Phantom (2017 film)

Phantom is a 2017 American supernatural horror film directed and written by Kevin Williamson set in the fictional town of Ravenwood california the film follows 3 college students Casey Beth and Nick who are trying to stop a ghost named ''Silvius' that escaped from a in universe horror film into the real world and is killing people the film was released theatrically by Universal Pictures on October 31 2017 to high praise for it's meta commentary on horror tropes blend of horror and humor the blend of practical effects and CGI for the main antagonist Silvius acting characters and writing the film has launched a franchise with two sequels Phantom: Resurrection (2019) and Phantom: Legacy (2022) and a upcoming television series Phantom: Dark Screams (2024) 
==Plot==
The film follows a ghost named Silvius who escapes from a in universe horror film into the real world and starts killing people 3 teens Casey Beth and Lucas must stop the ghost before it's too late 
==Cast==
Sophie Nélisse as Casey the genre savvy leader of the group who uses her knowledge of horror tropes to survive the film with a dark sense of humor 
Morgan Lily as Beth Nick's girlfriend 
Dante Brown as Nick the comic relief that is also a walking example of what to do in a horror film
Matthew Lilard as Silvius the ghost a malicious sadistic ghost that kills for fun he is not a vengeful ghost like ghosts in other horror movies but a ghost that kills for it's own personal gain 
==Production ==
The film was in development since 2011 Kevin Williamson originally pitched the script to Sony's Screen Gems before Sony rejected it forcing Kevin Williamson to pitch it to other studios but all of them rejected it until he sent it to Blumhouse Productions who approved of the script leading to a greenlight by Universal Pictures who while initially one of the studios that rejected it eventually came around and greenlighted it production resumed in 2015 and after a couple of rewrites and script changes the film was eventually released on October 31 2017 
====Writing====
the writing for the movie was all done by Kevin Williamson himself he stated he did this to give the project a more personal feel this allows the film to feel more passionate much like his previous project Scream (1996) the film functions as a genre deconstruction of horror tropes only this time applying to supernatural horror rather than slashers like Scream he said he chose to do this because he noticed most horror nowadays is supernatural he wanted the film to have very little jump scares and instead have it's scares be more suspenseful he also wanted the movie to have a shade of comedy like his other project Scream (1996) to balance the tone his characters are designed to be knowledgeable of horror tropes he also wanted the main antagonist Silvius to be different from other horror movie ghosts such as making him not vengeful but instead a sadistic cold blooded ghost that kills people for the sake of it he also has no backstory additionally he also has a unique design compared to other horror movie ghosts the film is a critical satire of how lazy horror films have become relying on cheap jump scares over good writing 
====Development ====
the movie was first conceived in 2011 by Kevin Williamson where he first pitched it to the Sony Pictures label Screen Gems who ultimately rejected it causing Kevin to find other studios to pitch it to until he sent it to Blumhouse Productions with Universal Pictures distributing it later the script underwent some changes for example the movie was to originally end with a happy ending with Casey Beth and Nick all defeating Silvius and him never returning but decided to change it to a bittersweet ending instead where Casey Beth and Nick survive and stop Silvius but the story doesn't gloss over the deaths of their friends and points out that Silvius being a supernatural entity can never die and can always come back additionally while the movie was always rated PG-13 some scenes caused the movie to be rated R causing the team to cut down trim alternate or remove some scenes to get the desired PG-13 rating 
====Casting====
The movie features actual teenagers playing the teen protagonists Casey (Sophie Nélisse) Beth (Morgan Lily) and Nick (Dante Brown) Kevin said he did this to make the protagonists more relatable additionally Matthew Lilard plays the ghostly main antagonist Silvius who he collaborated with Kevin Williamson on Scream (1996) where he played Stu Macher 
====Filming====
Filming resumed in 2015 and Principal photography began on August 12 2015 the film was filmed in San Francisco to give the movie a very ''City style'' look filming was completed on April 17 2017 in post production the film went undershoots to get the desired PG-13 rating from the MPAA because the original cut was deemed too ''violent'' 
====Visual Effects====
for the main antagonist Silvius he was created entirely via blending practical effects and CGI he was created by a costume made out of him with additional make up meanwhile CGI was used to enhance his design the practical effects was done by the team at Legacy Effects meanwhile the CGI effects was done by WETA Digital 
==Release==
====Marketing====
The teaser poster for the film was revealed at a June 2017 ComicCon the film also had some viral marketing techniques for example there was a viral prank orchestrated by Universal and Blumhouse where patrons would walk at a movie theater featuring posters for the film right when they walked by them someone in a Silvius costume would burst out the poster and jump scare them
==== Theatrical====
The film had it's premiere on Sundance film festivals on October 17 2017 before it was released in theaters on October 31 2017 by Universal Pictures the film was a box office success grossing $292.1 against a $12 million budget the film has some theatrical re releases
==== Home media ====
The film was later released on digital HD on January 5 2018 and on DVD Blu Ray and 4K Ultra HD on January 9 2018 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment with the release coming with both the PG-13 rated theatrical edition and a unrated edition that features more gore profanity additional deleted scenes and new scenes not seen in the theatrical cut the unrated version runs longer than the theatrical cut running at 222 minutes while the theatrical version ran 111 minutes it also included a commentary track by the actors and Kevin Williamson 
==Reception==
====Box Office====
Phantom grossed $132.3 million in the United States and Canada and $156.9 in other territories for a worldwide total of $292.1 in the United States and Canada Phantom was released alongside fellow Blumhouse production Happy Death Day Marshall Thank You For Your Service and others and was expected to gross $80-90 from 3, 130 theaters it made $9 million from Friday night previews at 2, 450 theaters and $11.6 million against a production budget of $12 increasing weekend projections to $30 million. and went on to debut $30 million topping the box office making it the fourth Blumhouse production of 2017 to do so after Happy Death Day Get Out and Split P&A, talent participation and other costs, against box office grosses and ancillary revenues from home media, placing it sixth on their list of 2017's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".
