Phantasm: Remastered (1979)
How I did I go my entire life without watching Phantasm until now? What a brilliant film! This could very easily be my favourite horror film from the '70s after John Carpenter's Halloween. The music, cinematography, story... it amazes me that this was all created by a 23/24-year-old Don Coscarelli (even more amazing that his father produced it for him). I've always meant to go back and watch the Phantasm films after loving Bubba Ho-Tep. I'm glad I finally did.
On a sidenote, for those who have seen the Phantasm films, how's the sequels? I heard the second is really good, but what's the other three like?
Alrighty, so I finally started watching the sequels. All I ever hear is people raving over the second film (some even saying it's better than the first)... but after seeing the second and the third, they don't touch the first film by a mile. In fact, I had the Well Go USA box set on pre-order and I just cancelled my order. As of now, the first film is the only one definitely worthy of being in my collection.
PHANTASM II (1988)
While the first film had some campy fun to it, there was more of a serious undertone to it. This film jacks the campy, silliness to overdrive -- clearly influenced by the same move that Sam Raimi made with his Evil Dead sequel a year prior. While that worked for Evil Dead, it didn't work here. So much of what I loved about Phantasm was replaced with massive weaponry, a road trip dripping of sexual innuendo, and Ash-like quips. Reggie was a good supporting character in the first film, but I don't think he works so well as the lead. Add on the fact that A. Michael Baldwin was left out and James LeGros was cast as Mike instead (and he's really, really awful)... yeah, just wasn't feeling it. The saving grace here is Angus Scrimm's return as The Tall Man. Damn, what an awesome, menacing villain. Overall, it could've been a decent movie if it wasn't a follow-up to Phantasm, but alas, such is not the case.
PHANTASM III: LORD OF THE DEAD (1994)
Much better than the second film. I honestly don't understand the love for the second. Here, A. Michael Baldwin returns as Mike and while he's not a good actor, he's still much better in the role. Angus Scrimm is as great as ever as The Tall Man and Reggie Bannister's Reggie is turned down to a more tolerable level. This film is still all about the road tripping across towns you've never heard of, but it brings back a lot of what made the first film so special (helps the Bill Thornbury also returned as Jody). Great cinematography in this one, too (some truly iconic shots of The Tall Man)! Honestly, I think that since the second film was the only studio film (Universal distributed it), writer/director Don Coscarelli had to make a lot of changes/sacrifices. Now that they're out of the picture, Phantasm III brings back a lot of what the first film originally offered.
