video as always Snob, you have a nice day sir
Phantasm is always enjoyable and kick ass to watch.
Side note, would like to see more Lloyd!
Thanks for all the backstory to this.
Finally! I have wanted this for so long!
Every time I watch this movie and see The Tall Man, I can’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like if Christopher Lee played him. Don’t get me wrong, Angus Scrimm truly made this character iconic but imagine Lee’s intimidating presence and commanding voice in this film! Would’ve been fascinating and even more terrifying.
It's an interesting what if?
I Love Angus Scrimm in the role because he is, "The Tall Man"
Christopher Lee is an All-Time legend, around the same notoriety as Vincent price. Lee is greqat in everything he does. Everything! There are no exceptions! Well, there was that one character he played. What was his name? I think Nic Cage played him too. I never saw the movie but the preview looked great ;)
I'm sure you realised I was Troll2ing after 2 or 3 sentences. It's evident you know a lot about film.
Please allow me to continue, in total sincerity.
My issue with Lee as the tall man, has to do with his notoriety.
No matter how good of an actor he is, or how strong the performance was. He would still be playing a role.
That's also why Angus IS The Tallman. It's his overall lack of notoriety, plus his great performance.
I guess it depends on the person but when I watch Phantasm and see The Tall Man, I don't want to think of, Dracula, The man with the Golden gun or count Dooku. Which I know came after, chronologically but I hope I'm getting my point across. At least a bit. Lol
It's the same reason Lucas wanted fresh faces, for his trio and fought against putting Harrison Ford in there.
It all comes down to immersion and I feel the same way here.
Yes, having a big name for Phantasm, could have made it a massive moneymaker but the film would have lost a lot of it's impact, imho.
So, my eyesight is crap but it looks to me that you may have made your own "bot"! Is that the case?
Are you a fellow fan of the Masters of the Riff? The Film Crew? LoL
Sorry, I'm a snarky asshole, I know.
But we are in the right place for it ;)
My sister and I made our own Tom Servo and Cosplayed as Mike & Joel!
That was at the Toronto, Fanexpo, (essentially, the Canadian Comicon).
Anyway, your bot looks cool and I wanted to give you "props". I know they can be "trouble" sometimes.
Cheers from Canada
One of my all-time favorite movies.
Love your reviews. insightful and very entertaining. Keep up the great work Brad.
Hey Snob, I deal with alot of stuff (Bi-polar type 2, ADHD and PTSD) and watching your videos really keeps me positive. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! Cheers Snob!
Im digging all the love the comment section is giving this movie, well deserved love!!
Thank you! I keep seeing this in the polls and it’s one of my favorite movies
i love the theme song
I would love to see a three hour cut of Phantasm. I didn't get to see this until it played on HBO in either very late '79 or 1980, but I knew from that very first viewing that this was going to be a cult classic. It has a wonderful otherworldly quality that doesn't make sense if you think about it too much but I'm not one of those people who needs to pick apart a movie and expand on plotholes and just enjoy the experience. I'm not sure if I saw Kenny and Company before or after seeing Phantasm. I really liked it and it's a little gem that needs to be rediscovered. I sometimes wish these review videos would spotlight overlooked films from the past instead of featuring trash like Caddyshack 2. I still haven't seen any of the sequels. I was happy when it was released on blu-ray a few years ago and is now part of my library. The 70's and 80's were the Silver Age of horror films and Phantasm was a good send off to the 70's.
Problem is they used aa lot of the cut scenes in phantasm 3 as "unseen" flashbacks...
I love how the movie kind of anticipates and answers criticisms of it. We have this somewhat nonlinear phantasmagoria of American teenage boyhood obsessions - dirt bikes, cars, guns, sex, science fiction, death - that doesn't seem to be anything more than strong subconscious associations bumping into each other and bubbling up until the ending when it is revealed that that was the entire point.
great movie. Saw it in the theater when i was 11
The Thing, this movie, Dead & Buried, The Changeling and Alien were my favorite horror movies. Phantasm delivers more bang for the buck than flicks with ten times the budget.
I saw Phantasm when it came out. I was 10 & Phantasm firmly cemented The Tall Man as my boogeyman for years :) that movie scared the he'll outta me!
Angus Scrimm is my favorite actor. And Phantasm is my favorite series. Everything is so weird! When one of your main characters is an ice cream man with a quad shotgun, you know you have something awesome! But Scrimm makes everything SUPER intense and spooky!
This is one of the best reviews I've seen on Phantasm and it's themes. The majority of the reviews I've seen focus more on the surface level details rather than what the imagery represents. I love this series. The original is by far my favorite but every one of them has something to enjoy and the end of Oblivion, while a flawed film, sets up some fascinating ideas and serves as a perfect ending to the series and Mike's journey. Ravenger is nice epilogue that concludes Reggie's character arc.
The trailers for this franchise intrigued me as a kid in the 80s but I didnt get to see these until kuch later.
Been waiting a loooong time for this one. 🎉
Immediately after the shotgun shell/hammer scene my mom looked at me and said "never do that" damn..lol
Tallman is such a cool dude!!!
I own the Anchor Bay collections on dvd of Phantasm which I really loved it and last year I own the remastered edition on blu-ray which includes part 2 of Phantasm and a double side posters and the film got me the Claremont California vibe when I walking in the sidewalk and I could hear the theme song in my head and phantasm does have some horror reference and that guy who got drill on he's head and then he pissed himself I had a feeling he never went to the bathroom during his late shift🤷♂️
I've never been a horror-phile, but I remember with a bizarre fondness these flicks of my youth. Hell, I'm still trying to track down the one where an asylum is slowly getting murdered off by golums controlled by a paralyzed maniac.
Do John Dies at the End please! I love that Don Coscarelli film 🙂
Been waiting for a review on this one for the longest time. Enjoyed!
I love this movie, I was mad at first when I saw you reviewing it. But you really explained why it's so good. Thanks shortman!
This is the best movie ever!
"Have you seen my baseball??" 11:29
LOL!!!!!
Well now i need the three hour cut!
The grandmother looks like she’s about to bust out crazy train with those glasses on 😂
9:54 HAHAHAHA I love that noise!
That disco track is fire!
Bro you are on fire lately. More plz.
UH, Speaking from experience... Coffins are HEAVY. A wooden coffin is VERY HEAVY. A typical wood coffin is 150-250 lbs, add the weight of an average person, around 200+. So very easy to have about 500+ lbs of weight to carry. Not easy.
I've been dreaming for this one, for a long time!
Haven't rewatched "Phantasm" in about a year but I did watch, "The Pit" last month!
So around the 8 minute mark, when Michael A. is running in the dark, I got worried for a second.
Watch out for holes in the ground!! Even if they're only 6 feet deep!! Where's Michael C. ? ;)
So happy that you have finally reviewed this cult classic!
i’ve never heard of this movie and now i can’t wait to watch it thank you!
A legit classic, the closest an American filmmaker came to successfully imitating Italian Horror.
Crazy how it took so many years for Brad to review this
“BOOY-um, I mean…SNNOOOOOOOBBBBB!”
It's now easy to tell which movie review is gonna be next from Brad!