Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994)

Director:

Don Coscarelli

Writer (WGA):

Don Coscarelli (written by)

Release Date:

6 May 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

We Tried To Warn You. If You Don't Get It This Time We're Going To Have To Drill It Into Your Head!

Plot:

Mike and Reggie continue to hunt the mysterious Tall Man.

Plot Keywords:

Tall Man | Mortuary | Cult Director | Gore | Flamethrower

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Reggie Bannister	...	Reggie
A. Michael Baldwin	...	Mike
Bill Thornbury	...	Jody
Gloria Lynne Henry	...	Rocky
Kevin Connors	...	Tim
Cindy Ambuehl	...	Edna
John Davis Chandler	...	Henry
Brooks Gardner	...	Rufus
Angus Scrimm	...	The Tall Man
Irene Roseen	...	Demon Nurse
Sarah Scott Davis	...	Tanesha
Duane Tucker	...	Motel Owner
Claire Benedek	...	Tim's Mother
Wendy Way	...	Woman at Orphanage
Robert Beecher	...	Gas Station Attendant

Also Known As:

Phantasm III (UK) (video title)
Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead - The Never Dead Part III (Australia) (video box title)
Phantasm III: The Third Power (Philippines: English title)
Phantasm: Lord of the Dead

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and gore, and for language and sexuality. (edited version)

Runtime:

91 min | UK:86 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:15 (video re-rating) (2005) | Singapore:PG (heavily cut) | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | France:-16 | France:U (DVD rating) | Australia:MA | Canada:XXX (Nova Scotia) | UK:18 (video premiere) | USA:R (edited for re-rating)

Company:

Starway International Inc.

Trivia:

Reggie Bannister was the only cast member to be present on set every single day of principal photography, either acting or helping behind the camera.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the spheres fly through the air you can see a "dot" following which is the camera

Quotes:

Reggie: Dominate me, baby!

Movie Connections:

Features Phantasm (1979)

Easily the weakest chapter of the "Phantasm" series but still pretty good

Like with every sequel in the series, "Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead" begins immediately where the previous film leaves off (in this case "Phantasm II"). Reggie (Reggie Bannister), who was left for dead in part 2, is still alive and runs to help Mike and Liz. He finds Liz dead and Mike out cold. After a run in with The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm), he and Mike (A. Michael Baldwin after being replaced in part 2) get away, and run into Jody (Bill Thornbury), Mike's brother killed years earlier by The Tall Man and has become a servant of his. Soon after The Tall Man finds them and kidnaps Mike, leaving the ex-ice cream vendor hot on the trail of The Tall Man once again. During his search for Mike he runs into a sexy looter (Cindy Ambuehl) and her friends, a kid (Kevin Conners) who can shoot straight, a girl named Rocky (Gloria Lynne Henry), and more of The Tall Man's flying silver spheres. Together (minus the looter and her pals) they plan to save Mike and complete the task begun in Phantasm II: destroy The Tall Man once and for all.

Phantasm III many conceder to be the absolute worst of the Phantasm series. Yes, it is probably the worst but it's definitely not bad, I liked it (but then again I'm a big fan of the series). The biggest problem people have with Phantasm III is that it has a much bigger campy and comedic side to it in addition to a lot of action (think "Commando" sort of) while the first was focused on mainly chills with additional dark action in the second. This isn't really a negative in my opinion as the film was pretty funny and it didn't seem to hurt it in any way. Another point brought up by some is that it's a low budget film and effects look crappy. Umm....those guys must be high because I know the budget wasn't so high but the film looked great; special effects, make-up, and stunts were all great. There is an amazing car jump in the film that apparently was extremely frightening behind the scenes (see commentary) and the zombie make-up is realistic and sphere effects were really cool. The film is also very rich in color; the first two were very dark tone wise (which I liked) but this one has very vibrant colors which giver the film a fascinating look. Just watch the trailer for the film; it pretty much shows off a lot of the great effects as well as the color tones.

That being said how exactly is this one the worst in the series? Well one part in the beginning pretty much ruined the movie for me practically. The character Liz (Paula Irvine), who starred with Mike and Reggie in "Phantasm II", was made out to be an equal with Mike in the eyes of The Tall Man; meaning she was just as big a character as Mike plus she and Mike were deeply in love and they were played out to be soul mates. Phantasm III opens with the cliffhanger end of Phantasm II and shows Liz dead and Mike still alive. It wasn't even a believable death. Now your probably thinking "of well she's just a character, your just obsessing" your absolutely right; I loved Paula Irvine and Liz but it's not just that. As I said she and Mike were made out to be soul mates as well as equals and after the shot of her corpse there isn't even as much as a mention of her for the rest of the movie. Yeah, I know. What the hell? I've herd of poor story telling but this is just retarded. Now I would have felt a lot better had they just at least took her death into consideration and had Mike actually react I would have been a little happier. Seeing Bill Thornbury of the original Phantasm return Jody was cool, especially for die-hard fans, but aside from navigation it didn't seem like his character served much of a purpose. He has a bigger role in the next film in the series though. The character Mike, who was the main character in the first two films (and still has a big role), only appears in 10, 15, maybe 20 minutes of the 91-minute film. I found that kind of strange Also, The Tall Man's intention in Phantasm I and II was to kill Mike, but here (despite that it picks up where Phantasm II ends) he for whatever reason wants to capture Mike ALIVE. I don't get it either, but this continues onto the next film as well.

The Breakdown:

PROS: Very funny, awesome fantasy action, attractive women (Cindy Ambuehl and Gloria Lynne Henry), beautiful sets and color tones, a bald guy with a quad-barrel shotgun and a Hemicuda, great acting for the most part, and flying silver balls! Plus the Anchor Bay US DVD is great pretty good.

CONS: Killing/ignoring Liz, a few continuity errors annoyed me, Michael Baldwin's performance wasn't very good in comparison to the first and fourth films, seeing Bill Thornbury was nice was it wasn't really necessary, the thing with brains and extend able eyeballs in the silver spheres I wasn't really fond of, and of course, the whole thing with Liz.

OVERALL: "Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead" is a very fun and humorous fantasy/action flick that is very enjoyable. Michael Baldwin's return didn't really thrill me like it did others since he appears very little and gives a below par acting job (he gives a great one in "Phantasm IV: Oblivion" though) but Angus Scrimm and Reggie Bannister are great as usual. The film ignores a key plot point but the rest is pretty good. I highly recommend it as it is a very fun and entertaining film.

Rated R: Fantasy Violence/Gore, Language, and Some Sexuality; Runtime: 91 minuets; Score: 7/10