tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post4088342206837906952..comments2024-03-28T14:49:36.133-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: You Play a Good Game, Boy: The Tao of the Tall ManJohn Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-26317996975796077812010-08-25T19:41:17.474-04:002010-08-25T19:41:17.474-04:00Will: Some very interesting comparisons and points...Will: Some very interesting comparisons and points there. I agree that Elm Street and Phantasm are apples and oranges to some degree. The Phantasm series at the very least, has a more tightly woven and consistent sense of mythology: the movies don't contradict each other. (I love in the Elm Street series how in Part III the old sanitarium is open and in business, but by Part V -- like two years later -- they say it has been closed down for forty years!)<br /><br />The point is, both franchises have their merits. I enjoy both, very much. <br /><br />Phantasm III and Phantasm IV are entirely worth your time, assuming you know what you're getting into. <br /><br />Part III and Part IV are very low-budget, direct-to-video features. And honestly, after writing Horror Films of the 1990s (coming soon from McFarland...) I can say with some degree of certainty that these Phantasm sequels are better than 99% of all such DIV productions from that decade. But they are cheap, and a little goofy...but also strangely affectionate, and emotion-provoking. <br /><br />Truthfully, I got a real kick out of them, even though the final film was literally shot on a shoestring, and it shows. If you can accept the limitations that were imposed on the franchise, the last two films work surprisingly well. The final film may even give you a lump in your throat. Not an epic, spectacular ending, but a small, intimate one that makes you remember the beginning. Odd, individual, and fun.<br /><br />best,<br />JKMJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-49590202740488748282010-08-24T19:53:53.988-04:002010-08-24T19:53:53.988-04:00Hey.
First let me tangent and defend the Nightmar...Hey.<br /><br />First let me tangent and defend the Nightmare series from JD and then tie it all back! I felt that the nightmare sequences in almost all (not all, but almost) the Nightmare flicks were the saving graces in some of the lesser entries and for the most part maintained an environment of fear because they focused on specific social fears that many of us, whether we admit it or not, have. Like the thin socialite's daughter in Nightmare 5 who eats herself to death or the deaf boy in 6 who wants to hear so bad but when he does even the smallest pin drop is as loud as a bomb. Or in Nightmare 4 where the protagonists can't progress forward (the dreaded can't do simple things dream) because they keep getting transplated BACK to the place they started.<br /><br />And this ties into JKM's review because while lesser horror entries seem to aim for more visceral terror that aim for jump scaring or to satisfy a designer's wet dream, things like Nightmare and Phantasm go for specific, haunting ideas that we can all relate to. Phantasm, as JKM says, is a 12 year old boys dream/nightmare sequence: a clearly black hat villain, amazingly inventive and seemingly impossible horrors like the ball and the realms and such, and the fears 12 year olds worry about like abandonment and loneliness. Without the depth of adult observation, some 12 year old fears are larger then understanding and go beyond interpretation.<br /><br />Excellent review as always JKM. Inquiry: I've only seen Phantasm I (rented) and II (watched on Joe Bob Brigg's Monstervision). Are III and IV worth watching at all???Willhttp://secureimmaturity.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-89768647190348666232010-08-24T18:26:56.316-04:002010-08-24T18:26:56.316-04:00Hello my friends,
J.D.: Angus Scrimm is so great ...Hello my friends,<br /><br />J.D.: Angus Scrimm is so great -- I agree, a total gentleman. Then you set him loose in Phantasm (or on Alias, as McCullough...) and he's just this dark, imposing force of evil. Amazing. <br /><br />Le0pard13: I agree with you too, on Scrimm, and the elegant (and evil simplicity...) of those silver balls. I remember the first time I saw the movie it was just this descent into dream imagery, dream horror.<br /><br />Thank you both for the comments...<br /><br />best,<br />JKMJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-48290129429197407362010-08-24T13:12:53.116-04:002010-08-24T13:12:53.116-04:00I'm late to this, but I agree with J.D. on thi...I'm late to this, but I agree with J.D. on this one. If you've seen Angus Scrimm's interviews, he's the kindest, most sincere of gentlemen. Put him in this series, without much make-up, and he's evil incarnate! And those damn flying balls! What lunatic thought up that simple (almost elegant) mechanism and unleashed it do such vicious mayhem? The whole series was pretty damn clever. Great examination, John.le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-34065459524919048642010-08-24T09:12:03.851-04:002010-08-24T09:12:03.851-04:00What a great analysis of what makes the PHANTASM f...What a great analysis of what makes the PHANTASM films and the Tall Man so effective as horror films. They play on nightmare logic in a way that the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET films don't. With the exception of the first ELM STREET, I never really felt scared for the protagonists but definitely in the first 2 PHANTASM films I really feared for the lives the main characters and wondered if they would be able to escape the Tall Man. Plus, the killer silver ball is one of the most memorable (and nasty) weapons in the horror genre.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-39091186920470359342010-08-23T18:59:39.688-04:002010-08-23T18:59:39.688-04:00Hi Indianhoop!
