Friday, October 12, 2012

Horror Movie Review: Phantasm


Phantasm (1979) is a strange cult film, and I'm not sure if I like it or not. The acting is pretty terrible and the storyline is a bit silly. It's filled with lots of characters you only see once, and characters who are given names but you don't know who the hell they are. I'm going to keep this one pretty short.

Mike, a 13 year old boy, is being looked after by his older brother Jody. Both of their parents have died, and they only have each other left. Mike is scared that Jody will leave and make him live with his aunt, so Mike follows Jody around everywhere.

While Jody is at a friends funeral, Mike sees something strange. A heavy coffin that took many men to lift, is lifted by the creepy mortician (by himself) when the mourners have all left. Mike sees it as he has been hiding watching his brother.

I seriously thought Mike was a girl at first.

Mike becomes very suspicious of the mortician and the cemetery. Jody and Mike become more involved in the strange happenings, as they're attacked by midgets in brown hoods and they investigate the funeral home. Overlooking all is the creepy Tall Man (who I didn't find very creepy)



Overall I wasn't very impressed. I found that scenes dragged on too long, and nothing was really explained. The dialogue seems very outdated now, and I laughed a few lines. I don't think I've seen a horror film set around a cemetery before, so that's a plus! I didn't feel creeped out at all, and I left a bit disappointed. It's worth seeing if you haven't already, but I probably won't watch it again.

Scare factor: 0/5 I wasn't frightened at all.
Gore factor: 4/5 Fake blood, but great effects!
Boob factor: 2/5 One set of boobs
OVERALL: 3/10 Not a big fan

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