Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead Reviews

Third film in the Phantasm series a bit more elaborate than the second one, and it definitely tries to do something different. Director Don Coscarelli returns in the director's chair, as it is only fair considering that Phantasm is his pride and joy. He does a good job yet again with this one, and Reggie is on the hunt of The Tall Man once again as he gathers new souls for his Dimensions. Towns have been abandoned, and only a few remain because The Tall Man has ravaged the towns and has taken prisoners as his slaves. Although not as great as part 2, this third entry still has plenty of the goodies which make the Phantasm films so entertaining to watch. The steel ball, the gore, and of course Angus Scrimm as The Tall Man. Well written, and confident in terms of a third movie, director Don Coscarelli provides fans of his previous two entries with a good array of demented fun that is sure to delight horror hounds. The characters are well rounded out and there's also a tone of humor in some scenes, which adds an extra layer to the film. Most horror sequels fail to live up to the original, and that is the case for any genres as well. However, instead of pumping sequel after sequel every two years, Don Coscarelli takes his time to write and direct something that is actually worth seeing. With each big gap between films, he lets more ideas come to life and therefore, it makes the series have much more life. As far as I'm concerned, this is among the greatest series in the horror genre. The film is well made and Don Coscarelli scores another winner with his sinister, evil Tall Man.

It still makes no sense whatsoever! Has its moments but is not great!

This is definitely one of the best horror movies there is. (Of course, you've got to see the first two, but this movie in particular is great!) If you have seen the uncut-version, it seems fairly obvious that Don Coscarelli did well this time, mixing up "traditional" horror-spooky things with some kick-ass action. Especially Reggie Bannister, who repeats his role as the ice-cream seller(!), is great and it's clear to see that the whole cast had a lot of fun doing this movie. A MUST SEE for any horror film fan.

My favorite Phantasm flick! Black humour has taken over the serious tone from the previous installment. A similar road picture to Phantasm II, but it seems lower budget with a lot more humour. It's a shame they instantly killed off the character I liked from Phantasm II. It's also a shame James LeGros didn't reprise his role as Mike; simply for the sake of consistency. New interesting characters are introduced to the team to fight the Tall Man. The whole deal feels cheaper and cornier than the previous entry, which is probably why it played at few theatres. But, like I said, it's my favorite; probably because it features the largest Masoleum in the country as the venue for the showdown with the Tall Man.

Oh dear, and it was going so well! If Phantasm was a cult classic with intelligence and originality making up for a slightly schizo 'everything but the kitchen sink' approach, and Phantasm II was a better than the original sequel with an improved budget and tighter story, then Phantasm III is definitely the X-Men 3 of films. Don Coscarelli appears to be opting for a commercial success with this, adding two new, completely unnecessary token characters - a young boy who seems to be a precursor for Kevin in Home Alone with his house of booby traps (only with fatal consequences), and a black companion named 'Rocky', whose story is never explained and who appears to be shoe-horned into the franchise in order to add some sexuality to appeal to the lucrative male teenager demographic. The actual story is all over the place - the spheres, which previously were effective in their alien oddness and were originally an ingenious security device, are here given a back story of all things (one even contains the spirit of Mike's dead brother from the first film). The character of Reggie is now firmly in the lead; it's a bad decision since Reggie Bannister has aged a lot since the first film and doesn't convince as an action hero, and his ponytail is now more ridiculous then ever. A. Michael Baldwin is back playing the character of Mike from the first film (James LeGros was undoubtedly too expensive at this point), but has little to do beyond look wide-eyed at everything around him. The action sequences, which were used intermittently in the first two films, come thick and fast but very few impress and the special effects are ropey. The brilliantly sustained atmosphere of the previous instalments which was their greatest success is abandoned in favour of a brash comedic style and Rambo machismo nonsense. Oh, and the film has the same identical ending as before, only instead of feeling chills up your spine you'll likely be groaning. Even the Tall Man has lost his way. Not good.

Ice Cream Man Reggie is joined by Mike (A. Michael Baldwin), as a victim of The Ball, as they try to hunt down The Tall Man with friends, including the trademark beautiful women and a pint size hero. This film is worth watching on a discount service. (D+) As a series, it may be worth buying.

the movie is pretty good but the comedy element in this movie doesnt fit. Which is why its not in the 4th installment

It took awhile for this movie to really get going as I almost turned it off because it was getting so boring. But the last half hour of this movie really picks up and then we're off. Not to much tension, but it did help that the action at the end really picked up the pace. A couple of humorous moments also helped a little bit as well to keep me interested, but I got some mixed feelings about this movie.

The film marks the return of A. Michael Baldwin to the series, who I have a really hard time not seeing as Screech from Saved By The Bell, which is unfortunately distracting. That aside, the series continues with the Tall Man emptying more graveyards and towns across middle America, introduces a sassy black girl and young boy to the mix and fills in more details about the Tall man and why he's so interested in Mike.

Worth a look, though I could live without the 'zombies' that turn up a few times during this one.