====Critical Reception====
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes 87% of 162 critics reviews were positive while the audience score was 90% with an average rating of 8/10 The website's consensus reads ''Phantom from the minds of Scream gleefully blends sarcastic meta humor with genuine scares while never leaning on one or the other'' Metacritic which uses a weighted average assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100 based on 36 critics indicating the results were ''generally positive'' Audiences polled by Cinemascore gave the film a grade A on a A+ to F scale 
Critics noted the film blends self aware humor with genuine scares without feeling too campy or inconsistent in tone with many comparing it to Kevin Williamson's other horror film Scream (1996) in terms of it's tone and the fact it deconstructs horror tropes some have described it as the supernatural version of Scream they also noted although it satirizes horror tropes it never becomes a outright comedy like say Scary Movie instead it remains a genuine horror film despite it's satirical elements 
==Other Media==
Phantom has some comic adaptions by Blumhouse Books including Phantom: The Silver Tale of Paranormal Scares and Phantom: the Glide from the Big Screen to Real Life and others 
It's also set to have a television series by Blumhouse Television and Universal Content Productions called ''Phantom: Dark Screams'' set to release on October 13 2024 that will debut on Peacock as a Peacock original series
==Sequels ==
the film has two sequels Phantom: Resurrection (2019) and Phantom: Legacy (2022) Phantom: Resurrection follows Casey Beth and Lucas now college students attending a film school as Phantom comes to kill more people and Phantom: Legacy follows Casey Beth and Nick now actors as their film gets cursed by Silvius
==Legacy==
Phantom has remained a pretty popular horror film and received good reviews this is due to it's subversion of horror tropes to tell a modern story and it's blend of horror and humor many have described it as the modern day counterpart of Scream fitting since it's also by Kevin Williamson it has launched a franchise with sequels comics and a upcoming television series
==Parental Guidance==
====Certification====
Argentina: 16
Australia: M
*Australia: MA15+ (Unrated version)
Austria: 14
Brazil: 14
Canada: 14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) 
*Canada: 13+ (Quebec)
Chile: 14
Colombia: 15
Czechia: 12
Denmark: 15 
Egypt: PG-13 (Self Applied)
*Egypt: Not Rated (DVD release)
Finland: K-16
France: 12
Germany: 16
Hong Kong: IIB 
*Hong Kong: III (Extended version)
Hungary: 16
India: A
Iceland: 16
Ireland: 15A
*Ireland: 15 (Home media rating)
Indonesia: 17+
Israel: 14
Italy: VM14
Japan: PG-12
Lithuania: N-13
Luxembourg: 16
Malaysia: 18
Maldives: 18+
Malta: 15
Mexico: B
Netherlands: 16
New Zealand: M
*New Zealand: R13 (Unrated version)
Norway: 15
Philippines: R-13
Poland: 16
Portugal: M/14
Russia: 16+
Singapore: PG13
*Singapore: NC16 (Unrated version)
Saudi Arabia: R12
South Africa: 16
South Korea: 15 
Sweden: 15
Switzerland: 14
Spain: 16
Taiwan: R-15
Thailand: 15
Turkey: 15+
United Kingdom: 15
United States: PG-13
*United States: Not Rated (Unrated version)
Ukraine: 16
United Arab Emirates: 15+
Vietnam: CM16
====Sex & Nudity (Mild)====
One of the main protagonists Casey talks in one of her horror movie rules that having sex gets you killed this is played for laughs
There is a reference to college aged teenagers watching pornography again this is not graphic and played for laughs
In a college party at one of the main protagonist's house a teen couple is seen making out
There are some mild innuendoes in the film
There is a reference to a sex scene in a in universe movie not graphic
==== Violence & Gore (Moderate)====
A boy named Tyler is possessed by Silvius the main antagonist of the film and is forced to commit suicide via jamming a stylus pen in his eyeball and than driving it further in his brain by slamming it against the wall in the unrated cut he slams it 3 times instead of once like the theatrical cut and blood is seen pouring from under the door
A girl named Milly is thrown out a window by a ghost Silvius and lands on a spikey fence blood splatters on the ground in the unrated cut we can see her briefly get stabbed by the fence 
A girl named Becca is knocked out by Silvius and later has a ladder smash her repeatedly until she is crushed to death in the unrated cut a close up of her face getting squished is shown 
The unrated version has gorier deaths than the PG-13 theatrical cut 
When characters are possessed by Silvius they are usually forced to kill themselves this sometimes involves blood
Silvius possess someone and forces them to burn a bystander offscreen in the PG-13 version in the unrated version we see the bystander getting burned 
The movie begins with a in universe movie showing someone get dragged and possibly killed by Silvius
a man possessed by Silvius is forced to slit his own throat blood is shown in the unrated version
A character is electrocuted 
