Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

adriangr A successful pianist, surrounded by beautiful female admirers, is dogged by a string of murders that seem to follow him around. The movie follows him as his life begins to unravel. I admire Shameless for bringing these movies out for us to experience, but this is not a good film. It's badly made, and it looks AND sounds horrible. The sound quality is really bad, the volume leaps between low muffled spoken dialogue one minute, to heavy, blaring orchestral music the next. I was playing with the TV remote to whole time to compensate for this. And when stars Michael York and Donald Pleasance speak their lines, the audio quality is appalling - totally different to the person they are having a conversation with. Donald Pleasance in particular speaks in every scene (no matter where he is) with the tonal quality of being in an echoey, tiled chamber, while everyone else's vocals sound really close and flat. There's no way to get immersed in the performances with sloppy dubbing like this.The editing and flow of the various scenes is also really bad. Case in point, the scene when one victim is knifed at a train station, the scene carries through her death scene to the police arriving, body being covered up and Michael York watching in anguish, with the same intense score, as though these thing are all happening at the same time. That's not artistic, thats bad movie crafting. Michael York (as the main character) seems to dash all over the place with no sense of any real time passing. You'd think that with the experience that director Deodato has under his belt, there would be a bit more polish than this. So what are we left with? Some splashy but cheap gore (who has a bedroom lampshade with a 2ft spike on it?), some attractive ladies who's appeal is sadly ruined by terrible late 1980's fashion disasters. The acting is dire. The killer seems to have no motive for the way he is behaving. Donald Pleasance looks troubled and unwell the entire time. Michael York is shrill and hammy. Sorry, but I'd give this one a miss. You are very likely to lose interest before the whole sorry thing limps to a close.

MovieGuy01 I thought that was a very good film (Micheal York) stars as a piano genius called Robert Dominci, who suddenly contracts a devastating disease which ages him rapidly. A decaying Robert not knowing that he does not have very long to live starts to commit a vicious slaughter on anyone who finds about his disease. This film was very gory in places. I thought that (Micheal York) who played Robert in the film was a very good actor. Donald Pleasence(Halloween) stars as Police Inspector Datti who is trying hard to put an end to all the violence that Robert Dominci has committed.This was a good horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato, who directed other horror film such as, (Cannibal Holocaust)and (New York Ripper)I though that this was a good horror film in the end.

The_Void This film became an instant must see for me after reading the plot outline - how could I resist a film about a killer who was unlucky enough to catch a disease that makes him age rapidly? This film is quite heavily flawed, but it's safe to say that director Ruggero Deodato hasn't squandered it, as Phantom of Death is a very fun little thriller that makes good use of its central idea and features some very nice scenes of gore. Yes, you've got to expect a lot of the red stuff from a man whose biggest film credits include The House on the Edge of the Park and Cannibal Holocaust, and the film certainly doesn't disappoint; as we've got a woman being stabbed though a window, another having her throat sliced open, a decapitation and other such macabre happenings. The plot focuses on a piano player who, after losing some of his hair, discovers to his horror that he's one of the few adult sufferers of a disease that speeds up the aging process. As you might expect, this has a profound effect on his mind as well as his body; and it ultimately leads him to murder...One of the main weak points of this movie stems from the plotting. The screenplay is very disjointed, and the film doesn't always flow well. Furthermore, it suffers from the common Italian thriller flaw of not always making a great deal of sense - so it's lucky that the ideas and their implications are usually enough to carry the film. The acting is a strong point for the movie, however, and this one features some rather risky casting. Michael York takes the lead role and brings class and sophistication to it, which ensures that the classic British actor is always more than the common sleazy killer seen in most Giallo's. Donald Pleasance is his opposite number, and while he isn't given an awful lot to do in his role as the police officer on the case; he's a hell of a lot better than he was in the Halloween movies in which he made his name. The central cast is rounded off by classic Giallo temptress Edwige Fenech, who still looks great despite this film being made over a decade and a half since her immortal roles in Sergio Martino's classy Giallo's. Overall, this isn't great or a classic; but Phantom of Death shows some great originality (something Giallo's aren't well known for) and entertains despite its obvious flaws. Well worth seeking out!

capkronos 35-year old concert pianist Robert Dominici (Michael York) is stricken with a rare genetic disorder which rapidly ages him. His hair falls out, his teeth rot, he coughs up blood and starts suffering from uncontrollable "behavioral problems"--psychotic, murderous episodes. This spells a violent end for the ladies (past and present) in his life and even more unfortunate for his French fashion designer girlfriend Helene (Edwige Fenech) that she becomes pregnant with the child he doesn't want to be born. Donald Pleasence (who was probably sick to death with the typecasting) is the police inspector on the case and Mapi Galan is a knockout (even though she's taken out way too early).Deodato is copying Argento and Bava here with flashy sets, costumes and backdrops, misty photography and some pretty gory murders, but his direction lacks suspense, the editing is choppy and the dubbing of many of the supporting players is poor. The score (by Pino Donaggio) and make-up are good, though, and the leads are solid.