Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998)

Director:

Don Coscarelli

Writers (WGA):

Don Coscarelli (characters)
Don Coscarelli (written by)

Release Date:

13 October 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The sequel with balls!

Plot:

Taking off immediately where the last one ended, in this episode Mike travels across dimensions and time fleeing from the Tall Man...

Plot Keywords:

Tall Man | Undead | Sequel | Roman Numbered Sequel | Good Versus Evil

Cast

A. Michael Baldwin	...	Mike
Reggie Bannister	...	Reggie
Bill Thornbury	...	Jody
Heidi Marnhout	...	Jennifer
Bob Ivy	...	Demon Trooper
Angus Scrimm	...	The Tall Man / Dr. Jebediah Morningside
Christopher L. Stone	...	Music & Dwarf Creatures (voice) (as Christopher Stone)
Chloe Kay	...	Background Player
Sylvia Flammer	...	Background Player
David Gasster	...	Background Player
Sasha Kassel	...	Background Player
Aidan Kassel	...	Background Player
Eric Avary	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
Andy John	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
George A. Craig	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
Steven C. Kassel	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
Robert Gates	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
Todd Mecklem	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
Jason Jacobs	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
Michael Perkins	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
Colin Jessup	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
Stanley Potter	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
Brett Schweinfurth	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman
Robert Tomaszewski	...	13th Morningside Volunteer Infantryman

Directed by
Don Coscarelli

Writing credits (WGA)
Don Coscarelli		(characters)
Don Coscarelli		(written by)

Produced by
A. Michael Baldwin	....	co-producer
Don Coscarelli	....	producer

Original Music by
Reggie Bannister
Steve Morrell
Fred Myrow
Malcolm Seagrave
Christopher L. Stone

Cinematography by
Chris Chomyn

Film Editing by
Scott J. Gill

Production Design by
Naython Vane		(as Naython Williams)

Art Direction by
Mike Roth

Set Decoration by
Brett Schweinfurth

Costume Design by
Shelley Kay

Makeup Department
Soo-Jin Yoon	....	chief hair stylist
Soo-Jin Yoon	....	chief makeup artist

Production Management
Rosa Gonzalez	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jeff Shiffman	....	first assistant director
Dawn Stewart	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Kristen Deem	....	property master

Sound Department
Kevin Jones	....	sound
Michael Kreple	....	adr supervisor
Greg Mauer	....	foley editor
Peggy McAffee	....	sound effects editor
Paul N.J. Ottosson	....	sound designer
Rick Owens	....	foley artist
Jonathan Wales	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Chris Hanson	....	special effects makeup
Gigi Fast Elk Porter	....	special affects makeup coordinator

Visual Effects by
D. Kerry Prior	....	visual effects creator

Stunts
Bob Ivy	....	stunt coordinator
Bob Ivy	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Colin Hudson	....	Steadicam operator
Adam Janeiro	....	director of photography: additional photography
Scott Libolt	....	still photographer
Peyton Skelton	....	gaffer
Daniel Trachtenberg	....	key grip
Joe Waistell	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Justin Zaharczuk	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kristen Deem	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Donald Milne	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jon Lewin	....	music editor

Other crew
Kristen Deem	....	script supervisor
Guy Thorpe	....	funeral coach coordinator
Guy Thorpe	....	hearse coordinator

Thanks
Roger Avary	....	special thanks

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1998) (USA) (theatrical)
• AVU-Video-Vertriebs-GmbH (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Beam Entertainment (????) (Japan) (DVD)
• Creative Axa Co. Ltd. (????) (Japan) (DVD)
• Highlight Video (????) (Germany) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Orion Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Silver Sphere Corporation

Special Effects

• Electric Eye
• K.N.B. Effects Group (special make-up)

Also Known As:

"Phantasm IV: Infinity" - USA (alternative title)
"Phantasm: oblIVion" - USA (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence/gore and some strong language

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (2007) | Australia:MA | Germany:16 (cut) | Germany:18 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Lone Pine, California, USA

Trivia:

The dwarf that gets shot in the face with the hand-gun by Reggie was played by a very young Wendy Coscarelli, Don Coscarelli's daughter.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Reggie begins to change the tire on the Barracuda, the convertible top is down. A few minutes later when he stands up, the top is up.

