Here’s a look at another cult classic, bought to us by Dan Coscarelli—himself already a master of cult movies among cult movies like Bubba Ho-Tep and John Dies At The End. This one stands out even among those oddballs for its surrealism and psychedelic tone that could’ve only come out of this era—it’s Phantasm.
The plot is by itself not super complicated—we follow Michael Baldwin (no relation to the more famous acting dynasty) ends up trying to find the truth about a mysterious local mortician seemingly up to murderous things in the local cemetery. Said mortician, named simply as The Tall Man, is the real star of the proceedings—played by the very distinctive looking and voiced Angus Scrimm, who dominates every frame with that weird gaze and sheer presence. It’s that ability to capture something so ambitiously human that makes the film work at all.
That’s merely the beginning of the weird-ass visual touches that make the film what it is—among those are flying bladed chrome balls sent to pursue the unwary, as well as hooded dwarves resembling deranged Jawas made from bodies processed in an eldritch dimension accessed from beneath the cemetery…see what I mean now about the psychedelic feel to it all?
It’s that kind of logic that makes the whole thing feel like a bizarre dream—and with that, you’re either going to find it enjoyably atmospheric as hell, or just plain bizarre, with no in between. Everything depends on how you gel with the vibe—but to be fair, even then, there’s enough of those aforementioned touches to stick with you that might just make it worth a watch.
Some people have compared it to classic Italian horror films like Suspiria, which come to think of it is quite apt—those tended to have a rather on and off relationship with reality, in a way that American ones tended not to. This one captures some of that feeling with the more refined effects US productions tended to have, making it a nice marriage of mentalities.
Phantasm had a whole parade of sequels with Scrimm that aren’t as regarded, and went for a more conventional feeling—but compared to many other horror flicks that spewed a lesser series, this one still stands out by itself.
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