The latest issue (#166) of Rue Morgue Magazine features a three-part cover story on all things Phantasm. Written by master scribe John Bowen, the issue has stories on Phantasm Ravager, Phantasm: Remastered and memorial tributes to Angus Scrimm by the phamily. If what I write here holds any sway with whoever is reading it, hear these words: Go out and buy this issue! You'll be glad you did. Sure, you should not only support Rue Morgue and all things Phantasm, but this is just plain a great cover story on the series. Don Coscarelli and David Hartman are more open and candid here about Ravager than they've ever been in the project's seven year history. The ordinarily secretive filmmakers openly and honestly discuss how this new sequel first began and progressed. They talk storylines, new characters, deleted scenes, how they kept it a secret and more. Don also provides comment on the possible future of the franchise and - perhaps most importantly - plans for the upcoming premiere and theatrical roll-out of the sequel. Issue #166 is officially the May installment of Rue Morgue Magazine and available on newsstands everywhere and their website, but you can also nab a copy on the digital app on the iTunes store.
Well, folks.... first came the destruction of the Pearson House last year and now it seems we've lost another classic Phantasm location. It would appear that the Fortuneteller's House that stood at 22840 Calvert Street in Woodland Hills has been completely torn down. The Google Satellite image you see to your right shows that the acre lot has been cleared of the house and trees that long stood there. Built in 1937, the single family home retained the white/green paint scheme seen in the first Phantasm nearly forty years ago up until its recent demolition. There were concerns last year that the property might be on the chopping block after the yard was cleared and a construction fence erected around the perimeter. LA Magazine reported that the lot had sold for upwards of $900,000. With the pending Warner Center Village Project revving up, this turn of events surely comes as a surprise no one in the area. The neighbors are likely glad this finally happened. To be perfectly honest, the deserted home and sorely neglected yard stood out badly in the otherwise nice neighborhood. You can see just how out-of-place the abandoned lot feels in the crappy cell phone video below that I shot during my 2009 visit. In such times, we should remember the immortal words of the Fortuneteller herself. "Fear is the killer." That's what Grandmother wants you to learn. Now please let's hope everything is okay with the Dunsmuir Estate in Oakland.
I’m not in the habit of posting about awesome collectibles you can’t get your hands on, but that’s exactly what I’m doing today, so do forgive me. I’m simply dying to share this striking collectible made by a pal of mine. Longtime Phantasm phan, Phantasm Exhumed photographer and collector Scott Pensa has commissioned a memorial coin in tribute to the late great Angus Scrimm with whom Scott was friends with for a good many years up until the Tall Man performer's recent passing. Limited to 100 individually numbered pieces, Scott produced this coin to personally distribute amongst his friends and the Phantasm phamily (I have 005/100). Looking it over, I have to say it’s positively gorgeous, so much more so than these images might suggest. You’ll have to forgive the quality of these pics - they were taken by my weathered and badly aging iPhone 4S. On the “The Tall Man” side of the coin, we have an expertly engraved image of the menacing mortician standing before the spacegate poles in the white room. Every detail is magnificently realized on this piece from the dwarf barrels to the Tall Man’s suit. It might be difficult to see in the photo, but Scott’s fantastic attention to detail reveals itself in the small touches like the tiny red tie-pin on the Tall Man’s suit. To top this coin-face off, there are three engraved silver spheres adorning each side of the image. On the “Angus Scrimm” side of the coin, we get both the performer’s stage name and his actual name as well as the dates for his birth and passing. Centered on this side is a sharp-looking picture of Angus smiling and holding a silver sphere from 2014’s Flashback Reunion Weekend in Chicago. Bravo, Scott and thank you. This is a wonderful tribute to our dearly departed.
"Cyborg progressive" UK band Zoltan has released a new EP that pays tribute to the music of their two favorite films - Tanz der Vampire and Phantasm! By the look of things, it was the latter film that managed to dominate the EP's cover. The six-track album contains three recreated music tracks from each film and is available for download or in sweet limited edition vinyl. The artwork you see below was created by Zoltan drummer Andrew Prestidge. Personally, I'm a big fan of their style and consider this as fine a Phantasm tribute as any. Despite covering these vintage themes nearly four decades later, Zoltan manages to retain that wonderful 70s feel that Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave originally infused their tunes with way back when. So many Phantasm theme covers are unable to recreate that unique spirit, opting instead for the also satisfying but different epic-action feel of Phantasm's II and III. Bravo to Zoltan, I say.
If you happen to like what Zoltan does, check out their Facebook page to learn more about their other musical offerings.
Countless phans have wondered over the years what a 3-D Phantasm viewing experience might look like. Now thanks to one talented phan, we have a glimpse at seeing just that! Ridiculously talented super-phan Filemon Pi Piripi has taken the sphere attack scene from Phantasm III and converted it to 3-D through some kind of digital wizardry. This clip should work with your standard red-and-blue glasses. (Clear 3-D glasses probably won't generate much of an effect.) So how does it look? Would you be interested in an entire film converted like so?
