On DVD: The Anchor Bay Collection Phantasm III

Directed By Don Coscareli

Starring Michael Baldwin, Reggie Banister, Angus Scrimm

Phantasm III is the latest in the franchise to get the special edition treatment from Anchor Bay.  In the UK Anchor Bay has a fantastic box set of all the movies presented in a replica of the silver ball from the movies with blades protruding from one side.  Why can't we get that ball over here?

The Movie

Phantasm III picks up where the second film, and really the first film too, left off.  Reggie and Mike are traveling across the country chasing the Tall Man trying to find a way to stop him.  He's easy to follow because each small town he visits he ravages taking every life within it.  Finally in one such town Mike and Reggie discover a young boy who managed to survive the attack of the Tall Man, even though his parents didn't.  He's spunky much like Mike was in the first film and Reggie and Mike take up with him right away.  Eventually they find a new teammate, a young black woman who's very good with nunchakus.  Together they continue to chase the Tall Man ready for an epic fight.  At the same time the Tall Man makes his trail easy to follow because he wants the "boy" even still.

This is one of my favorite films of the franchise.  It really changes the atmosphere from action/horror to a much more surreal horror/supernatural story.  The Tall Man up to this third film ahs never been completely explained and in Phantasm III he just gets stranger and prompts even more questions about what this guy is all about.  Few mainstream films have been able to make such a surreal turn and get a sequel but this film does.  The production values are pretty high with nice gore effects and the flying sphere looking as good as ever.

Angus Scrimm as the Tall Man makes this film as he does all of them.  He's intense and scary, sometimes to a humorous degree and always a pleasure to watch.  Reggie Banister playing Reggie in the film adds a good amount of personality and humor to the film and having Michael Baldwin back in the character he created as a kid in the first film is fun.  A question about Reggie, how does he score with the women of this film when he's a pretty regular looking dude with a heavily receding hair line?  Never mind I know it's a movie.

This movie has some pretty weak dialogue here and there and some of the supporting cast aren't strong actors but the atmosphere of the film, the gore, the surreality of the story, and the Tall Man make it worth a watch.  As I said earlier, even with its weaknesses Phantasm III is one of my favorites in the franchise.

8/10

The Video

I was pleased to see this film in full anamorphic glory with realistic colors and good black levels.  There is grain and some print imperfections, and edge enhancement.  This is still the best looking home video release of the film I've seen so far. 

7.5/10

The Audio

Anchor Bay has created a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix for this film that features some surprising surround and sub woofer use.  In car chase scenes the sub kicks in heavy and when the silver balls start flying they zoom through the surround environment from back to front.  Dialogue, score, and sound effects are well balanced and free of distortion.  Again, this is the best this film has ever sounded.  I have the UK box and I will say that the mix sounds about the same as Phantasm III does in that box.

8/10

Packaging and Bonus Features

Phantasm III didn't quite get the star treatment that the first film got with its textured and glossy slip cover.  In this release we get a standard amaray case with artwork played off the original posters.  The artwork works I just would liked to have seen some consistency from one release to the next so they'd look cool on the shelf beside each other.

First up is a feature length audio commentary with Angus Scrimm and Michael Baldwin.  They both tell some interesting stories as far as character development and special effect but Don Coscareli is definitely missed.  It's not a bad track, it's just more subdued than it would have probably been had Coscareli been involved.

Phantasm III Behind the Scenes is simply just under 10 minutes of random footage shot during the making of the film.  There's good behind the scenes material here but it really needs something to hold it together something to give the audience a better sense of what's happening.  A commentary would have been good or a host with interview cut into the footage.

Other than that there's a single extremely brief deleted scene and a trailer.  The bonus features are pretty paltry here compared to the first film.  Again what extras we do get are taken from the UK release so there's nothing new added here if you already have that box set.

4/10

I wish there were more extras, but if you don't have a PAL DVD player this is the best way to get this film.

Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

The Movie 8/10

The Video 7.5/10

The Audio 8/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 4/10

Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

-Stephen Lackey