Quotes:

Michael:Do you remember our old town. That last perfect day, before he came.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Have You Seen It?

Highly impressive sequel effort

"Phantasm IV: Oblivion" is a more than qualified conclusion to the series.

**SPOILERS**

Fleeing through the country, Mike, (A. Michael Baldwin) finds that The Tall Man, (Angus Scrimm) has implanted a Silver Sphere into his skull to turn him into one of the minions he controls, while his friend Reggie, (Reggie Bannister) is held captive. Following the spirit of his trapped brother Jody, (Bill Thornbury) out to Death Valley, they all meet together to determine what's going on. Realizing that the Tall Man had plans for them from the very beginning in his quest to take over the world, they manage to find the secret of who The Tall Man really is, using his time-travel equipment to venture into the past to see who he really was in the past life. As they gather more about the Tall Man, he realizes that they're going against his plans, forcing him to unleash the full force of his demons against them in an effort to stop them fry ruining his plans for world domination.

The Good News: This here was one of the more impressive entries in the series. One thing it has going for it is the really big and grandiose action scenes in the film. What helps it the most is that the majority of the scenes are largely familiar stuff of the series. There's a spectacular car flip and rescue, two exploding vehicles, some aggressive jumping dwarfs and a silver-sphere attack, the last of which occurs after the inevitable attempt by one to get off with the equally inevitable girl picked up en route. These are all great to witness, giving the film some life it may not otherwise have had. In terms of atmosphere and suggestion, the film scores rather well. The in-car visions of the past and the initial encounter with the phantom patrolman proving to genuinely creepy. Equally effective is the flashbacks and alternate reality visions and memories, presenting us with absolutely unique scenes that are quite imaginative and really intriguing. The longest one, a night-time chase through a forest will get plenty of atmospheric scenes in, including the sequence where the hanging Tall Man ushers a big remark offering peace in exchange for his freedom. It's a great scene, and one of the best ones in the film. The sight of The Tall Man appearing as a regular human, sitting on his porch and offering the visiting Mike a glass of home-made lemonade is pretty impressive as well. Another cool thing about this sequel are the many eerie and haunting locations, such as a lonely beach, spooky rock formations, a lifeless street in LA and barren salt flats that give it such an otherworldly, supernatural feel that the typical mausoleums and old graveyards of the previous ones didn't. Although there's some really dull moments, there's also some big moments in here to get some big moments in, especially the autopsy scene that reveals a big surprise for one of the victims, with the Silver Spheres getting a welcome appearance that wouldn't have otherwise been. An attack from the spheres late in the film, leading to many of it's true gore set-pieces as they cling to major body parts is something to behold, and there's some more in here that are very welcome. All in all, this is a very worthy sequel entry.

The Bad News: There wasn't very many flaws in here, but they were somewhat important. The fact that it follows the conventions of the series closely is the main point in this one. This one has so many of the clichés and plot-points that the other ones have, and it can lead to multiple scenes where predicting what will come next will be done correctly the great majority of the time, which can lead to many problems throughout the film. That can be something in this one, mainly because none of them are changed around or inverted this time around, which is where the problem lies. Nothing is changed, and that is something which can be used against it at times. There's also the fact that the film doesn't really move as fast as the others out there, which can be somewhat irritating. A lot of time is spent wandering around in the desert, which offers it good scenery but nothing else, and by utilizing the clichés at hand, a long time is spent on others that have nothing to offer in terms of action, and at times this can be somewhat dull. However, the main problem with this one is that there's no explanations for anything in the film, much less the series. This one probably should've done something to answer the questions the others have to offer, and it would've been a great time to do it. That is the biggest flaw, and it keeps it down the most.

The Final Verdict: It won't match up to the classics early on in the series, but it's still highly entertaining for the series and wraps it on a high note. Highly recommended for the fans of the series or those just plain interested, but those who haven't followed the series won't find much in here that will appeal to them.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language