Phantasm blu-ray boxset: Phantasm (part 6 of 6) (film supplement review)
The sixth disk of the ‘Phantasm’ boxset is loaded with extras. It doesn’t feel so much like sacrilege watching some of this before the lights go down but I still ended up spreading it out a bit over the month to take it all in.
The first is 90 minutes, ‘Phantasmagoria’, is the cast discussing elements from all of the films, often with new information you might not have come across before. Of course, much of this starts with the origins and the final switch from horror to Science Fiction. You also get some discussion on how the special effects were developed and how the silver ball problems were resolved.
‘Phantasmagoria Mystery Tour’ has Reggie Bannister doing a tour of the location sites from the films in 16 minutes with some contributions from crew and cast inserted. It’s quite interesting seeing the contrast of 30 plus years ago and what it looks like today.
‘Tall Tales’ is 25 minutes with Angus Scrimm talking about his Tall Man character. Of course, there is a 20 minute ‘Dear Angus’ where Kristen Deem reminisces about the late actor. Oh, its title derives from the correspondence between themselves.
‘Phantasm: Genesis’ spends 21 minutes looking over the behind-the-scenes stunts from three of the films. Finally, 18 minutes of ‘Phandom’ looking at cast and crew and how they interact with the world-wide fans. I can understand why a couple of them are scarier than the films. Then there is the fan reaction. It also fills in some background about Kristen Deem and her involvement with the films.
Seeing the dates of the filming of this material at twelve years ago suggests it was filmed for an early DVD release. Nevertheless, if you haven’t seen this before, then this is gold.
GF Willmetts
June 2017
(6 blu-ray disks: pub:Arrow Video. 85 minute film with extras. Price: £69.99 (UK). ASIN: B01MZ9OZQ9)
check out websites: www.arrowfilms.co.uk and www.phantasm.com
