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Phantasm: Remastered adds visual clarity to the first installment in one of horror's most enduring -- and endearingly idiosyncratic -- franchises.
All Critics (45) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (33) | Rotten (12) | DVD (12)
"Phantasm" will not be remembered as a masterpiece of the horror genre, but it sustains a gauche, hokey, desperately improvisational charm. Oct 20, 2017 | Full Review…
"Phantasm" will not be remembered as a masterpiece of the horror genre, but it sustains a gauche, hokey, desperately improvisational charm.
Gary Arnold
While holding onto the handmade charm of the original, the 4K version makes the image less murky and the seams less visible, giving the picture back the vividly nightmarish quality of its original theatrical run. Oct 6, 2016 | Full Review…
While holding onto the handmade charm of the original, the 4K version makes the image less murky and the seams less visible, giving the picture back the vividly nightmarish quality of its original theatrical run.
Noel Murray
Freshly refurbished with better sound and digitally sharpened visuals for this latest rerelease, "Phantasm" remains a pretty effective fright fest. Oct 6, 2016 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
Freshly refurbished with better sound and digitally sharpened visuals for this latest rerelease, "Phantasm" remains a pretty effective fright fest.
Soren Andersen
Phantasm is wildly imaginative and legitimately creepy, confronting death and mourning as part of the coming-of-age process while also delivering nutty Jawa-type critters and blood spurting out of peoples' faces. Oct 6, 2016 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…
Phantasm is wildly imaginative and legitimately creepy, confronting death and mourning as part of the coming-of-age process while also delivering nutty Jawa-type critters and blood spurting out of peoples' faces.
Katie Rife
One of the most idiosyncratic movies in the horror canon. Oct 3, 2016 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
One of the most idiosyncratic movies in the horror canon.
Tom Huddleston
Strong point of the feature is that it's played for both horror and laughs. May 6, 2008 | Full Review…
Strong point of the feature is that it's played for both horror and laughs.
Variety Staff
a pre-adolescent's pre-Lynchian fugue from mortality's mourning side Apr 13, 2019 | Full Review…
a pre-adolescent's pre-Lynchian fugue from mortality's mourning side
Anton Bitel
Phantasm was a cheesy, somewhat nonsensical, seventies horror scifi film that became a cult classic despite all its shortcomings. Nov 1, 2018 | Rating: 6.5/10 | Full Review…
Phantasm was a cheesy, somewhat nonsensical, seventies horror scifi film that became a cult classic despite all its shortcomings.
Molly Henery
It retains its power to make you stay the hell away from your closet after dark. Aug 22, 2018 | Full Review…
It retains its power to make you stay the hell away from your closet after dark.
Charles Mudede
The film has an especially attractive first part where fantastic and terrifying elements are developed with great visual and dramatic interes[... [Full review in Spanish] Apr 3, 2018 | Full Review…
The film has an especially attractive first part where fantastic and terrifying elements are developed with great visual and dramatic interes[... [Full review in Spanish]
Augusto Martínez Torres
Whether you've always loved Phantasm, never saw it, or never even had the affection for Don Coscarelli's nightmarish tale, I cannot think of a better way to experience this film now than with the remastered version. Aug 15, 2016 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
Whether you've always loved Phantasm, never saw it, or never even had the affection for Don Coscarelli's nightmarish tale, I cannot think of a better way to experience this film now than with the remastered version.
Heather Wixson
One of the definitive '70s horror pictures, in the last few months before '70s horror got steamrolled into oblivion... a raw blast of sensory information. May 29, 2011 | Rating: 8/10 | Full Review…
One of the definitive '70s horror pictures, in the last few months before '70s horror got steamrolled into oblivion... a raw blast of sensory information.
Tim Brayton
Silly and with no sense of structure, this movie is basically a series of random scenes put together and with a bunch of random creatures attacking the characters over and over until boredom is all that is left, with the Tall Man being one of the most stupid and unscary villains ever.
Super Reviewer
"Phantasm" is a surprisingly well-done film for a low-budget, amateur project. It's original and thrilling to watch. Unfortunately, the acting and dialog are too weak to garner five stars.
Don Coscarelli's cult classic is admittedly disjointed. It's not quite the sum of its parts, but there are many individual scenes that are wonderfully conceived and executed, some even with unexpected humour. The amateurish acting, odd transitions, and plot holes keep Phantasm from being great in my eyes, but the film is an exercise in creativity and ingenuity, not to mention in showcasing the coolest flying killing device in recent memory.
This 1979 Cult classic is a very interesting Horror film with many creative ideas on-screen; Phantasm is a brilliantly constructed piece of work that is sure to please the true horror fan. What makes this a wonderful, terrifying and memorable experience is that it introduces a unique horror villain, a Mortician with strange powers by the name of The Tall Man. This sinister being collects bodies and shrinks them down to dwarves and makes them his slave in another dimension. This is a work of Sci Fi and supernatural horror. While watching this movie, you realize all the elements that director Don Coscarelli uses to enrich his film's plot, therefore Phantasm branches in a few horror genres, most notably the ones that I've just mentioned. This is an effective chiller that does generate plenty of eerie moments due to the films atmosphere and memorable theme by composers Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave. The performances are great and every actor brings something wonderful to the film. I view this film as one of the defining movies that helped reshape the face of terror. This is a classic, and rewatching it years later, you can see why genre fans call it a favorite. Don Coscarelli adds enough supernatural overtones to keep viewers wide eyed from start to finish. This is one feature that no one should pass up. Angus Scrimm delivers as The Tall Man and introduced us to a memorable horror quote: "BOOOYYYYY!!" This is from a horror enthusiast's perspective, a terrific and creepy line. There's enough gore, spooks and other surprises that are very well constructed by director Don Coscarelli to make this one stand out among other horror yarns that have come before and after. A lack of logic is permitted throughout the film because it's such a unique film that you simply don't care. The sequels add to The Tall Man's story, but never do anything new. However, they're just like this one, very entertaining and worth seeing.
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