I enjoyed the action which seems to have escalated throughout the series, and it was pretty cool to see how the "killer spheres" operate. I am also glad to see Reggie Bannister reprise his role once again as, Reggie. But the scene where the boy, Tim took on the looters in the booby-trapped house reminded me of an R rated version of Home Alone. Also, i could have done without the Reggie/Rocky sex scene. UGH! It was like watching Grace Jones getting it on, NO THANKS!

A plucky child side-kick is always a bad move. And I never wanted to see a Reggie sex scene. Ever. More of the same, really, from the Phantasm series.

Good attempt to get the original cast back. Pushed the envelope of believability in doing so. Angus and Reggie still rock! A better script or budget. Not sure what fell flat.

verry entertaining but with no end what so ever. You have hot to love that kid. We should send him down to some of those disc golf courses. This is the cheesist one so far but i love the cheese.

A. Michael Baldwin returns as Michael in this offering. A bit contrived but overall not a horrible movie.

A mediocre horror movie with cheesy special effects, holey plot, and a catchy soundtrack. There's no horror like 80s horror and this exemplifies it.

This was a decent follow up...that black girl could NOT act though. Although I guess she probably wasn't cast for her acting ability.

Well, I guess I'm on a kick for latter sequels of cult horror series today, which is fine by me.

It's difficult to review the Phantasm series, especially for people unfamiliar with it. The films continue directly on from each other, often from bizarre and seemingly nonsensical cliffhangers. Alas, Phantasm II is not currently available on DVD in Region 1, and I have not seen it in some years--though that's not entirely necessary anyway, as the ending was forever ingrained upon my brain years ago when I accidentally caught it as my parents were watching it one night. It scared the ever-loving crap out of me and the image of the Tall Man did not ever want to leave my brain, nor the ending we leave Reggie with in that particular installment. NOTE: if you have not seen Phantasm or Phantasm II, do not read this review. It's almost impossible to avoid spoiling previous films in this series when at all talking about one of them.

Trying to describe the plot of a Phantasm movie is like trying to juggle oiled watermelons or something. Yeah, it'd be pretty darn cool if you could do it, but why the hell would you bother, and what kind of sense would it make? Here's a rough attempt though for this volume in the saga. We open on the hearse we saw our heroes Mike (James LeGros in Phantasm II, but A. Michael Baldwin in all other films) and Reggie (Reggie Bannister) trying to escape in (and failing) last time. The hearse crashes and the two escape, but Mike is hospitalized and attacked by a nurse working for the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm), then unavoidably abducted by him. This leaves us, for the first time, following Reggie solo in the neverending quest to stop the Tall Man's inscrutable plans. We meet Tim (Kevin Connors), a young boy from a town devastated by the Tall Man's graverobbing and enslaving of the dead, then Rocky (Gloria Lynne Henry), a woman with a similar past. The three of them work together to track down Mike and the Tall Man, fighting off the zombies, dwarves, "lurkers," and, of course, spheres he employs.

Anything beyond that on the plot would just end up simple recitation, so I'll leave it there. This film actually fits the pattern I mentioned earlier (and suddenly I realize that Army of Darkness, another third installment, does the same) and infuses a greater level of humour into the series than we previously saw. Effects are top notch for the kind of budget writer/director Don Coscarelli is able to employ, with the spheres unbelievably pristine and beautiful looking as they float around, reflecting their environments and moving terribly naturally. The joy of this film for fans is the return of A. Michael Baldwin and Bill Thornbury as his brother Jodie--in a form and manner not entirely expected.

Those looking for some Phantastic (argh, sorry!) answers will actually find a few this time--we now learn where the spheres come from and what they truly are.

It is probably the weakest of the series (though I've yet to watch OblIVion, but it's on next!) with Rocky seeming like a bizarre blaxploitation import with Grace Jones style look (think Conan the Destroyer--yeah THAT kind), camo pants and nunchaku skills, as well as the inevitably awkwardness of a new child actor (in fairness, Connors is actually pretty good as a young boy toughened by life alone). It's a Phantasm movie though, and I just sort of take what Coscarelli throws at me, because it's so intensely original and bizarre that I can't help but love it. Of course, the quad-barrelled shotgun and Hemi 'Cuda are also in this film--which I remember Joe Bob Briggs fondly discussing on TNT's Monstervision some years ago.

The developing mythology and world of this series, the answers related to it, and its inextricable placement in the chronology make this necessary viewing, but steel yourself for Reggie's amateur acting (it shows more when he's by himself, and when Coscarelli decides it will be fun to mock him as an uncontrollably horny man, which IS amusing) and the middling skills of the two new actors. Scrimm is fantastic as always, he and Doug Bradley have created the most brilliant and memorable of horror's mysterious, deadly and oddly "cool" characters, and we all love them for it. He even brings a curious sort of near-sympathy to the role this time--not in the sense of a bad childhood or secretly well-meaning intentions, but like perhaps he knows something that Reggie and Mike (and we!) don't know.

Going into mortuary isn't suppose to be fun and games. Youth always learns too late, that things do go bump in the night, in such a place.

This has not aged well. The original main character is back with The Tall Man and Reggie, but there are also some lame characters as well.

A good ending and one or two exciting scenes (and a cool female lead) can't quite save this lackluster entry in the horror series.