Nonureva
Really Surprised!
Matrixiole
Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
Siflutter
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Fatma Suarez
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Dylan Ramsay
This one would be for absolute hardcore Phantasm phans -- anybody who's seen the first four films are in for a treat with surprise guest appearances. Although it's a bit tedious and, at times, confusing, it did have good moments.
Platypuschow
It's hard to believe that the Phantasm series started back in 1979 and sporadically released it's 5 movies across the decades.What's even harder to believe is that every major player from the franchise has stuck through it and is right here in 2016 for the final chapter.Reggie returns one last time to reunite with his friends, fight the forces of evil and go toe to toe with the Tall Man for the ultimate confrontation.Now I don't think that the Phantasm franchise is that great, I think they are original titles and I applaud them for lasting as long as they have but they've tended to be confusing disconnected movies.Alas this is no different, in fact I have to say it's the most confusing of them all. Regardless it's a nostalgia trip, everyones along for the ride including the films original creators.Though the sfx are ropey and the plot makes very little sense Ravager isn't that bad, it's just not a fitting finale for a series that has lasted this long! What makes it worse is that the highly ambiguous finale does it no favours.I'd say this is essential viewing for fans of the series but all things considered it should have been considerably better.RIP Angus ScrimmThe Good:Nostalgia filledSome new and interesting ideasThe Bad:Plot isn't greatPacing is a bit of a messFinale is terribleThings I Learnt From This Movie:Reggie Bannister is immortalWhen a franchises sfx haven't improved since the 1970's you need to have serious words with your sfx guys
Michael Ledo
This is for the 2016 Phantasm Ravager and not the superior Phantasm which Amazon has lumped together in Reviews.The film gives us a recap of Reggie's (Reggie Bannister) battle against The Tallman (Angus Scrimm), his silver spheres and his quest to find Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) and maybe his brother. The film has the action taking place in various times and dimensions, jumping from one to the other at random. These include: The desert scene, the hospital, the new destroyed world, and the nether world. Clearly the Tallman is in charge of everything and the whole film was rather meaningless as neither Reggie nor the audience ever know what is real and what is not.The film was more about creating scenes then any attempt of creating a meaningful plot. I found it to be a confused mess. I did not nearly enjoy this as much as my peers and wonder if we watched the same confused mess.Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity
Mark Turner
Back in 1979 a small horror film was released that captured the imagination of fans around the world. It spawned several sequels back when the term franchise was yet to be a dirty word. It was original and brought to us a world we never knew existed, a world harbored over by someone called the Tall Man who controlled silver orbs with protruding blades and drills that could drain a man of blood in no time. The movie was PHANTASM.With each subsequent sequel fans have begged for more. Writer/director Don Coscarelli answered their pleas by releasing three follow up films, each leaving the door wide open for the next. So when word came out that he had another film in the making fans were ecstatic. Unfortunately he turned the director's helm over to someone else and the end result is PHANTASM RAVAGER.The movie opens in a near apocalyptic future with Reggie (Reggie Bannister) walking down the highway having had his '71 Cuda stolen from him. As he walks along the car nearly runs him over before screeching to a halt. The man behind the wheel takes the time to yell at him and in return finds himself removed from the car and Reggie back behind the wheel.What follows is a movie that seems to be in the same world we've visited before but at the same time not quite that world. Sure the spheres are still out there cruising along looking for victims. But their CGI inspired versions are just not quite the same as the old methods used. The Tall Man is back as well but even he seems less inclined to want to do damage like he did in the past.What makes the movie even more jarring is that it moves back and forth not only in time but in location as well. One minute we're seeing Reggie battling the spheres as they attempt to kill him and the next it's as if he's just woke up and finds himself sitting in a retirement home talking to Mike (A. Michael Baldwin). In this world Reggie is dealing with bouts of dementia, the events of the previous films being nothing more than images created in his own mind and having never actually taken place.This back and forth goes on for most of the film. Not only do we see Reggie having lengthy talks with Mike he has them with the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) as well. Perhaps all of this was due to budget but the film ends up with more talking than action, more discussion than discovery of what happened. Not only that, but the entire series is called into question since we're not sure it's real of if it's all in Reggie's head.The movie feels like something is desperately lacking here and my guess is it was the emotional tie in that would have come from Coscarelli. All of his films have had something of the man himself in them. In the hands of director David Hartman that spark is just not there. Hartman could have been the biggest fan in the world but somehow his vision of this story felt lacking.On the plus side it was great to see nearly all of the entire original cast back together again. Not only was the aforementioned cast in the film so was a returning Bill Thornbury as Mike's brother Jody and Kathy Lester as the Lady in Lavender. All of them on hand again just gives fans a warm feeling.In the end I'm sure that fans who want to own the complete story of PHANTASM will add this to their shelf. I'm not sure I can say the same. I just didn't enjoy it. It does deserve to be watched at least once though. And sad but true yes, it did leave the potential for yet another sequel. If that happens it needs to happen while the actors are still alive. Angus Scrimm passed away before this was released. And it needs to be under the helm once again of Don Coscarelli.