Today we have a true indie classic with Don Coscarelli’s 1979 classic “Phantasm“. This one one of my all time favorite drive-in movies. The Tall Man is one of the best and strangest horror movie villains offered to fans of the genre. Angus Scrimm plays him to perfection. The Tall Man is a mortician who uses the dead, transformed into dwarves, as his minions to do his bidding between different planes of existence as well as planets. And he uses a flying silver sphere to do his killing for him. This is one surreal feast. But the local kids are onto him. Can they stop him. Beneath the surface it explores the themes of death and fear and how we respond to both. It’s a must see.
Advertisements
Peace Skip,
Thank you.
” Boyyyy! ”
What a chilling leitmotif and identifying characteristic of “The Tall Man!”
” Phantasm ” is also one of my favorites and I’m pleased you’ve included it; its surreality is literally out-of-this-world.
The casting is perfect, especially, as you point out, with Angus Scrimm.
What a handle: “Angus Scrimm!”
The ensemble of young people manages, deftly, not be annoying to me even as they play out so many cliches.
The cinematography is spellbinding as the premise is intriguing.
I haven’t seen this one in decades, so I don’t know if it still holds up.
(I’ll make book that it does.)
And I’ll verify my postulate as I’ve added it to my list.
Cordially,
Che!
P.S.
I’ve become addicted to your diurnal posts.
Definitely on my must-watch list for this month. The CD of the score has been in my car for the past week for now.