Phantasm (1979)

Director: Don Coscarelli

Starring: A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm

More info: IMDb

Tagline: If this one doesn't scare you, you're already dead!

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

My rating:7/10

Will I watch it again? Yeah and now I'm ready for the 37 sequels.


Here's a blast from the past. I remember seeing this on HBO/VHS in the early 80s. The ONLY two things I remembered were the The Tall Man (Scrimm) and the flying ball of death. With that in mind I was looking forward to my first full viewing in nearly thirty years and I was pleasantly surprised that it holds up and my memories weren't sullied.


It's a fun flick with some great creepiness about. Hell, it opens with a couple having sex in a cemetery! Sold! It drags a little from time to time but it'll hold your attention long enough for the money shots. The score by Fred Myrow & Malcolm Seagrave has that HALLOWEEN (1978) vibe that works well enough so that the repetition of the main theme doesn't get stale. It's at least gotten me excited to visit the three sequels which I've never seen. At least Coscarelli wrote and directed all of them with a lot of the cast continually coming back for more. That in and of itself is pretty cool.