Yes, death is bad...but what the T...Hi Indianhoop!<br /><br />Yes, death is bad...but what the Tall Man does to people is infinitely worse. Like you, I have always found the undead of Phantasm very creepy; very unsettling. <br /><br />The idea that you can recognize these monstrous, unthinking dwarves as your former human friends gives me the shudders...<br /><br />Thanks for the comment!<br /><br />best,<br />JohnJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-33265817752328426992010-08-23T18:38:46.248-04:002010-08-23T18:38:46.248-04:00Great point on how there are many "fates wors...Great point on how there are many "fates worse than death" in the better horror films JKM.<br /><br />The fate of the undead in "Phantasm" has always left me very uneasy...easily one of the creepiest aspects of one of the creepiest films of all time.indianhoophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13690324288830538825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-69959738777573608832010-08-23T13:44:44.770-04:002010-08-23T13:44:44.770-04:00Steve W: Great comment! "Dream logic" in...Steve W: Great comment! "Dream logic" in cinema is indeed a powerful thing (Lynch is particularly good with it I believe...), and the original Phantasm has it in spades. There's a sense of a different reality in Phantasm. The movie is creepy and yet in some odd way, whimsical. It's hard to dissect the alchemy...but it works. I recommend it strongly.<br /><br />Chris Hallock: Thank you for great comment as well. You have a fantastic descriptor for the original phantasm in your remarks: "inexplicable weirdness." I couldn't have said it better. That's precisely what it is; and getting the vibe, I tie it to dreams, which I think is fair, and enhances appreciation of the film.<br /><br />I haven't seen Satan Hates You, but now that I know Scrimm and Bannister appear in it, I've got to! Thanks for the heads up.<br /><br />Best wishes to all,<br />JohnJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-66228491653231835162010-08-23T13:29:43.118-04:002010-08-23T13:29:43.118-04:00Outstanding post! I've been more or less obses...Outstanding post! I've been more or less obsessed with Phantasm from the moment I first laid eyes on it. It's one of the few surrealistic films where I actually wanted to delve further and further into the mythology and find answers when I'd normally just be satisfied churning theories around in my brain's audience of one. I love the inexplicable weirdness of the first film, but never got angry when Coscarelli expanded the mythology in the sequels. <br /><br />Angus Scrimm seems like such a wonderful, enthusiastic, and sweet person. Hard to believe he is one of the horror world's most feared villains. <br /><br />Have you gotten a chance to watch Satan Hates You? He, along with Reggie Bannister have some good roles in it.Chris Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12360811267835990523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-82963434761537510992010-08-23T12:53:17.994-04:002010-08-23T12:53:17.994-04:00As usual, your writing makes me want to check out ...As usual, your writing makes me want to check out a movie (or in this case series) that I missed. Don't know exactly how I missed it, considering that most of my high school friends saw the first PHANTASM on initial release.<br /><br />Done right--i.e, with the right visual approach--dream logic in a horror film is very effective. Certainly a lot of De Palma and Argento has a dream logic to it. As do cult favorites like CEMETERY MAN (those Italians again!) and LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH. Not to mention true classics like Dreyer's VAMPYRE and Murnau's NOSFERATU.<br /><br />Part of my problem with INCEPTION is that I think Nolan is too doggedly literal-minded to do dreams right. I didn't find that film evocative of dream logic at all.SteveWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-73156882226891377022010-08-23T08:51:09.381-04:002010-08-23T08:51:09.381-04:00Woodchuckgod: Thank you for a lovely comment (made...Woodchuckgod: Thank you for a lovely comment (made my day, already...). <br /><br />I agree wholeheartedly with your description of Phantasm; as pointing closer to Elm Street than Crystal Lake. <br /><br />There's definitely a surreal, dream-like and cerebral aspect to the film franchise (as well as the fun gore and action/violence, as you correctly note...).<br /><br />To me, the original film -- with its haunting score and intense focus on young Michael -- is really a treatise on death (and the utter unacceptability of death...) as told through the perspective of a troubled, sensitive child. <br /><br />In some ways -- despite the drills to the skull -- it's almost innocent, about the way a kid turns the notion of mortality into a phsyical "monster" he has to fight and defeat (in his dreams). It's very child-like, and magical stuff, after a fashion. <br /><br />And reading the body of the film as a dream, with only a scene here or there "awake" before returning to the nightmare, brings an umbrella of unity to some of the odder, bizarre moments that don't seem to conform to our sense of reality. I think the reading works...at least I hope so!<br /><br />I believe Phantasm is really a great film for this very reason..it reaches that apex that only select horror films do...it seems to be a fantasy -- about one thing (a monster stealing the dead from local cemeteries...) -- but it is actually very deeply about us; about an important aspect of human nature...our childish wish to beat death; and to avoid an unpleasant reality, or unpleasant fact about reality.<br /><br />I really, really love the original Phantasm (and enjoy the rest of the films), as you can probably tell. <br /><br />Thank you so much for your comment! I hope you enjoy your re-watch (and let me know how the dream metaphor holds up for you...)<br /><br />best,<br />JohnJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-45770052639069769142010-08-23T08:39:11.538-04:002010-08-23T08:39:11.538-04:00Being one of the few horror franchises I've vi...Being one of the few horror franchises I've viewed in entirety (and enjoyed), it always makes me smile to see Phantasm and The Tall Man written of in print. I always felt the films stood out somewhat from the more, let's say 'physical' of the genre; Standing closer to Elm Street than Crystal lake, if you will. <br /><br />And here - is another reason why I come here to read. In the Phantasm(s), I enjoyed the Tall Man, the spheres, the little touches of science fiction sprinkled throughout, the 4-barreled shotgun, the active struggle against the inevitable, jump-in-your-seat cliffhanger of an ending, and even more reasons to make a mausoleum and cemetery scary. I had never, however, looked at reading the first film as primarily a dream state. That's just fascinating, and a lot more satisfying than simply tossing bits of the film into the large genre box of 'that's a horror thing, it's a movie thing, it's not supposed to make sense'.<br /><br />Coming on the tail of watching Inception last night, this definitely will have to go back on my watch list.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com