What about this film series? The first one's more of an atmospheric horror film, but it's a B movie at heart. Got corny dialogue and pointless nudity. And the sequels are also pure B movie fun. They got muscle cars, gore, more pointless nudity, and a sweet 4 barrel shotgun. If anyone here hasn't seen these four films, I'd highly recommend them. First one has a sweet DVD version loaded with extras.
Phantasm- Inventive, atmospheric horror film.
Phantasm 2- On par with, if not better than, the original. Loads of fun.
Phantasm 3- Lord of the Dead- Yeah it's bad, but it's a lot of fun.
Phantasm: Oblivion- Campy, yet atmospheric conclusion (?) to the series.
The original Phan film was FANTASTIC. It wasn't heavy on the gore, and depended more on the atmosphere. Michael Baldwin is great as Mike. They never should have replaced him in the sequel. It seriously brought the film down a notch. The 3rd Phan film is decent, but kinda the outcast of the series. It gave up all of the atmosphere in favor of gore and a cheesey script. The fourth film is probably my favorite out of the series. It answers all of the questions that arose in the three pervious films and does it in a very unique manner. All of the flashbacks are well done.
I also own the DVD and must say it is very good. Well worth the 10 bucks. The sound clips from the soundtrack is very appreciated, as is the audio commentary and behind the scenes feature. Also, the soundtrack is available from the Phantasm website.
Hey, guess what's going straight-to-video soon? The Final Phantasm. (Yeah, sure, just like the fourth Friday The 13th was "The Final Chapter.")
Would that be...
Phantasm's End?
I just got the Phantasm1 special edition for 10 bucks and damn was I NOT dissappointed
probably more extra's on this 10$ dvd then any of my other dvd's combined excluding Big Trouble in Little China.
Big trouble in little china has more extra's but also cost me more so I guess their about even.
I've seen pretty much all the sequels but only faintly remember parts from part 2&4 and 4 is the only one on dvd other then the original so i'm just gonna stick with that one for now.
One thing I do remember is the ball comes to play alot more in the sequels,the first was largely based on the fear factor.
The Tall Man rules!
I'm pretty much with Phan88 on this one.
I like the second one a lot. In fact it was my favorite until I rewatched the first a couple of months ago. I like the fact that it just took the mythology of the first movie and ran with it. In that respect it's very similar to HELLRAISER II, another favorite of mine. (Although, the first HELLRAISER sucked, along with 3 and 4. 5 I got nothing against.)
However, the first is the one to beat. If you can get past the kid's goofy haircut you'll find a atmospheric little movie with creativity to spare.
And yes, I too am very happy with the DVD. $10! This and KILLER KLOWNS have got to be some of the most extra laden DVDs out there. Disco Phantasm, anybody?
I haven't seen PHANTASM IV.
Is it really only $10 for Phantasm now? I may have to visit Best Buy...
I've only seen the first one (purposely avoided the sequels) but I remember when it was first released theatrically, a lot of my filmmaker friends including some pro directors, were discussing what exactly made the film so unique and successful. Hard to analyze something like that, though. At one point (around 1990) I wrote a script that was going to be produced, a low-budget sci-fi, and good ol' Angus Scrimm agreed to star for us. Too bad the financing fell through! :(
Wow awesome replies all. Mofo, I'd say give Hellraiser 1 another chance. It's one of my faves. But that's just me. :-) Kevin, I'm sorry that project's financing fell through, would've been cool (and I'd kill to work with Angus).