Psychotronic Cinemavision: Phantasm

Phantasm is a film that, after watching, I sat in silence, asking myself what it is I had just witnessed. Unlike a film like Hereditary, I wasn’t left questioning the logic or resolution of the film but instead having a deep interrogation with myself as to whether or not this film was genuinely good, or good for a ‘B film’. You see, this 1979 horror picture, which was written and directed by Don Coscarelli, isn’t just a stand-alone success but one that spawned a franchise of underground films that ran nearly four decades. There has to be something about this film hiding underneath all of its flaws and ‘B movie’ tropes that makes it special enough to connect with and receive such positive reverence from audiences.

The film follows two brothers, Michael (A. Michael Baldwin) and Jody (Bill Thornbury), as they’re tormented by a cemetery caretaker that has begun resurrecting their loved ones for nefarious reasoning. As the film goes on, it descends into a near dream-like insanity driven by the film’s shallow writing and bizarre editing choices that could go both ways in making this film great or awful. It’s a difficult film to connect to; its characters shockingly reserved, and its violence so goofy that any tension in the film is immediately laughed off.

However, its lack of traditional values outside of its many, many genre tropes is what gives the film its defining trait; Authenticity and vibes. There’s an atmosphere to Phantasm and enough of an emotional character theme suggested during the flick’s 90-minute runtime to keep viewers engaged. While your suspension of disbelief may be shattered by strange dialogue and even more jarring choices for monster designs, your heart will be entrapped by an overwhelming sense of loneliness and desperation. The film is locked into a few key locations, always shrouded in darkness, and everyone within them just out of touch. I find this film to be most comparable to the 2006 adaptation of Silent Hill in how reliant the film is on you getting sucked into its strange world. Even the film’s main antagonist, the Tall-Man (Angus Scrimm), sits just out of reach stalking Michael and Jody through various means, including shapeshifting. Even down to its villain, Phantasm is a film that when watching, feels eerie due to its alien lack of internal logic and shallowness.

That being said, at its heart Phantasm is a story about abandonment. With the death of his parents haunting his head, Michael spends the entire film terrified that his older brother and hero, Jody, will leave him behind to live with his aunt, and the family he once knew will be forever forgotten. There are multiple interpretations to the film’s ending that either heighten this theme to a point of overwhelming sadness or elevate its schlock into something strangely pure. While I don’t want to spoil what that ending is, it seems to suggest that what’s going on in the film is a twisted dream of Michael’s in the reaction to being orphaned.

Once I put this all together, I realized that what makes Phantasm so good is the fact that it is bad from a constructive standpoint on purpose, all to emulate a singular boy’s waking nightmare. He acts as though he’s this action film hero, the film full of references to other science fiction that, when seen as fragments of Michael’s dreams, go from senseless to full of meaning. In fact, the entire viewing experience for this picture can be described by that. It’s a cold, senseless tale that, in the end, blooms into something full of meaning.

Moreover, Phantasm subtly weaves a strong sense of humor throughout its narrative, best exemplified in the side characters and authentic dialogue choices. The supporting cast adds a delightful touch of levity, injecting moments of wit and charm into the otherwise eerie atmosphere. The film’s dialogue choices, while unconventional, contribute to its unique charm, creating an authentic and memorable viewing experience. This undercurrent of humor serves as a clever counterpoint to the darker themes, and offers an authenticity to the deeply human struggle that Michael is facing, which further enhances the film overall.