Halloween horror marathon: Phantasm

poster-phantasmThe score does a lot of heavy lifting in Phantasm, giving the emotional cues not provided by any of the players. The actors are adequate, but they deliver their lines in monotone, and might as well be reading them from cue cards. The only one with any sort of screen presence is Angus Scrimm’s Tall Man, who succeeds partly due to spooky intensity and his appearance, and the remainder of his success rests on the fact that his few lines are delivered with sonorous menace.

The plot’s mostly beside the point, and merely exists as a way to go from one bizarre setpiece to another. Be it an extra-dimensional portal or trying to put a strange creature down the garbage disposal, the film’s 95% atmosphere. It’s disconcerting, but more uncomfortable than frightening.

When you compare Phantasm to other genre films of the decade, it stands up visually, but comes nowhere near the Omen or the Exorcist in terms of story or acting. The scenes for which it’s known are worth seeing if you’re a horror fan, if only to put them in context. The scene where the ball gouges the guy’s face is justifiably famous, and the fact that he wets himself after squirting out a quart of blood is just gory icing on the cake.

However, past that, once you’ve seen the film, repeat viewings aren’t necessary. Watching Phantasm ends up being more like a dutiful visit to an elderly aunt than hanging out with a good friend – something you need to get through, rather than anything you want to get done.