Phantasm Getting Steelbook Blu-ray Release!

Fantastic news, fellow phans! The terrific Phantasm Remastered is set to receive a Steelbook Blu-ray edition this fall from Well Go USA. It appears the release will be exclusive to Region One consumers. This is, to my knowledge, the first time a Phantasm film has seen a domestic Steelbook release. You can check out the new artwork below. The Steelbook is currently set to release on November 6, 2018.

We don't yet know what extras this release will be packing, but it's safe to assume the disc itself will be identical to the previous 2016 Blu-ray release. That edition included a vintage audio commentary, 1979 Coscarelli/Scrimm interview, an episode of Graveyard Carz, deleted scenes, and a trailer. That's not exactly chopped liver, but Well Go could do much better in the supplements department!

Here is a product page for the release on Amazon Canada. The US product page should be up in the next week or so!

New Pics of North American Phantasm Blu-Ray Collection!

Courtesy Amazon, we now have a better look at packaging for the upcoming North American Phantasm Blu-Ray Collection from Well Go USA. Although we don't yet have a complete list of extras, we do know that the Blu-Ray set will come with a 21x27 reversible poster, a commemorative book ("The Phantasm Compendium") and reversible covers for the five film cases in case you prefer them to look more uniform. Major points to Well Go USA for including the original poster artworks on this set!

Both this set and the also upcoming UK Phantasm Collection from Arrow Video are shaping up to be amazing releases. They'll each come with their own exclusive books and what is sure to be a treasure-trove of supplemental materials both old and new. What a great time to be a phan!

New Blu-Ray Details for Phantasm Remastered & Ravager

Exciting new details have surfaced over at Diabolik DVD for the December 6 Blu-Ray/DVD releases of both Phantasm Remastered and Phantasm Ravager. Unless the deleted scenes on Remastered have been expanded upon, there is only one new feature on the disc (the Graveyard Carz episode) and a significant handful of features missing from the previous MGM and Anchor Bay DVDs. Still, the obvious main attraction of that disc will be the gorgeous new version of the original film itself.

User 'bigphan1990' has also posted this Phantasm Ravager Blu-Ray artwork to the PhantasmCommunity.com forums without mentioning a source. Whether it's official artwork or phan-art, I don't know but it looks pretty sinister either way! As for the disc itself, the deleted scenes and outtakes material should prove very interesting!

PHANTASM REMASTERED BLU-RAY BONUS FEATURES: 
**New 5.1 Surround Sound 
**Original Mono Track 
**Audio Commentary with Director & Writer Don Coscarelli, Michael Baldwin (Mike), Angus Scrimm (The Tall Man), and Bill Thornbury (Jody) 
**Graveyard Carz Episode 
**Interviews from 1979 with Don Coscarelli and Angus Scrimm 
**Deleted Scenes 
**Trailers

PHANTASM RAVAGER BLU-RAY BONUS FEATURES: 
**Audio Commentary with Director David Hartman and Writer / Producer Don Coscarelli 
**Behind the Scenes 
**Deleted Scenes 
**Phuntasm: Bloopers and Outtakes 
**Trailer

IMPORTANT: Bring Remastered & Ravager to Your City!

I'm reposting the following news release from the official Phantasm social media accounts. This is a hugely important development for phans that have yet to see theatrical listings for either Phantasm Remastered or Phantasm Ravager in their towns. This is your opportunity to bring the Tall Man to your city!

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Want to bring PHANTASM: REMASTERED or PHANTASM: RAVAGER (or both) to your hometown theater? It’s easy to do with Tugg, in three simple steps:

1. Go to Tugg.com and pick your film, your three closest theaters, and a date. Tugg will handle everything behind the scenes and get a theater on board for the screening.

2. Once a theater is on board, your screening is PENDING. To take it from PENDING to GO, a threshold of tickets (usually between 40 and 70) need to be sold. We’ll provide you with a kit you can use to promote your screening and help get those tickets moving.

3. Once the tickets are sold, your screening is a GO and it’s show time! We’ll handle everything with the theater from here out.

Got questions? Ask in the Phantasm Facebook comments and they'll help you out! We want ANYONE who wants to see PHANTASM on the big screen to have their chance, so don’t hesitate.

First Ravager Reviews Are Here!

The first official review of Phantasm Ravager following last night's Austin, Texas premiere has landed online. Eric Walkuski has posted his thoughts over on the JoBlo website. While Eric doesn't hold back his problems with the movie, he ultimately gives it a favorable 7/10 rating with positive comments overall. Read the review here.

And while the giant Phantasm phans over at Daily Grindhouse haven't technically posted a full proper review yet, they have posted a "Reflections" discussion on the film, which you can read here. In it, writers Matt Wedge and Mike Vanderbilt discuss the ups and downs of what may be Phantasm's final outing. And while you're at the Grindhouse, be sure to check out their massive offering of series related posts from last week, which was dubbed Phantasm Week.

