Holiday Gift Guide ’16: Phantasm Ravager

Could this be the end of Don Coscarelli horror/sci-fi franchise? Say it isn’t so. Phans are always down for more, but the death of Angus Scrimm means the iconic Tall Man will no longer menace Mike Pearson. Arguably, Scrimm was the greatest surviving heir to the horror tradition embodied by Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Cushing. He will be missed, but perhaps Kat Lester’s Lady in Lavender can tag in for him. At least Scrimm provides Phans some final creepy moments in David Hartman’s Phantasm: Ravager (trailer here), co-scripted and produced by Coscarelli, which is now available on DVD and BluRay from Well Go USA.

Reggie the ice cream man is having a bad day, but he has not had a lot of good days in the last thirty-seven years. As a close friend of Mike and Jody Pearson, the horny troubadour was pulled into the battle against the Tall Man and his intergalactic hellions years ago. So far, he has survived, but the Pearson Brothers’ status is uncertain.

Reggie is desperately looking for Mike, his one-time ward, but he keeps slipping through time in planes of existence, roughly a la Slaughterhouse-Five. Each version of the world offers its own particular perils, but they all involve the Tall Man. There is the dystopian Terminator-like world and the Potemkin-feeling interludes, in which Reggie is a sanitarium patient diagnosed with early dementia. However, the most Phantasm-like sequences involve Reggie’s attempts to woo a stranded motorist that will eventually be interrupted by the Sentinel Spheres.

Frankly, there is so much jumping around for Ravager, any sense of narrative cohesion goes out the window. Naturally, the ending is also maddeningly indeterminate, so it is highly debatable whether it adds up to anything. On the plus side, there are a lot of cleverly executed Phan favorite call-backs, including a long chase scene featuring the ‘Cuda muscle car and the Spheres. The Sentinel Spheres themselves are badder and bloodier than ever. Scrimm does his thing with relish and the bond shared by Reggie and the Pearsons is as potent as ever. There is even a return trip to Morningside Mausoleum.

In fact, it is those themes of friendship, family, and loyalty that give the Phantasm franchise way more emotional heft than most low budget genre movies. Reggie Bannister (in the role he was born to play, since it was written expressly for him) maintains the energy and attitude Phans expect and Scrimm could still kill small animals with a withering stare. Depending whether you are a glass-half-full-or-empty kind of person, you could either say there is too much crammed into Ravager or just enough. Yet, as always, something about the characters and their travails will stick in your subconscious. Phantasm: Ravager is mostly recommended for Phans, whereas every genre enthusiast should either catch up with or revisit Phantasm: Remastered (seriously, the original essentially has the same plot as A Monster Calls, with Scrimm and Liam Neeson playing the monsters). Both are now available on DVD, BluRay, and digital, from Well Go USA.

Phantasm: Remastered—The Cult Classic Rises Again

It inspired the Slender Man internet meme-hoax-phenomenon and the name of Captain Phasma in The Force Awakens. J.J. Abrams is indeed a fan, which is why he offered his Bad Robot production company’s facilities for the 4K restoration. The original that spawned four sequels (as of now) has been spruced up, yet it still looks appropriately of its era. The creepiness and raw potency remain as strong as ever when Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm: Remastered (trailer here) releases today on DVD and BluRay, from Well Go USA.

Thirteen-year-old Mike Pearson has had a hard time dealing with his parents’ death. He idolizes his shaggy-haired grown musician brother Jody, to a degree that may not be healthy. Understanding his brother’s issues with death and separation issues, Jody instructs Mike to avoid the funeral of his recently deceased bandmate, but he watches anyway—through binoculars, while hidden in the woods bordering Morningside cemetery and mausoleum. That is how he happens to see the sinister funeral director (a.k.a. The Tall Man) pick up the casket and carry it back to the mortuary, rather than burying it after the service.

At first, Jody dismisses his younger brother’s weird claims as the product of his troubled psyche, but Mike soon retrieves some pretty compelling evidence to change his mind. Unfortunately, the Tall Man is onto Mike’s snooping by this point.

One of the knocks on Phantasm I is that the narrative does not make much sense, but frankly, it seems reasonably coherent compared to some of the postmodern pretensions and micro-budget schlock hailed and forgotten in the thirty-seven years since its initial release. Granted, the ending is a bit of a head-scratcher. Yet, it still kind of works in the context of the film’s themes.

