2016 |
PhantasmEighteen years after “Phantasm IV: Oblivion”, fans would finally get the long awaited fifth and final film in this decades spanning horror series.
The screenplay began life in the mid-2000s as a much bigger and more action-heavy project, but they never got the financing they needed and that version never came to fruition. The film was eventually finished in the early-2010s with an altered story and a pretty small budget and as the first in the series was not directed by Don Coscarelli, but by David Hartman.
Well, “Phantasm: Ravager” more or less is a glorified fan film. You can tell that they had very limited resources and shot over a prolonged period of time, as Reggie Bannister ages severely between scenes. There’s a lot of fan-service and call-backs, as well as some surprising cameos and you can also tell that the film was made for the fans. If that worked, you have to decide yourselves.
It jumps from looking rather good to terrible with some questionable CGI that certainly doesn’t look good, but they had a tiny budget, so I can forgive that. I’d say the performances are committed and this was the last film Angus Scrimm starred in, but the direction leaves a lot to be desired.
I rather enjoyed the story tho. It blurs the lines between reality and dreamscape and certainly isn’t perfect, but it had some sweet moments reminiscing over the series and some interesting ideas that I would have loved to see in a better film.
All in all, this is a solid and sometimes sweet farewell to the series. It leaves a lot to be desired, especially with its look and visuals, but it’s a decent enough time.
