Oh "Boy!": A Look At Phantasm

"You play a good game boy, but the game is finished, now you die." - The Tall Man

Even as a young kid in the late 80's watching horror films, I never was too creeped out by much that I saw on the TV Screen. Sure, from time to time we'd rent a movie that would get me a little bit uneasy, but nothing really bugged me that much..until I finally saw Phantasm from 1977.

There was always just something about Phantasm that made my skin crawl. Maybe it was the creepy Tall Man (played brilliantly by Angus Scrimm). Perhaps it was the creepy feeling each film seemed to have? I'm not 100% sure but what I am sure of is the movie and each sequel to follow kinda freaked me out a bit. If anything, Phantasm was just different. There wasn't a Freddy, Jason, or even Michael. There was a simply Reggie and (more times than not) Mike dealing with a never ending onslaught from The Tall Man, his shiny flaying spears, and his army of minions. In most horror films you could always assume there would be an "out" for our hero. All the villains I named above would always get stopped for at least a little while before returning. As the story moved along in Phantasm, The Tall Man seemed to always keep the upper-hand and just when you thought different you were proven wrong by the time the credits rolled.

So by the time part 3 rolled around I just knew things wouldn't end well and I approached each new Phantasm film like a virgin on prom night that just knew "it" was going to happen. I was excited, but at the same time nervous. Would Reggie be killed this time? Was Reggie or Mike already dead? Would they finally stop The Tall Man? Or is this to be the film where he finally succeeds in taking over completely. You could never get use to anything or anyone in a Phantasm film because usually they'd never make it (like poor Liz who dies in the first few moments of part 3) or they (or what we were seeing for that matter) never were what they seemed to be to start with. There was always a cloud of uncertainty with Phantasm, and it helped the movies out a great deal..and it also made me very nervous as a kid into my teen years.

By the time we got to Phantasm IV: Oblivion in 1998 I was a freshmen in high school and I honestly wasn't watching that many horror flicks at the time. But I still made it my point to run down to the local video store (which shockingly is still open but that's another story), run to the horror section, and rent the movie..on VHS, as I was still rocking the VCR at the time. By the time the movie ended most people were left thinking we'd get more. Nobody was pulled through a window or glass, but it just seemed lacking in a ways. With Reggie ready to go to war with The Tall Man one more time, nobody thought the imagine of Mike climbing into Reggie's ice cream truck and driving off into the night would be our last image from the Phantasm franchise. Now today I sit here on August 17th, 2010 with no other Phantasm film to talk about because to this day, that was it.

A fifth and assumed final Phantasm movie has been talked about now for well over twelve years. Rumors have flew here and there about a possible sequel even going as far as to link Roger Avery and Bruce Campbell to the film, yet nothing has ever came of these rumors. Phantasm 5 (aka Phantasm's End aka Phantasm: The End) is not only not out yet, it's not even in pre-production. So now one kinda has to realize that we probably never will get one last entry into Phantasm, at least not without it coming in the form of a reboot/remake anyway. If there ever was going to be a 5 now would be the time to do it. Angus Scrimm isn't getting any young as he's 82 now. I'm also sure Reggie (Reggie Bannister) and Mike (the original A.Michael Baldwin one) would be ready to go as well, seeing as how I don't recall either of them doing much now days. But none the less, at the end of the day, it's probably all wishful thinking that won't amount to anything.

But we still have the memories and copies (be it VHS, DVD, or whatever) of one of the more original and creepy horror franchises to ever come along to keep us company.

Source: http://zombiesdontrun.blogspot.com/2010/08/oh-boy-look-at-phantasm.html