Various audience reactions are constantly being fed into social media and the most common sentiments, it seems, are that Ravager is a "blast" and truly feels at heart like a Phantasm movie. High praise as far as I'm concerned.

Official Trailer Releases for Remastered & Ravager

If you've been following this these past fifteen hours, you may already know the deal. If not, know that the hot new trailers for Phantasm Remastered and Phantasm Ravager have finally debuted online in proper, full-HD glory. No, you won't have to chase them down on iTunes or Amazon. Here they are at Entertainment Weekly and Apple!

These are two fantastic trailers that you're going to want to watch over and over again, particularly that stunning Remastered preview!

Phantasm Remastered Trailer at Apple

Phantasm Ravager Trailer at Entertainment Weekly

New Remastered / Ravager Trailers Up at AMAZON plus screenshots

Late last evening, exciting new trailers for Phantasm Remastered and Phantasm Ravager appeared on the film's pre-order pages on iTunes... only to vanish completely several hours later. Phans were left either gushing over the new previews or cursing the suddenly missing videos. Lucky for us,  these spectacular trailers have now appeared over on Amazon's digital pre-order listings for Remastered and Ravager! You can see a handful of screenshots from the new Ravager trailer below.

(These trailers will probably not work on your phone or in the Chrome browser, apparently.)

Amazon trailer page for Phantasm Remastered

Amazon trailer page for Phantasm Ravager

New Ravager/Remastered Trailers Appear, Immediately Vanish... AGAIN

You're not going to believe this. Well, you're a Phantasm phan, so maybe you will believe it. Earlier this evening, pre-order listings for both Phantasm Remastered and Phantasm Ravager appeared on the iTunes store. Included in these listings were glorious new trailers for each film! Within a couple of hours, however, these listings vanished from the iTunes directory. Curious also was their release date of 10/4/16, three days earlier than the otherwise announced 10/7/16.

The Remastered trailer was marvelously crafted, every shot a refined masterpiece. Seeing Phantasm this way makes it look like an entirely new film I've never experienced before. The trailer's opening was particularly cool as an angry silver sphere burst from an ancient-looking television playing an old version of the movie. The trailer also included the now famous Phantasm definition narration, which originally began with the marketing of Phantasm II.

The Ravager trailer included new footage we hadn't seen before, most of it of Reggie in the hospital and roaming the countryside. There were also new shots of the Tall Man on the Red Planet and a better look at that new spikey-ball sphere. I would definitely qualify this as the best trailer the film has had yet.

I did manage to save a few screenshots from the Ravager trailer, which I'll post below until I'm told otherwise to take them down. Fingers crossed that Well Go USA releases these trailers soon and online in their full glory. You are gonna love 'em. (Credit: I first learned of the iTunes listings on the Phantasm Ravager Facebook phan group!)

Ravager/Remastered Blu-Ray Date Revealed?

EDIT: Blu-Ray.com is now also showing the December 6th date.

THE FUNERAL IS ABOUT TO BEGIN, SIR! The home video release dates for both Phantasm Remastered and Phantasm Ravager appear to have been revealed by the VIDEO ETA website. They list the standalone releases as hitting store shelves on December 6, 2016 on both the Blu-Ray and DVD formats. Their listings mention Well Go USA down as domestic distributor. The Blu’s are priced at $29.98 SRP and the DVDs at $24.98 SRP. I've never heard of this website before, so I can't much vouch for their credibility. Fingers crossed, though.

VIDEO ETA does not yet have cover art or supplemental information, but we’ll be sure to keep an eye out. The website also makes no mention of the much rumored Phantasm Box Set that’s been whispered about. Special thanks to Jay Dennis for the tip!

Listing for Phantasm Remastered
Listing for Phantasm Ravager

UPDATE #2: Some parts of these listings say "Date Not Set" while others list the 12/6/16 date.

Exclusive Pre-Show for Remastered/Ravager Screenings in Durham, NC

East Coast Phantasm phans near North Carolina should take note of this! Durham's historic Carolina Theatre is hosting weeklong engagements of both Phantasm Remastered and Phantasm Ravager from October 7th to the 13th. Their day-to-day screenings will be in their cinema rooms, but the double-feature happening Saturday night, October 8th will be in their lavish, 1,048 seat three-story theatre.

Even better, each film screening throughout the week will include a special pre-show video exclusive to the Carolina Theatre entitled "JOURNEY TO RAVAGER," which you can glimpse below. This tribute promises to showcase rare and never-before-seen photos and video from the making of the four Phantasm films, concluding with a memorial tribute to the late great Angus Scrimm. A video announcing the screening engagement can be seen below.

Get your tickets for Remastered here and Ravager here.

UK Phans Rejoice! All Hail Arrow Video!

UK phans now have something to sing about - the terrific Arrow Video are bringing Phantasm Remastered to the United Kingdom! As of now, they're planning to screen the film on Saturday, October 15 at the BFI London Film Festival. Get more information on tickets and the festival here. We'll be sure to post more if Arrow announces additional screening dates elsewhere and elsewhen in the United Kingdom.

