Retro Thoughts: PHANTASM!!

PHANTASM: 1979

Michael is a young teen in the care of his older brother, Jody. The two have only recently lost both their parents to tragedy and are now faced with another death when their friend is found murdered. Haunted by nightmares and the impending threat of his brothers desire to leave, Michael believes he witnesses a strange occurrence at the local Cemetery. He starts to investigate the mysterious Tall Man, the string of recent deaths, and what’s behind that low hum that echoes throughout the halls of the mortuary.

For me, Phantasm is one of those PERFECT horror films that does precisely what it sets out to do from beginning to end. It is a surreal nightmare with iconic imagery, smart scripting, incredible casting, and an unexplained horror that will continue to haunt the viewer long after the film ends. It borrows from a Weird Fiction influence with probably nods to Lovecraft (Whisperer In The Darkness), Ramsay Campbell, and especially Ray Bradbury (Something Wicked This Way Comes). Don Coscarelli takes a limited budget and a small pool of actors to create one of the most enduring films in horror that is nearly as effective today as it was the day it was released.

There are several things that truly make the film work:

First, the surreal nightmare landscape where things may not be as they initially appear. Jody offers an early explanation that the film we are seeing may not be real- that much of what we are seeing may be the tortured dreams of young Michael and that our main protagonist may be seeing his life through a prism of grief. He is desperately afraid that Jody may leave him behind and he follows his older brother from a distance. Things are off kilter through much of the filming- the hallways of the mortuary seem to stretch for miles with twists and turns, that low humming, and the sudden imagery that seem to erupt from nowhere.

Secondly, the relationship between the three protagonists seems genuine. There seems to be an honest affection between Jody, Michael, and their friend, Reggie. It comes through at various points in the film and Coscarelli is brave enough as a film maker to let those moments linger when another director might cut the material entirely. We see the bond between these characters and why Michael feels the way that he does regarding Jody’s possible departure. We also see how closed in Jody feels, how torn by devotion to these two brothers Reggie becomes, and what effect the Tall Man’s schemes has on these characters.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the mystery. We never actually find out what is happening, if it’s really happening, or why it’s happening. The Tall Man’s work is a mystery- and it remains a mystery that is never solved even as we travel throughout the series of films but most importantly in the first film in the series. We see clues- we see things that are happening, we know there is a plan, we know there is an endgame, but we never know what that endgame really is. And, in the first film, we can’t even accept it as a given that the film is really happening as we’re seeing it. This is all from the point of view of a young teen- a young teen haunted by nightmares during the a period of grief and loss. And with all these ways in which to interpret the film, I love thinking about it from several different angles. If it’s a teen in grief or if there really is an inter-dimensional  traveler enslaving the dead to do his bidding for some unknown purpose, the horror still works either way.

All of this and I haven’t even gotten to the spheres. And believe me, those spheres are something to see- it’s one thing to see them flying through the halls, but to hear them coming and to have that impending sound of doom start whistling louder and louder as it gets closer. Then Coscarelli gives us that shot of the sphere, a perfect mirror to the hallways surrounding it when those blades emerge with a “snikt” and then plunge into their victims. That one kill is one of the most intense moments in film history and initially landed the film an X-rating when the body drops and releases other fluids to puddle on the white marble floor.

Angus Scrimms’ “Tall Man” character is an iconic figure in horror and Coscarelli’s film is a masterpiece in surreal nightmares. That’s my two cents.