Phantasm (1979)

I don't generally like horror films, but "Phantasm" is an exception, because I actually find it more funny than scary.
I just found out it's going to be shown at the local film classics theater this coming week, so I am going to see it again, 40 years later! I saw it 3 or 4 times when it came out in 1979 and haven't seen it since, though my best friend and I thought it was funny and quite enjoyable.
Any fans of this movie?

 

I've got the entire series on DVD, although I wouldn't count any of them among my personal favourite horror flicks.

 

An effective film created with a shoestring budget. I have the DVD and like the film.

 

We had this on VHS when I was a kid. What wasn't there to like when you're a 10 to 12-year old boy?!

The protagonist was a 13-year old kid who road a motorcycle. Check.

Several scenes with boobies + lots of girls. Check.

The older brother jammed the guitar and drove a kick ass 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda. Check!

A flying ball that stuck to the forehead and drilled out blood. Check.

Jawas! Check!

A shape-shifting lead villain who bleeds yellow blood. Check.

A main theme soundtrack which was as catchy or better than those of its peers. Check!

I haven't seen this in ages and I doubt it would raise the same interest in me that it did when I was going through puberty, but no matter, it really served its purpose back in the day.

 

I love it and the first sequel. It's pretty much the same film with a better budget. In the same vein as Evil Dead 1 and 2 are. I have the workprint of Phantasm 2 as well and it even has more of the good stuff.

 

I quite like it. It has a bit of surrealism, and an amazing score. I think it really stands out among the sea of clone horror flicks from that era. And the latest Blu-ray edition is stellar; I highly recommend it. JJ Abrams' production company shelled out the bucks to do a proper restoration, and it looks and sounds excellent.

 

Anyone else think that Dean Norris and Reggie Bannister are pretty much the same person?



Dan

 

Great movie - saw it during it's first theatrical run.

Oof course, wearing 2019 goggles, it's just a cheaply made film with a nice little gimmick. However, I'm of the opinion that if you really want to get the most from these films, you transport yourself back to the time it was released. It's easy to laugh at it, but if you stop being critical it has some genuinely great moments.

The sequels are a case of diminishing returns. I have the series on DVD that shipped in a silver orb.

 

Ordered!

My 15-year old son needs to see this.

 

This.

I loved this movie when it came out. Subsequent sequels were less than satisfying.

 

Nope.

 

Amazing soundtracks. Something of a holy grail on original vinyl.

 

I've seen them all. The first one is a classic. Love it.

Boy!!!!

 

My old pal Dennis Rood at Image Entertainment produced the laserdisc (and I think the DVD) of this movie yeas ago, and he told me he had a great time interviewing writer/director Don Coscarelli. As the director related:

...[Coscarelli] dreamed of fleeing down endlessly long marble corridors, pursued by a chrome sphere intent on penetrating his skull with a wicked needle. There was also a quite futuristic "sphere dispenser" out of which the orbs would emerge and begin chasing him...

And that is a helluva image from the film. I can recall being absolutely blown away with the idea of a silver ball flying down hallways and drilling out people's brains. It's sick, clever, disgusting, and funny as hell... which pretty much describes the movie, too.

 

Phantasm is one of those films that grew on me with age. When I saw it as a kid I thought it was stupid. Now I think of it as genius. This is one film for which I can suspend my critical nature and become immersed in it.

Excellent film.

 

The trailer scared the crap out of me when it played on late night TV. My 11 year-old mind was traumatized over those flying spheres and The Tall Man.

 

A college buddy had Phantasm on laserdisc back in the early 80s. His TV monitor was powered by an in-line switch that responded to a handheld remote that put out a high pitched whistle. We’d watch the film. The flying sphere would do its work, his girlfriend would shriek, and the TV would instantly power off. Unnerving in so many ways.

 

It's got something. Can't put my finger on it exactly, but there's more to it than the horror-y sci fi stuff. In a sense, it was as entertaining as it was scary... in the same sense as The Lost Boys many years later.

 

The audience laughing at the sphere is probably the clearest memory I have of watching the film in 1979.

 

One of my favorite philms

 

Phantasm is one of my all time favorite horror films. It's just so weird and surreal and the soundtrack fricking rules. I have it on vinyl. I also have the UK Arrow box set even though none of the sequels can hold a candle to the original.

 

I haven't seen it since it came out, but enjoyed the hell out of it then and might even do so now. It was funny in its way -- the way the sphere was designed to lock into the skull then start drilling and shooting out blood and brain matter, the balladeering ice cream truck guy, the whole idea of shrinking victim/zombies to go be slaves on a distant planet, the tuning fork portal, the scary funeral home -- lotsa classic and funny elements.

 

A classic for sure! Really creeped me out as a kid.

BOY!

 

I like it. If you have Shudder, you can watch them presented by Joe Bob Briggs, which adds another layer of interest and humor. They skip one of the sequels ‘cause Joe Bob says they crash a classic car in it, though I think Shudder probably just hit a clearance snag.

 

Saw it as a kid on cable around 1980 and of course it scared me.Looking it it now I see the cheapness but still creepy as hell and I love the tall man as a metaphor for death,he's gonna get us all no matter what we do.