a dead body is shown
a boy gets his neck snapped by a ghost 
There are many scenes of characters getting attacked murdered tormented and stalked by a ghost Silvius
a women is punched in the face
a ghost slams a girl's head on a table and is ready to kill her
characters are dragged and possessed by a ghost Silvius
a TV explodes and glass stabs a character she later falls out a window and lands on a spikey fence
a girl is grabbed by Silvius possessing her father 
A character is hanged by a electric cord
====Profanity (Moderate)====
About one use of fucked plus several uses of the words shit bitch ass asshole god jesus christ screwed pissed hell crap oh my god dick and one use of pussy
Unrated version adds 9 f bombs
a middle finger is shown
name-calling (schlocky non sense cheap weak creep idiot poorly made cheeseball psycho be smart bait)
====Alcohol Drugs & Smoking (Mild) ====
Alcohol use among college students 
A character's mom is a alcoholic 
a girl jokes she's going to do weed and get slashed by some masked killer)
====Frightening & Intense Scenes (Moderate)====
There are many scenes of characters being chased stalked tormented possessed and murdered by a ghost Silvius all of this is in a supernatural manner this may be disturbing to some viewers 
The deaths may be intense for some viewers
This is one of the tamer horror movies helped by it's comedic tone but there are still plenty of scary sequences in the film 
While the film has comedic aspects to it at the end of the day it's a horror movie meaning there is creepy images chase scenes a very menacing antagonist deaths jump scares and more this may be frightening for some viewers
The main antagonist Silvius may scare younger viewers he has a menacing design a creepy voice and spends his time killing stalking and tormenting innocent victims this may scare some people
There are many frightening scenes involving a ghost that attacks and kills people
The opening scene may scare people it starts with a women screaming over a black background before cutting to a movie theater revealing the screams are coming from a in universe movie as the girl is dragged and killed by Silvius 
The attic sequence where the power goes out and the characters enter a attic to find escape armed is creepy and could scare people '
there is some jump scares 
when characters are possessed by Silvius they sport a creepy face that involves their eyes glowing a foggy white and smiling creepliy this may frighten viewers 
there is sustained supernatural threat with a ghost that threatens murders torments stalks and chases people
==Trivia==
1: The film was originally at Sony/Screen Gems before going to Universal/Blumhouse
2: The film is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for ''Frightening Imagery Intense Horror Violence Disturbing Material Including Sequences of Terror and Bloody Images Strong Language Sexual References and Drug Use''
3: In the UK the film is rated 15 by the BBFC for ''Strong supernatural threat and horror violence injury detail and language''
4: Kevin Williamson has stated that the film has taken inspiration from his love of the horror genre as a whole meanwhile the humor was inspired by the book ''How To Survive A Horror Movie All The Skills To Dodge The Kills'' meanwhile the horror and premise was inspired by The Ring Final Destination and Supernatural
5: The film was almost rated R in production so the team cut down some scenes for the desired PG-13 rating
6: The film pays homage to and references a lot of other horror films such as the creator's own Scream, A Nightmare On Elm Street, The Ring, The Cabin In The Woods, The Strangers, The Purge, The Conjuring, Insidious, Saw, It Follows, Final Destination, amongst others
7: When it was released on home media and streaming it came with a unrated version that contains more gore profanity additional deleted scenes and new scenes not seen in the PG-13 cut 
8: Some people described it as ''The Ring meets Scream''
9: It was Blumhouse Production's highest grossing film until the Five Night's At Freddy's movie in 2023, grossing $292.1 against a $10 million budget
10: As seen from the poster it was marketed as being ''From the creators of Scream'' (Kevin Williamson) and ''The producers of Get Out The Purge and The Visit'' (Blumhouse) 
11: It is one of the highest grossing horror films of 2017 
12: The Common Sense Media age recommendation is Ages 14+ 
13: The main antagonist Silvius has became a modern horror icon similar to Pennywise Candyman Michael Myers Ghostface Freddy Krueger Jason Voorhes Chucky Samara Morgan etc 
14: Interestingly in Australia the theatrical cut is rated M meanwhile the unrated version is rated MA15+ 
15: The opening Universal Pictures Blumhouse Productions and Media Rights Capital logos at the start have custom variations where the logos all glitch out with the Universal logo rewinding than playing normally before glitching out meanwhile the Blumhouse and MRC logos just glitch out 
Category:Horror
Category:Horror films
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