Bizarre Phantasm Box Set from Italy

I've posted before about how international home video editions of the Phantasm series often have small peculiarities about them, but this is a massively peculiar release from Italy. This four-disc box set of "Fantasmi" includes the first three Phantasm movies yet uses artwork created exclusively for Phantasm Oblivion! Why exclude the fourth film, especially if you're going to use artwork from it? The set's back cover further features an image of the Tall Man from Oblivion. 

This Italian release also includes a fourth disc of supplemental material ported over from Anchor Bay's impressive UK box set. Among these is the feature-length documentary Phantasmagoria, which looks to have been trimmed from its original 97-minute runtime to 72-minutes in order to exclude the concluding Phantasm Oblivion segment. I wonder, did they further trim Oblivion clips from the also-included "The Gory Days" and "Phandom" featurettes? 

Furthermore, the credit blocks on the back cover are also messed up. The block for "Fantasmi III" is a straight copy of the original film's credits, listing Paul Pepperman as co-producer (he produced none of the sequels, mind you) and gives Kathy Lester's micro-cameo fourth billing! Click the images below to see the packaging larger.

Classy Coscarelli gently nixes Ravager Kickstarter

[Update from the Chief Archivist: My posts on this topic were never a smear campaign against the individual who started this mess, but rather an effort to prevent phans from throwing their money at it. I was trying to stop it - and that goal has been met. I'll leave these posts up because this all did happen, but I'm removing the phan's name and details from this post.]

Well, the whole fake Ravager Kickstarter thing got even weirder this morning and then came to an abrupt end this afternoon, but not before it had raised an astonishing $860 from naive phans. As it turned out, the campaign was neither a joke nor the effort of an internet troll. Its creator seems to have legitimately wanted to fund additional work on Phantasm V (insert Kevin Hart confused face here).

Kickstarter impresario ------- updated his $15,000,000 campaign with the shocking clarification that he wasn't actually associated with anyone involved in the production of the new sequel. In an update, he wrote: "It has come to my attention that a number of blogs online are stating that this is Fradulent or a scam. To clarify, we are in fact not associated with the filmmakers in anyway, However this is still an honest effort to raise money for the film, by fans, and for the fans. The purpose for the funds, are as stated in this projects description. That is what it will be used for." 

----- then created a new perk for his Kickstarter at the $75 donation level that awarded up to 50,000 funders BluRay copies of all five films - despite the fact that no such releases have even been announced yet, except in the case of Phantasm II which is already available on BluRay. 

News of this bizarre crowd funding venture spread out onto several other sites this morning before eventually catching the attention of Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli, who personally tweeted ---- requesting that he shut down the Kickstarter, which ----- then promptly did. You know, I've got to hand it to Coscarelli. Rather than his usual silent digital takedowns, the guy reached out to ------ on Twitter and with a very gentle voice and got what he wanted. Classy.

UPDATED: Fraudulent Phantasm Ravager Kickstarter

[Update from the Chief Archivist: My posts on this topic were never a smear campaign against the individual who started this mess, but rather an effort to prevent phans from throwing their money at it. I was trying to stop it - and that goal has been met. I'll leave these posts up because this all did happen, but I'm removing the phan's name and details from this post.]

I'll be honest - the only way Phantasm Ravager's legacy gets any weirder is if someone involved has a sex tape leak onto social media that somehow involves a silver sphere. A new Kickstarter campaign has been launched to fund the further long delayed production, release and marketing of Phantasm Ravager to the tune of $15,000,000. The only problem is that this project is most definitely fraudulent and completely unrelated to the production. 

The campaign creator is listed as ----------- of Miami, who self-describes as "Creator and owner of multiple business startups and successful long running ventures." His scam project page reads, "You will fund the creation of a marketing campaign comprising of web content, internet advertising, and possibly television commercials, as well as the distribution of the film  "Phantasm V: Ravager" so that this film can finally make it to the market, as well as funding the final pickup shots that will complete the film for market." 

First things first, this has a campaign goal of FIFTEEN MILLION?? That is far in excess of the combined production budgets of all five Phantasm films! Even crazier is that one person has already contributed $30 to the cause. The only listed perk for the campaign is at the $30 donation level, which supposedly nets you a copy of the film on either DVD or Blu-Ray with a delivery date of next September. Even more bizarre are what ------ has listed in the Risks and Challenges section: "A big challenge involves creating the right marketing, artwork, and online advertising that will create the appropriate response to the film. However, part of our work would be studying the long time fan base and online trends to create the perfect marketing this film needs." 

So, this must surely be a scam to make money off the good name of Phantasm, right? Not exactly. The Kickstarter page is set up so that funds are only received if the total amount is raised, in this case $15,000,000. I'm certain there is simply no way for phans to ever raise that kind of dough, which is an astronomical figure for a crowd funding project. As far as I can tell, only one venture in the history of Kickstarter that has ever raised that kind of money and that was for a smart watch. So no matter how much this fraudulent endeavor makes, it won't actually receive the funds. 

