Phantasm I-V (1979–2016) • Limited Edition Blu-ray Collection [Arrow Video]
By: Dan Owen
Tags: Arrow Video, Review, Film, Horror, Movies

There seems to be a lot of role rotation in the Phantasm’s. The plot here’s exactly the same as Phantasm II, only now Reggie’s trying to save Mike instead of Liz from the Tall Man’s clutches, and in so doing recruits new helpers during his road trip in his Barracuda muscle car. The first is a young boy called Tim (Kevin Connors), the only survivor of a town the Tall Man decimated, who’s introduced slaughtering three looters using lethal Home Alone-style traps and a razor-studded frisbee. The second is a fearsome nunchucks-wielding black woman called Rocky (Gloria Lynne Henry), who looks like a readymade action heroine… but who largely spends the movie giving randy Reggie the brush off. Both characters more comedic and the tone of the movie is more lighthearted than the previous instalments, but I don’t really have a problem with sequels finding different gears.

Without much freshness in the storytelling (it continues the same mission from before), Coscarelli instead decides to deepen the Phantasm mythology — although it’s still very muddled and contradictory for my taste. The flying spherical balls had, by this point, become the franchise’s calling card, so they’re back en masse with deadlier new weaponry. We also learn that each one contains a transplanted dwarf brain and can also be used for reconnaissance with a protruding human eyeball. The comical nature of the lobotomised dwarves was also dealt with, as they’re less present after the opening sequence and effectively get replaced by three reanimated corpses. Mike’s importance to the Tall Man’s masterplan is also underlined (he’s being groomed as the villain’s replacement), which neatly explains why he’s never just been killed on sight, and this provokes even more questions. All are good changes and natural evolutions of ideas.

Reggie Bannister’s grabbed by the balls in PHANTASM III © Arrow Films

The Tall Man’s array of powers continue to grow, but a key weakness involving cold temperatures also become apparent — harkening back to a memorable moment from Phantasm involving an ice cream truck in a clever way. I only wish more of the changes and developments felt as logical, although part of the appeal with the Phantasm movies is how loose and random they are. You can’t quite pin them down, despite by-the-numbers plotting that always involves tracking the Tall Man down to his latest mausoleum. I just wish there was more focus on the areas that truly matter.

The decision to bring Mike’s dead brother Jody (Bill Thornbury) back is questionable because the dynamic between the Pearson brothers isn’t the same now Mike’s a grownup. And it only complicates matters, although the intention to expand the Phantasm mythos into bigger questions about the afterlife is a good direction to take. I just spent half the movie wondering why Jody’s sometimes a traditional ghost you can’t touch, sometimes a mystical presence in Reggie’s dreams, and sometimes trapped inside one of the Tall Man’s silver balls. Maybe firm answers are to yet come, but I’ve made peace with the fact the Phantasm saga likely won’t make sense.

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