Okay folks, time to bring out your bullshit detectors and engage in some critical thinking with me. An eBay seller has listed a silver sphere for $1,500 claiming to be screen-used from the upcoming Phantasm Ravager. But is it really screen-used? Maybe so! Or maybe it's not. Let’s examine the listing closely. Notice first the cheaply made and crumpled “Certificate of Authenticity,” which informs us that “THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE THE TALL MANS BALLS CREATED BY EFFECTS FOR THE FEATURE FILM PHANTASM 5” Okay… typing everything in all-caps does nothing to convince us that what we’re reading is true. Furthermore, the COA mentions “balls” while the auction only appears to be for one ball. Further-furthermore, the balls were “CREATED BY EFFECTS.” What? Is that a company? This line then skips any kind of punctuation and instead throws out a picture of Kenneth Tigar getting drilled from Phantasm II. Actually, the whole document is devoid of any punctuation, save for a comma near the bottom. The paper is then signed by Justin Rodriguez, but there is nothing mentioned as to his qualification to even be issuing such a certificate. Did he work on the film? Is he the one selling it? Is he the friend who was given the ball? A little bit of Google-fu revealed to me that there is a Justin Rodriguez credited for effects on Phantasm Ravager’s IMDb page. My hesitation here is that Don Coscarelli has yet to release Ravager’s official credit list, meaning IMDb could easily have incorrect/fake information. Let me just click on Justin’s filmography to see if perhaps he has a background in special effects that might give credibility to his issuing a COA. AAAAAAANNNNDDhis filmography is practically blank. There is no other film beyond Ravager listed. No birthday, no official website, no pictures, not even a star sign. That is one mighty empty IMDb page.
Well, let’s head back to the eBay listing itself. Perhaps the auction includes a photo from the Ravager set? Or a picture of the ball in action? NOPE. Instead we get some Phantasm III and IV photos ripped from a Google search, an upside down Ravager poster and a screenshot from the film’s teaser trailer showing the giant CGI sphere hovering above Reggie. How about the item description itself? Let’s review that now. Fortunately for our eyeballs, it is not typed in all-caps. The listing reads, “Screen Used PHANTASM 5 Sphere from Angus Scrimm's final film He will be missed this is one of the smaller spheres used in the movie the piece attached is for connecting to actors in death scenes and CG effects here's a chance at an Iconic movie prop never to be made again” Okie-dokie. The seller’s resistance to punctuation of any kind continues in full force. This is an iconic movie prop never to be made again? How do you make that claim? Have you discussed this with Don Coscarelli? Did he tell you this? Because he’s had some very positive comments about a Phantasm remake over the years, even commissioning a full script for one and holding talks with New Line Cinema. I’d imagine a remake would include spheres, but maybe the seller knows something we don’t. How about the seller? What do we know about tattooed420matthew? A quick browse of his other eBay listings shows that he deals in Phantasm sphere replicas. Hmm…. There is also the fact that the seller boldly claims that the item is “screen-used,” yet you would actually have to see the finished film to know if it was screen-used or not. The seller appears to live in Michigan and my closest sources tell me the new sequel has not screened anywhere near there, even in private. In the words of Phantasm series sphere-master Kerry Prior on this very blog last year: “As a general rule, if it shows up on Ebay, it's not genuine.” What do YOU think? If this sphere is legitimately from Phantasm Ravager, then the $1,500 asking price is certainly reasonable, if not a little understated. Regardless of whether the prop is legit or not, the listing does not inspire confidence or provide credible proof of its ties to the production. Would you plunk down $1,500 for this ball?
Last night, the eighty-seventh episode of NBC action-drama Chicago Fire opened with a fun reference to the original Phantasm! One character attempts to ask another out on a date to see the film, to which she and someone else ask, “What’s Phantasm?” The first character then awkwardly tries to explain this unexplainable movie to his friends. Check out the full clip below and watch the entire show on the NBC website. This particular episode is called “On the Warpath,” and - in an interesting note of trivia - was directed by horror filmmaker Joe Chappelle. You might be familiar with Chappelle’s work if you saw Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Hellraiser: Bloodline, Phantoms or The Skulls II. It’s kind of fitting that Phantasm would figure into the plot of a Chicago-based show since the Windy City has twice hosted massive Phantasm reunions as part of the annual Flashback Weekend Convention. I get a chuckle out of the clip’s final exchange. “So is Phantasm gonna happen?” “Phantasm’s gonna happen.”
Back in 2011, I blogged about how game designer Jon Ivan had impressively created a massively detailed multi-level mod for Doom 3 called Phantasm Beyond that featured characters and locations from the entire Phantasm series. You could battle dwarves, traverse the spacegate and directly take on the Tall Man. Simply put, it was an amazing creation. Well, it's 2016 and Jon is back with a huge update to his mod, which is being called Phantasm Beyond II. It seems that he has positively outdone himself this time by drawing even more series elements into his world - including bits from the upcoming Phantasm Ravager and the never-produced Phantasm's End! Pictures from the release clearly show one of Ravager's mace spheres as well as Roger Avary's plague zone from End. On a strangely wonderful note, it appears that Jon has plunked a replica of the Bates Motel mansion onto the Red Planet (see the pic at the link below!) These are but a few of the surprises that await inside the levels of Phantasm Beyond II. I'd also be lying if I told you I wasn't delighted as hell to see that he included both editions of my book, Phantasm Exhumed, in his new mod! My books can be seen inside a glass case of items you might be able to procure. Other items include all fivePhantasm films, the rare Kate Coscarelli novelization, a Tall Man action figure and even the novel that Mike had on his desk in the first film. Jon's attention to detail here is staggering! (I wonder if buying the movies on home video in the game will cost you an arm and a leg like they currently do in the real world?)
