Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead | |
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Directed by | Don Coscarelli |
Written by | Don Coscarelli |
Produced by | Don Coscarelli |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Chris Chomyn |
Edited by | Norman Buckley |
Music by | Fred Myrow Christopher L. Stone |
Distributed by | Starway International Inc. Anchor Bay (DVD) |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2,500,000 |
Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (also known as just Phantasm III) is a 1994 American science fantasy horror film and the second sequel in the Phantasm series, written and directed by Don Coscarelli. The film stars Angus Scrimm as the Tall Man, Reggie Bannister, and A. Michael Baldwin. It is followed by Phantasm IV: Oblivion .
Immediately after his apparent demise at the end of the previous film, a new Tall Man emerges from his dimension fork. Meanwhile, after ejected from the hearse carrying Mike and Liz, a surviving Reggie watches as the hearse. Reggie finds Liz dead, but saves Mike from the Tall Man by threatening to kill them all with a grenade. The Tall Man retreats with Liz's head, but promises to return when Mike recovers.
Two years later, a comatose and hospitalized Mike has a near death experience, where his deceased brother Jody appears, but is interrupted by the Tall Man. Awakening, Mike is attacked by a demonic nurse, but quickly subdues her. Reggie arrives as she dies, her scalp bursting open, revealing a cranial sphere that takes off through the window after seeing Mike awake. At Reggie's house, the Tall Man arrives via dimensional fork, overpowers Reggie, transforms Jody into a charred sphere, before drawing Mike through the gate with him.
The next morning, Reggie travels to Holtsville, Idaho, which the Jody-sphere mentions. Upon arrival, Reggie finds it's a ghost town, and is captured by three looters, who lock him in the trunk of his 1970 Barracuda. Reggie is later rescued by a young boy named Tim, who kills the looters when they break into his house. When he and Reggie bury the looters in his yard, Tim tells Reggie how the Tall Man took his parents and destroyed Holtsville. In the morning, Reggie and Tim find the three graves empty and their pink hearse gone.
When the two depart Holtsville, Reggie attempts to leave Tim at an orphanage, but the boy hides in the trunk of his car. Reggie finds a mausoleum, where he encounters a sphere, and is accosted by two young women, Tanesha and Rocky, before he can destroy it. Reggie tries to warn them, but Tanesha is killed by the sphere. Tim appears, destroying the sphere with his pistol. Tim and Reggie join forces with Rocky, and soon come upon a convoy of hearses driven by Gravers, and decide to follow after. When they make camp at night, Jody approaches Reggie in a dream, taking him to the Tall Man's lair, where they rescue Mike. As Reggie wakes, Jody opens a portal and Mike emerges. The Tall Man tries to follow, but Reggie closes the portal, severing the Tall Man's hands.
After fighting off the Tall Man's minions, including the undead looters, they enter a large mausoleum in the city of Boulton. they discover a cryonics facility; where Mike recalls the Tall Man disliking cold. While Reggie, Rocky, and Tim are separated and attacked by the undead looters, Mike consults with the Jody-sphere in a psychic link. Jody explains that the Tall Man is amassing an army to conquer dimensions; they witness the Tall Man encasing the brains of his victims into spheres. The Tall Man senses their presence and recaptures Mike. Two looters wheel in Tim on a gurney, and Mike tries warning him of the thousands of spheres he witnessed, but is paralyzed. Rocky defeats her attacker and helps Reggie; Tim is freed by the Jody-sphere, and runs into the remaining looters, who are killed by the Jody-sphere and Reggie.
The trio crash into the embalming room, where the Tall Man is operating on Mike. Rocky impales the Tall Man with a spear dipped in liquid nitrogen, and they lock him in the freezer. However a golden sphere emerges from his head and attacks them. Reggie catches it in a plunger, and they submerge it into the nitrogen tank. Mike notices his head is bleeding yellow blood and finds a golden sphere beneath the skin. With his eyes like silver spheres and complaining of the cold, he runs away, telling Reggie to stay away from him. Jody imparts some cryptic words on Reggie, before transforming and leaving too.
Rocky departs from the group, leaving in a hearse. Tim reports that Mike tried to warn him, but thousands of spheres are waiting to attack, pinning Reggie to the Wall. When Reggie tells Tim to run, a new Tall Man appears, and Tim is dragged by a zombie in the freezer, through a glass window.
After studio interference forced out A. Michael Baldwin for the second film, he was brought back in Phantasm III. [1] Kerry Prior handled the sphere effects. [2]
The movie had a brief two-week theatrical run in two markets in May 1994: Baton Rouge and St. Louis. In both markets, Phantasm III was the highest-grossing film the two weeks it played. According to Reggie Bannister, Universal Studios refused to theatrically distribute the film in a proper release due to a conflict with Coscarelli. [3] The film was released direct-to-video in October 1994. In 1996, the Los Angeles Times reported that Phantasm III was one of the top 100 highest selling direct-to-video titles. [4]
An unrated version of the film was released in 2007 by Anchor Bay Entertainment, featuring an audio commentary by A. Michael Baldwin and Angus Scrimm, a deleted scene, and behind-the-scenes footage. [5]
Rotten Tomatoes reports that Phantasm III received a positive review from 40% of ten surveyed critics, and the average rating was 4.57/10. [6] Scott Weinberg of Fearnet wrote that while the sequels lack the punch of the original, they're still fun. [7] Steve Barton of DreadCentral rated the film 3.5/5 stars and described the film's humor as hit-or-miss. [5]
The film won Fangoria 's Chainsaw Award for best limited-release film. [8]
Roger Roberts Avary is a Canadian-American film, television director, screenwriter and producer. He worked with Quentin Tarantino on Pulp Fiction, for which they won Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Academy Awards. Avary directed Killing Zoe, The Rules of Attraction, Lucky Day, and wrote the screenplays for Silent Hill and Beowulf.
