Phantasm: Special Collector’s Box Set

• Cert:
• Cat.no: DEDB 6026
• Running time: 263 (85/92/86) minutes
• Year: 1979/88/94
• Pressing: 2000
• Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
• Chapters: 33 plus extras
• Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
• Languages: English
• Subtitles: None
• Fullscreen: 4:3
• 16:9-enhanced: No
• Macrovision: Yes
• Disc Format: 3 * DVD 5
• Price: £39.99
• Extras : Scene index, Introduction by Angus Scrimm: The Tall Man,Trailers, Photo Libraries, US TV Spots, Behind the scenes Footage,Deleted Scenes, Fangoria TV Spot with Angus Scrimm, Booklet
  

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  Director:

  Don Coscarelli

  (The Beastmaster, Phantasm 1-4, Survival Quest)

Producer:

(Phantasm 1 & 3)
Roberto A. Quezada (Phantasm 2)

Screenplay:

Music:

(Phantasm)
Fred Myrow (Phantasm 2)
Fred Myrow & Christopher L. Stone (Phantasm 3)

Cast (covering all three films):

The Tall Man: Angus Scrimm
Mike: Michael Baldwin
Jody: Bill Thornbury
Reggie: Reggie Bannister
Lady in Lavender: Kathy Lester
Mike: James LeGros
Liz: Paula Irvine
Father Meyers: Kenneth Tigar
Alchemy: Samantha Phillips
Rocky: Gloria Lynne Henry
Tim: Kevin Connors

Phantasmwas the first in a series of films in which The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) came toearth in order to obtain dead bodies and take them back to his own world to use asslaves – one can’t help thinking that’s a policy dreamt up by New Labour. You don’thave to pay them much so it would stop people bleating on at Tony Blair to raise theminimum wage and I bet a dead person’s Union is pretty shitty.

All of the first three films in the series are here, available in one box-set for £39.99,or separately for £14.99 apiece. In the case of each of them there’s plenty of cheesyacting, a deadly ball flying around and not the greatest production values employed.

The Tall Man does his best ‘Bryan Ferry’.

In the first film, two brothers uncover the startling secret of the livingdead following the murder of their friend. Cue endless nightmares that arereally real, lots of chasing and that frightening mortician, The Tall Man.

For the sequel, subtitled, The Ball is Back, The Tall Man is outfor revenge. Having thought he’d killed his last victim nine years ago,he returns with his band of merry deadly flying silver spheres.

Another thirteen years on and film three reunites Mike and Reggie withthe spirit of Mike’s dead brother. They are then pursued by the Tall Manthrough warped dimensions of space and time, as you do.

Ooh, that’s gotta hurt!

Each film is presented in 4:3 fullscreen. They’re open-matte so can be zoomed in to filla widescreen TV with no loss of important picture, but it’s a shame we weren’t treated toanamorphic widescreen in every case. None of the films have any artifacts on view and thegore sure looks great, but the picture is a bit soft, there are some drop-outs in the printand overall it doesn’t look particularly outstanding.

The sound is Dolby Surround (Dolby Digital 2.0) for each film – the first one featuringa remastered surround soundtrack. There are some nice directional effects which areeffective, especially when the balls whizz about.

“Doctor, Doctor, I’ve got backache!”

Disc two contains another Photo Gallery, Theatrical Trailer, three US TVadverts and a 10-minute slot, firstly of a Fangoria Convention 1989 TV Spot withAngus Scrimm. The quality of this isn’t up to much as the camcorder keeps going outof focus, but it’s a must for completists. The disc also labels an interview with the man,but there’s no such thing here.

The final disc contains just a Theatrical Trailer which appears to be in Dolby Digital2.1 (ie. with use of the subwoofer), a Photo Gallery and a Deleted Scenethat’s actually a clip from the first film (!)

The individual DVD covers

What the best-dressed men are wearing
at the Manchester Mardi Gras Festival 2000

Overall, forty quid for three films each with some extras isn’t bad and it’s a classy-looking box-set, but it could have been improved in a number of ways – anamorphicwidescreen prints, Dolby Digital 5.1 remasterd sound, plus all the extras from theoriginal film’s Laserdisc Signature Edition, which was signed by both director DonCoscarelli and “The Tall Man” Angus Scrimm and contained an audio commentaryby Don Coscarelli, Angus Scrimm and stars Bill Thornbury and Michael Baldwin and a24kt gold CD of the film soundtrack. However, that special edition did retail for$100 in April 1996!

One oddity is that the end of films one and two are only played out at the beginning of theirrespective sequels. I don’t know if the same goes with Phantasm IV: Oblivion, as therights for that film are in the hands of Mosaic Movies who have already released it on afullscreen DVD so it’s not included in this box-set and I presume that with a 15-certificateit’s not as gory as the first three, especially since the violence in the third film isimmensely toned down – its 18-certificate probably only due to the appearance of nunchukassince most of the gore has the camera turned away unlike the first two.

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