The fact that we now officially know Arrow Video is involved with the series is fantastic news. If you're familiar with their work, you'll know why that is - Arrow does genre films proud when they get involved. If you're not familiar with their work, get to Googling!

Gorgeous New Phantasm Remastered Poster!

The Birth.Movies.Death website has unveiled a gorgeous new poster for Phantasm Remastered featuring young Mike falling through the Red Planet sky, the Tall Man and Lady in Lavender looking scary just above him. This amazing new artwork was created by artist Aaron Lea. You'll recall that Lea also created the striking teaser poster for Phantasm Ravager several years back. 

The website is giving five of them away in a contest, but also mentions that the poster will soon be up for sale on the official Phantasm website. They have also published a new interview with Don Coscarelli concerning Phantasm Remastered.

Phantasm Remastered Trailer plus see THE NEW SILVER SPHERE!

UPDATE: That brief and seemingly premature trailer has been pulled from the Mondo Instagram page. Word is, however, that a bigger, better trailer for Phantasm Remastered is coming our way soon!

Mondo has released their first trailer for the upcoming Phantasm Remastered via Instagram. You can check that out in the video embed below. Aside from the strikingly more crisp picture and vivid color, this preview gives us our first look at the re-envisioned silver sphere, which has never looked better. To see just how far the ball has come since 1979, give a look to the comparison image at your right. (Click the image to see the comparison larger!)

Phantasm Remastered is playing across the nation on September 24th as part of Art House Theater Day. The film will be also include a sneak peak at Phantasm Ravager, a tribute to the late great Angus Scrimm and a live streamed Q&A with Don Coscarelli and the cast from Texas. Additional screening dates are currently popping up for October throughout the country. Check your local listings to see when and where!

Ravager Hitting Theaters and VOD in October!!!

I'm a little late to this party, but here's the big news. Phantasm Ravager is hitting theater screens and video-on-demand platforms on October 7th, 2016. The Entertainment Weekly article also confirms the previously scooped Art House Theater Day release for Phantasm Remastered as well as a special box set release for the series later this year.

Hopefully we'll get more details on this fantastic development soon!

Phantasm Remastered Screening Nationally in September!

Details are still coming in about this one, but it's pretty much confirmed. Phantasm Remastered will be screening nationally in the United States on the night of September 24, 2016 as part of Art House Theater Day. I originally thought this evening showing was limited to the Pennsylvania theater mentioned in my previous blog post, but that no longer appears to be the case. The film is also now confirmed to show in Cleveland that same evening.

Things we know for sure:

- Although only two theaters are currently known to be screening Phantasm Remastered that night, more than 160 theaters are participating in the Art House Theater Day event. That means we can reasonably look forward to significantly more, if not all, participating venues to soon announce their screenings. You can find a list of participating theaters on their website.

- The Pennsylvania screening page mentioned a live stream following the film by Don Coscarelli. The Cleveland listing expand upon this by revealing that he will be joined on the video-cast by performers from the original Phantasm.

- The Cleveland listing also expands upon the "special merchandise" that will be available in the lobby. Their website states that "Mondo is creating limited-run products for PHANTASM, which will be exclusively available that evening."

This is all exciting! There's still a few details we don't have, but we can look forward to these gaps in intel being filled in when either Don Coscarelli or Art House Theater Day make their formal announcement about the event coming up. Thanks enormously to the Pennsylvania and Cleveland venues for tipping us off about these phantasmic happenings!

Phantasm 4k Coming to PA with Coscarelli Live Stream

Dormont Pennsylvania's Hollywood Theater has announced a screening of Phantasm Remastered for Saturday night, September 24th. This showing marks the theater's first annual Art House Theater Day. All seats are ten bucks. The Hollywood Theater's website notes: "Stay tuned to our Facebook page as we announce special PHANTASM merchandise available at the theater, and a live stream afterwards with director Don Coscarelli!" Might that mean Phantasm's creator will be screening an extended Phantasm Ravager trailer here like in Chicago next month?

Phantasm Remastered Heading Down Under

Phantasm Remastered is scheduled to play next month at the Melbourne International Film Festival in Australia. The upgraded classic will have two late night screenings, one on Friday, August 5 and the other on Friday, August 12. For more information, see the Phantasm Remastered page on the festival's website.

The listing's description reads: Legendary horror director Don Coscarelli (John Dies at the End, MIFF 2013) cemented his cult status with this beloved 1979 film. Nearly 40 years on, it is now considered one of the most influential classics of the genre. It even inspired JJ Abrams to name Star Wars villain Captain Phasma after the film's iconic killer ball. Abrams himself, and his Bad Robot company, headed up the stunning 4K restoration of Phantasm, a new digital print and 5.1 audio soundtrack that makes this icon of B-movie horror look and sound better than it ever has. In the wake of the death earlier this year of the film's unforgettably terrifying star, Angus Scrimm, this restored version serves as a worthy tribute.