Wishmaster is a 1997 American dark fantasy horror film directed by Robert Kurtzman. The film was executive produced by Wes Craven, and is the only film of the Wishmaster series with his name attached. Its plot concerns a djinn, a wish-granting, evil genie who is released from a jewel and seeks to capture the soul of the woman who discovered him, thereby opening a portal and freeing his fellow djinn to inhabit and enslave the Earth.
Don Coscarelli Jr. is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in horror films. His directing credits include the first four films in the Phantasm franchise, as well as The Beastmaster (1982) and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002).
Bubba Ho-Tep is a 2002 American comedy horror film written, co-produced and directed by Don Coscarelli. It stars Bruce Campbell as Sebastian Haff, a man residing in a nursing home who claims to be the real Elvis Presley. The film also stars Ossie Davis as Jack, a black man who claims to be John F. Kennedy, explaining that he was patched up after the assassination, dyed black, and abandoned.
Reginald Horace "Reggie" Bannister is an American musician, actor, producer, writer, and activist. He is known for his role as Reggie in the Phantasm film series.
Phantasm is a 1979 American science fantasy horror film that was directed, written, photographed, and edited by Don Coscarelli. The first film in the Phantasm franchise, it introduces the Tall Man, a supernatural and malevolent undertaker who turns the dead of Earth into dwarf zombies to be sent to his planet and used as slaves. He is opposed by a young boy, Mike, who tries to convince his older brother Jody and family friend Reggie of the threat.
Angus Scrimm was an American actor, author, and journalist, known for his portrayal of the Tall Man in the 1979 horror film Phantasm and its sequels.
Phantasm II is a 1988 American science fantasy action-horror film and the sequel to Phantasm (1979). It was written and directed by Don Coscarelli and stars Angus Scrimm, James LeGros and Reggie Bannister. The first film's protagonist, Mike, recently released from a mental institution, recruits Reggie and some new friends in an effort to defeat the villain Tall Man.
Phantasm IV: Oblivion is a 1998 American science fantasy horror film. The film was written, produced and directed by Don Coscarelli and starring A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm. It is the third sequel in the Phantasm series and is followed by Phantasm: Ravager.
A. Michael Baldwin is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter. He came to public notice as a child actor, appearing as Mike Pearson in Phantasm (1979) and its sequels.
Mortal Massacre is the first CD release by New York death metal band Mortician. It consists of their Brutally Mutilated 7" vinyl EP and Mortal Massacre 7" vinyl EP, and live tracks recorded at two separate shows.
Kenny & Company is a 1976 American comedy-drama film directed by Don Coscarelli. It stars A. Michael Baldwin and Reggie Bannister, who would both later star in Coscarelli’s Phantasm.
Transylvania Twist is a 1989 comedy film that parodies horror films. Originally released by Concord Production Inc., this film is distributed on home video by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In the film Angus Scrimm reprises his role of the "Tall Man" from the Phantasm films, as a parody. The humor of the film is most often said to be in the style of Airplane!, and Mel Brooks comedies. It occasionally breaks the fourth wall rule with characters looking at the camera, and one even saying "I'm in the wrong movie". The film's main theme has been released on a variety of albums, and the entire soundtrack was released on CD and as a direct download in the year 2010, twenty-one years after the movies initial release.
Gloria Lynne Henry is an American actress best known for her role in the film Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead.
Jim the World's Greatest is a 1976 drama film written and directed by Don Coscarelli and Craig Mitchell. The movie began production when Coscarelli and Mitchell were 18-year-olds, while being financed by their parents at a stated cost of $250,000.
Crypticon is a horror-oriented media convention held annually in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington, and Kansas City, Missouri. Guests have included authors, actors, directors, producers, and writers from classic and upcoming horror titles.
The Tall Man is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Phantasm series of horror films. The Tall Man first appeared in the first Phantasm in 1979, and his most recent appearance in the film Phantasm: Ravager in 2016. In all of his film appearances, the Tall Man has been portrayed by Angus Scrimm, while he is voiced by Jeff Bergman in Mike Tyson Mysteries.
Reggie is a fictional character from the Phantasm series of horror films. In all of his appearances, Reggie has been portrayed by Reggie Bannister.
Phantasm: Ravager is a 2016 American science fantasy action horror film, and the fifth and final installment in the Phantasm series. It marks the only film in the series not directed by Don Coscarelli, although he acts as producer and co-writer. It is directed by David Hartman and stars A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, and Angus Scrimm in his final appearance as the Tall Man.
Phantasm is an American horror film series that consists of five films, novels, comic books, and merchandise. It is mainly about the Tall Man, a supernatural and malevolent undertaker and the main antagonist who turns the dead into dwarf zombies to do his bidding and take over the world. He is opposed by a young boy, Mike, who tries to convince his older brother Jody and family friend Reggie of the threat. The first film was released in 1979, received generally positive reviews and has garnered a cult following.