Phantasm's Morningside Mortuary Threatened by Wildfires

Well, this is shitty. Recent news out of Oakland, California suggest that the state's raging wildfires may now be threatening "Oaktown," which is home to the Dunsmuir-Hellman Estate - better known to Phantasm phans as Morningside Mortuary from the first film. Built in 1899, this stunning 37-room mansion has appeared in numerous shows and films throughout the years including Burnt Offerings, A View to a Kill, and So I Married an Axe Murderer.

The Dunsmuir team posted the following notice on social media announcing their temporary closure. News outlets are reporting heavy smoke over the city and that schools have begun to close amid precautionary power shut-offs. Fingers crossed the fires extinguish soon, not only to prevent further loss of life and property, but to also spare this classic Phantasm location. (Thanks to Scott Pensa for the head's up on this.)

Here's a look at the Dunsmuir mansion from several years ago in better times. Superphan Matt Naylor proposed to now-wife Jessica during their pilgrimage to the Tall Man's stomping grounds. You learn more about Dunsmuir and even plan a visit, assuming everything turns out okay, by visiting their official website here.

VIDEO: Angus Scrimm's Halloween Movie Recommendations

Halloween is almost upon us! For many, that means carving pumpkins, rocking out to the Monster Mash, and watching scary movies. If you're in need of some recommendations on that last one, consider these suggestions from the "Pharaoh of Fright" - the Tall Man himself - Angus Scrimm! The Tall Man appeared on Extra! back in 1994 to promote the upcoming release of Phantasm III and gave his top five Halloween faves.

He may be a bit biased in his #1 pick, no?

New Release Date 40th Blu-ray Set / New Extras

According to Blu-ray.com, the new release date for the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray set is December 3, 2019. We've yet to receive official confirmation of that, but Blu-ray.com is a pretty reputable source for this kind of stuff. Phans will recall that the set was originally supposed to debut on October 22 (today!), but manufacturing issues overseas involving the sphere replicas have delayed its release.

For those wondering what's in this gigantic set, it contains everything that was in the previous Well Go USA boxset that sold out so quickly.... along with the following new items:

PHANTASM
- New 7.1 Dolby Atmos Soundtrack by Post Haste Digital
- New Dunes Cantina Party commentary featuring Don Coscarelli and the cast/crew of Phantasm
- Phantasm: A Horse Drawn Hearse - new HD master of Angus Scrimm in B/W flashback footage

PHANTASM II
- New 4k scan of the original camera negative supervised by Coscarelli
- Director's Cut version with never-before-released X-rated sphere/gore sequence

PHANTASM RAVAGER
- P5: How It Was Made - Feature-length documentary on the production

(Thanks to Steve VanMeter for the tip!)

OFFICIALLY DELAYED - Phantasm 40th Blu-ray Set Hits Snag

Phantasm phans have been skeptical that the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Sphere Set announced earlier this year would be hitting store shelves on time and rightfully so. Major retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy have yet to start taking pre-orders for the massive set despite its original release date being less than ten days away. Some smaller retailers have begun taking pre-orders, but all without offering actual product art or details on their listings.

This past weekend in Orlando, series creator Don Coscarelli confirmed to phans at the Fantasm convention that the 40th Anniversary Set was officially behind schedule due to manufacturing issues overseas. He was hopeful that distributor Well Go USA might be able to release the boxset by Thanksgiving or - at the very latest - early December.

This is unfortunate as Well Go has already spent a chunk of change on advertising the release for October including a full-page advertisement in a recent issue of Rue Morgue Magazine. Fingers crossed they get the issue(s) resolved soon as this set still looks amazing!

VIDEO: Watch Don Coscarelli Crash an R/C Mini-'Cuda into the Tall Man!

Move over, Regman. There's someone else behind the wheel of this 'Cuda.

R/C car enthusiast Alex Khan very recently attended this year's Fantasm convention in Orlando where he met Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli. (Recall that Alex made an incredible Phantasm Ravager R/C Battle-Cuda several years back.) In meeting Coscarelli, Alex was able to share his standard R/C 'Cuda and even gave the filmmaker a chance to drive it around the convention floor!

Naturally, Coscarelli plows the muscle car right into the Tall Man and a dwarf. Hot as love!

Check out the video below!