If the page isn't a legitimate ruse to scam money, then possibly it was made in jest? There's nothing overtly funny about this particular Kickstarter. The page isn't even all that well put together, lifting obvious fan art from other sources and pulling text from other websites about the film. I'm filing this one in my "What-the-hell?" folder.


UPDATE
Slight update on that whole fake Phantasm Ravager crowd funding initiative. The campaign starter actually tweeted his effort to Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli asking how he would go about "writing a multi-million dollar check." I'm still unclear on whether or not this is a joke or a serious effort. Is it still okay to be laughing at this?

Stephen Romano talks New Novel, Addresses Ravager

Stephen Romano - we haven't heard much from the artist/writer since he quietly left the Phantasm universe several years ago to pursue new creative endeavors, unleashing several mythologies of his own upon the world. As you'll recall, Stephen organized the world's first and only exclusively Phantasm convention in 2000, wrote the Phantasm: Overminds comic, exhumed and published Kate Coscarelli's long dormant Phantasm novel, wrote smashing, unproduced screenplays for a Phantasm remake and Phantasm V *and* co-wrote Don Coscarelli's Masters of Horror episode. As far as I'm concerned, he is truly an unsung hero of Phantasm and, if we're lucky, he'll one day return.

In recent years, Stephen has published several marvelous works of his own, often with Phantasm cohorts (notably Shock Festival with David Hartman and Gloria Lynne-Henry, see my review here) and now he's back with a new novel, METRO, that debuts today. His new story was inspired by a weird nirvana house of horrors in Austin, Texas called "The Kingdom" where Stephen lived and worked for many years. It was here that he created his first book The Riot Act and wrote a slew of screenplays, including some of those mentioned above. 

The official description from Simon and Schuster reads, "The acclaimed author of Resurrection Express breaks all the rules in this non-stop suspense thriller packed with killers, comic books, drug lords, and film nerds. For the last five years, Jollie, Andy, and Mark have lived together in a crazy bohemian crash pad in Austin, Texas, immersed in an endless summer of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. But one of them is not what they seem to be. And when that person finally blows a decades-long cover during a violent attack on a powerful Austin dope dealer, all hell breaks loose in the bloody, bullet-riddled aftermath. As the façade of the normal world sizzles away, revealing an ominous shadow league of endemic spies and assassins known only as METRO, Jollie, Andy, and Mark must run like hell into a very dark night, where love and friendship will bind them, a terrifying hatchet man will close in to kill them, and the pitch black truth about everything will be revealed, again and again." 

METRO is available today as a digital download exclusive from Simon and Schuster and selling for the crazy low price of $1.99. That's cheaper than a good cup of coffee!! Hell, that's even cheaper than some bad cups of coffee.

Many phans have been wondering about Stephen's involvement with the new Phantasm Ravager, especially since some of his ideas have been apparent in preview footage from the film. Speaking to Dread Central last week, Stephen commented, "Some people have asked me if I had anything to do with the new P sequel that’s coming out this year, and I thought I’d take this moment to address the question. It’s a simple answer. No, I didn’t. But the new director, Dave Hartman is awesome and he’s a good buddy and the film is gonna rock your world. I like Dave so much that I named the super nasty bad guy in my novel “Resurrection Express” after him. I’m sure he appreciated that!"

Get your digital copy of METRO here and visit Stephen Romano's official website here.

Phantasm Ravager Delayed to 2016

Out of this weekend's ScareFest convention in Lexington, Kentucky, we've learned from Don Coscarelli that Phantasm Ravager has, in fact, been delayed until 2016. Judging by social media reaction, this is a fairly huge blow to phans who've been waiting patiently since last March for the new sequel. But fret not, it could be worse. We could have never gotten a Phantasm V, right?

To help put the whole frustrating ordeal into perspective, I've made a little infographic. I hope it helps. Click the graphic to make it larger!

Reggie Bannister's Bonejangles Looks Awesome!

The trailer for Reggie Bannister's latest film has debuted onto Facebook and.... it looks all kinds of ass-kicking awesome. Titled Bonejangles, the IMDb describes it as such: To safely deliver an unstoppable killer, a rag-tag group of police officers must first survive a hellish pit stop: a cursed town where the dead rise from their graves.

Our dear Reggie shows up looking wonderfully maniacal in the preview appearing to play the monster's father. He's also rocking a great accent ("Make yo dadda praad!") and what might be an axe. This film looks like so much fun, with plenty of stylish throwback on display to the vintage slasher films of yesteryear (the lighting, camera and effects work are all strikingly good!) Bonejangles is the second feature from director Brett DeJager and the first from screenwriter Keith Melcher. The film also stars Elissa Dowling and Julia Cavanaugh.

Check out the trailer below and be sure to follow the film's official Facebook page for updates!