Most horror fans will agree Coscarelli hit the trifecta in three key aspects. One is the casting of tall, menacing Angus Scrimm as the iconic Tall Man. He just radiates malevolent power. Secondly, late metal-crafter Will Greene’s designs for the flying, brain-drilling Sentinel Spheres have truly become the stuff of nightmares. Finally, the locations, including the exteriors shot at Dunsmuir Mansion outside Oakland, really evoke foreboding and dread.

Arguably, A. Michael Baldwin and Bill Thornbury do not get the credit they deserve for their work as Mike and Jody Pearson. Their brotherly relationship really is at the heart of the film. Little things also jump out at viewers when they revisit Phantasm with fresh eyes, like Mike’s wall-sized NASA moon poster, reminding us of the idealism so many had for the space program in the 1970s, which suits the character so well.

As a 1979 release, Phantasm was part of a banner year for film, sharing company with Alien, Rocky II, Life of Brian, Mad Max, Apocalypse Now, Love at First Bite, and Tarkovsky’s Stalker. This is an under-recognized golden year—and Phantasm, the scruffy indie that could, becomes its genre capstone, in retrospect. It still holds up, feeling eerily familiar, like a suspicious face we recognize but cannot identify. Very highly recommended for all horror fans, Phantasm: Remastered releases today (12/6) on DVD and BluRay, from Well Go USA.

John Dies at the End—but Don’t Let that Get You Down

It starts with a wickedly macabre riddle.  Where it finishes is not so clear.  One would assume the title offers an obvious clue, but not necessarily.  Those who require a rigorously logical approach to the space-time continuum might be out to sea, but genre fans looking for a wild trip will find in Don Coscarelli’s John Dies at the End (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in New York.

Based on the novel by Jason Pargin published under the pen-name David Wong, JDATE (as it is cheekily abbreviated) follows the story character David Wong has to tell reporter Arnie Blondestone, in a series of rapid-fire flashbacks.  He really does not look like a Wong, but looks are frequently deceiving in this reality.

“Wong” and his partner John are amateur exorcists approaching professional status.  Two years ago, they were exposed to a drug known as Soy Sauce.  This stuff really opens up the doors of perception.  Now they can see beings from other dimensions and tell you what you dreamed last night.  Unfortunately, just as Wong adjusts to the sauce, he learns his best friend has died.  Shortly thereafter, John starts calling him, first to apologize for all the drama and then to guide him through a series of predicaments.  Eventually, they reunite to confront an imminent threat from another universe, on what appears to be the Eyes Wide Shut world, with the help of their powerful ally, Dr. Albert Marconi, who masquerades as a television psychic.  Or something like that.  Then it becomes a bit complicated.

What Bill & Ted were to stoner science fiction, JDATE is to psychotropic genre fare. 

Like the original source novel, the film is episodic in structure, madly hop-scotching back and forth across time and planes of existence.  The audience just has to live in the moment of each segment, which are almost always outrageously clever.  Frankly, viewers really do not care if the lads save the universe.  They will just want to see what comes next.

As Wong and John, Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes are likable lugs, who treat the bedlam with admirable seriousness, never winking at the camera.  However, it is the supporting characters that really enrich JDATE.  Executive producer Paul Giamatti is kind of awesome as Blondestone—a rather more complex role than it first appears.  Likewise, Clancy Brown delivers pure genre gold as Dr. Marconi.  There’s also a dog, Bark Lee, as himself, who deserves consideration for next year’s Golden Collar Award, if they can keep it going that long.  There is even a brief appearance from Angus Scrimm, the cult favorite from Coscarelli’s Phantasm.

JDATE’s energy and inventiveness are impressive.  As eccentric as things get, the film never feels forced or self-consciously hip.  That is the real trick.  As a result, the rough edges, apparently the result of budgetary limitations, can easily be forgiven.  In fact, they become part of the charm.  Highly recommended for fans of over-the-top sci-fi-horror hybrids, John Dies at the End opens tomorrow (2/1) in New York at the Landmark Sunshine, with Coscarelli attending the Friday and Saturday night screenings.