Phantasm (1979)

A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber known only as the Tall Man, who keeps a lethal arsenal of terrible weapons with him.

Director:

Don Coscarelli

Writer:

Don Coscarelli

Stars:

A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
A. Michael Baldwin	...	Mike (as Michael Baldwin)
Bill Thornbury	...	Jody
Reggie Bannister	...	Reggie
Kathy Lester	...	Lady in Lavender
Terrie Kalbus	...	Fortuneteller's Granddaughter
Kenneth V. Jones	...	Caretaker (as Ken Jones)
Susan Harper	...	Girlfriend
Lynn Eastman-Rossi	...	Sally (as Lynn Eastman)
David Arntzen	...	Toby
Ralph Richmond	...	Bartender
Bill Cone	...	Tommy
Laura Mann	...	Double Lavender
Mary Ellen Shaw	...	Fortuneteller
Myrtle Scotton	...	Maid
Angus Scrimm	...	The Tall Man

Storyline

Mike, a young teenage boy who has just lost his parents, afraid to lose his brother follow him to a funeral, where Mike witnesses the Tall Man lifting a coffin on his own. Mike decides to investigate, and discovers that the Tall Man, protected by his flying spheres, is shrinking dead bodies down to half their normal size and reanimating them as slaves. It is then up to Mike, his brother, and Reggie the ice cream man to stop the Tall man.

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Plot Keywords:

sex on the floor | sex outdoors | exposing one's breasts | woman on top | long haired woman | 

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Taglines:

Beware the ball, beware the tall man, beware the never dead.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for nudity, violence, and intense scenes

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed at the same mansion as So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993). Dunsmuir House & Gardens in Oakland, CA.

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Goofs

When Reggie is trying to encourage Mike at the end of the movie, his position changes between two shots, making discontinuity apparent.

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Quotes

Mike: There's this door down here, and I bet there's something behind it.

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Crazy Credits

With the exception of the title Phantasm appearing on-screen, there are no opening credits.

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Alternate Versions

New Line/Image Collector's Edition laserdisc features a separate section with one deleted scene (struck from a what appears to be a work print as there is no music and sound is limited to dialogue only). The scene has Mike telling big brother Jody about weird goings-on he has witnessed at the cemetery. Jody then gets Mike drunk and takes him to Reggie's ice cream parlor, where they start a food fight. Then it cuts to a scene the next day where Jody stops by the bank where he works and visits his girlfriend.

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Connections

Referenced in A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King (2011)

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Soundtracks

Sittin' Here At Midnight
by Bill Thornbury
Thornbury Music

User Reviews

It pays to see it twice

I bought the DVD (an older one, not the one that's been referred to here) of this ages ago, watched it once, got bored and didn't watch it for months. Then I shoved it in my player the other night because I had nothing better to do and I have to say it has improved immeasurably the second time around. This is mainly because I was aware that it had a confusing plot which I'd previously decided made no sense, so I wasn't focussing on that aspect of the film this time around. Instead I noticed the really effective musical score, one of the best I've heard, and the excellent cinematography/lighting which give the film a very tense and quite frightening atmosphere. The acting isn't so good and the dialogue in one mercifully short early scene (where two characters meet before the funeral that sparks the plot off) borders on C-movie-style contrivedness, but overall it's an enjoyable flick with plenty of memorable sequences and a sense of pace and enthusiasm last seen in The Evil Dead.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Morningside

Filming Locations:

16232 Pacific Coast Hwy, Huntington Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$11,988,469

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,988,469

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Breed Productions Inc., Bad Robot

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono 4-Track Stereo (Visurama)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1