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Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead -
Is Don Coscarelli the Christopher Guest of horror? I ask because it's as if he made this movie just to get his usual gang back together and have a good time. That's not a bad thing, though: if you also enjoyed the first two Phantasm movies, you'll probably enjoy this one as well. You'll also likely enjoy it if you're a George Romero fan because it has the same appeals of his Dead movies. The devastation of the Tall Man's little experiment is leaving entire towns empty, so it's up to Reggie and Mike to encourage whoever is left in them to join the fight.
Reggie Banister does the heavy lifting here, and even though he is hardly a conventional leading man, that does not mean he is not up to the task. He is convincing as an ordinary man thrust into a pretty extraordinary situation and who has relatable, umm...preferences. That brings me to Rocky (Henry), a survivor and veteran whose toughness amazes and whose rebuffs to Reggie's advances are never not funny. At the other end of the spectrum is Connors' Tim, who brings genuine pathos as a young man who experiences too much loss too early. As for Scrimm, he continues to chew the scenery as the Tall Man and he clearly had a great time doing it. In the cat and mouse game between him and Reggie's ragtag crew, there's plenty of combat with zombies, mausoleum crawling and of course those glorious silver balls, all of which rides that fine line found in the most fun horror of being equally thrilling and hilarious. Also, for being over 30 years old, the special effects, especially the morphing ones, hold up very well.
There is a good bit of worldbuilding here, especially when it comes to the iconic balls, but it still ends up being a lateral move for the series overall. The ending also left me wanting for how it makes the whole thing seem like setup for the next entry. It keeps the franchise distinct from all other horror movie franchises, though, and it was simply nice to see Reggie and company again. It's also nice to gain another recommendation from a decade that is not exactly replete with horror classics.
Is Don Coscarelli the Christopher Guest of horror? I ask because it's as if he made this movie just to get his usual gang back together and have a good time. That's not a bad thing, though: if you also enjoyed the first two Phantasm movies, you'll probably enjoy this one as well. You'll also likely enjoy it if you're a George Romero fan because it has the same appeals of his Dead movies. The devastation of the Tall Man's little experiment is leaving entire towns empty, so it's up to Reggie and Mike to encourage whoever is left in them to join the fight.
Reggie Banister does the heavy lifting here, and even though he is hardly a conventional leading man, that does not mean he is not up to the task. He is convincing as an ordinary man thrust into a pretty extraordinary situation and who has relatable, umm...preferences. That brings me to Rocky (Henry), a survivor and veteran whose toughness amazes and whose rebuffs to Reggie's advances are never not funny. At the other end of the spectrum is Connors' Tim, who brings genuine pathos as a young man who experiences too much loss too early. As for Scrimm, he continues to chew the scenery as the Tall Man and he clearly had a great time doing it. In the cat and mouse game between him and Reggie's ragtag crew, there's plenty of combat with zombies, mausoleum crawling and of course those glorious silver balls, all of which rides that fine line found in the most fun horror of being equally thrilling and hilarious. Also, for being over 30 years old, the special effects, especially the morphing ones, hold up very well.
There is a good bit of worldbuilding here, especially when it comes to the iconic balls, but it still ends up being a lateral move for the series overall. The ending also left me wanting for how it makes the whole thing seem like setup for the next entry. It keeps the franchise distinct from all other horror movie franchises, though, and it was simply nice to see Reggie and company again. It's also nice to gain another recommendation from a decade that is not exactly replete with horror classics.