Phantasm.com Now Selling Hammers

Here's something rather unexpected. The official Phantasm store is now offering limited edition replicas of Mike's shotgun-shell-enhanced-hammer from the original film! These replicas ship out in a glass case and are hand-signed by Don Coscarelli. The official site has dubbed this item the "Phantasm War Hammer" and they're each priced at $99.99.

Per the product page: This beautiful prop replica of the Hammer/Shotgun shell device, which young Mike uses to escape his bedroom in the original Phantasm, comes in a lovely glass and wood display case. The hammer handle is autographed by Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli and signature comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. The shotgun shell within is empty and non-operational. This display case containing the Phantasm War Hammer is approximately 15" in length, 8.5" in width and approximately 2.5" tall.

Get yours here. What other prop replicas would you like to see? Reggie's dwarf-destroying four-barrel? Better quality spheres? A life-size space gate, perhaps?

Strange Advertising for Italian Phantasm Box Set

Italian distributor Midnight Factory has just released a pretty cool Blu-ray box set of the entire Phantasm franchise. This release packs six discs, meaning there's an entire disc devoted to bonus features. It also includes nifty postcard prints and an exclusive full-color booklet. Given how cool all that is, I guess we can forgive the inclusion of James LeGros on the cover instead of A. Michael Baldwin. (Happy belated birthday to Mr. Baldwin, by the way.) It wasn't like they just recycled the old Universal poster art - they had an artist draw this cover based on that!

Even stranger than LeGros being featured over Baldwin is this recent advertisement for the set. Is that masked man... supposed to be... the Tall Man? Yikes! As weird as it is, this ad is also kind of cool. I dig it. And judging by the blades, that sphere hails from the old Anchor Bay UK DVD set from many years back.

A. Michael Baldwin in New Slender Man movie 'FLAY'

Phantasm phans, this may be of some interest to you. Several years ago, A. Michael Baldwin appeared in a Slender Man thriller called FLAY from filmmaker Eric Pham, which we first reported on here back in 2017. The film's release was significantly delayed due to a cease-and-desist order filed by Sony Pictures, whose own Slender Man movie released last year. Fortunately, FLAY's filmmakers have prevailed in that legal spat and the film is now available for moviegoers to rent/own from a number of streaming platforms.  Visit the movie's official site here.

As many phans know, the original Slender Man legend was partly inspired by Angus Scrimm's Tall Man character, so it's fitting that Baldwin would make an appearance in the new film. The trailer looks awfully creepy!

Plot description: Patricia Crane dies when she acquires a mysterious black chain that unleashes a centuries-old curse from Flay, a faceless Native American spirit who traps the souls of his victims in the netherworld. Flay begins a killing spree as the evil chain is stolen and passed onto others. Plagued with disturbing and violent visions, Patricia's daughter Moon struggles to understand its enigma and fights to save her teenage brother River as Flay seeks vengeance on anyone who touches its condemned chains.

A. Michael Baldwin in new Slender Man movie FLAY!

Terrific news for phans - franchise star A. Michael Baldwin is returning to the horror genre with a new film - Flay - based on the popular Slender Man character, which itself was largely inspired by Phantasm and the Tall Man! How appropriate! IMDb reports the plot as follows: "After the death of her mother, an estranged daughter struggles to save her brother, and those around her from a malevolent faceless spirit."

Deadline is now reporting that Uncork'd Entertainment has picked up worldwide rights to the film, which hopefully means we can expect to see it reasonably soon. Flay marks the second feature from writer/director Eric Pham, who also boasts an accomplished career in special effects work including films like Sin City and Grindhouse.

You can catch the film's trailer here.

On an interesting note of trivia, this is not the first Slender Man inspired movie. There was previously a flick called Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story, which starred cult actor Doug Jones as the nefarious monster. That film also paid tribute to Slender Man's origins by featuring Angus Scrimm in a brief cameo.

Fantastic New Mike/Tall Man Phan Art

“A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber known only as the Tall Man, who keeps a lethal arsenal of terrible weapons with him..”

Very excited to share with you today this new art print by the fantastic Matthew Therrien, who I'm a big fan of. This Mike/Tall Man piece is part of his "Final Girls & Cinema Survivors" series, which highlights protagonists from franchises like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and many more. You don't see a lot of phan artwork that draws from A. Michael Baldwin's original Phantasm look, so that makes this piece even more great.

You can grab a gorgeous print of this on heavyweight stock with archival inks for the low price of $11.32 on Etsy. Would love to see Matthew tackle older Mike/Tall Man or Reggie/Tall Man!

A. Michael Baldwin Has a New Book Out!

Phantasm star A. Michael Baldwin has a terrific new children's book out from Neighborhood Publishers called "Love Always Wins: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Just Pick Up After Myself." At 44 pages, every page of this lavish hardcover creation is gorgeously illustrated by award-winning artist Sheila Bailey. Love Always Wins unfolds as a colorful conversation between the planets of our solar system. As someone who has already enjoyed this work, I can personally recommend it to anyone looking for imaginative Christmas gift idea for a young girl or boy.

The official Amazon description reads: As smart people know, if your listen very carefully, you can sometimes hear the planets of our solar system having a little chit-chat. Love Always Wins invites children of all ages into a playful exploration of our solar system and Mother Earth's unique place within it. But how and why should we keep her clean? Just ask Jupitor, or Venus, or even little Pluto. Perhaps Mother earth will tell us herself! After all, she knows the greatest secret of them all: Love Always Wins!

You can grab your copy here!

EPIC Phantasm Pumpkin w/ Entire Cast!

It's not yet October, but that spooky feeling is already in the air. In what is becoming a delightful Halloween tradition, the ridiculously talented Natalie Tomaszewski has shared with us another Phantasm pumpkin creation - this time featuring the entire cast! Pictured here in character are actors Angus Scrimm, A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister and Kat Lester. (Click any photo to see it larger!)

Natalie is constantly producing amazing pumpkin works of art, so be sure to check her out on Facebook at the Carved In Kin page. You can see beneath her most recent Phantasm pumpkin here one she did for my book, Phantasm Exhumed, last Halloween! I'm sure this pumpkin will impress both phans and cast members alike just as her previous ones have.

Custom Tall Man and Mike Figure Display on eBay

Don't you just love phan creations? From “Screwy Luie Productions” comes this one-of-a-kind custom Phantasm figure display. Built in 1/6 scale, this stylish diorama recreates the unforgettable nightmare scene from the first film wherein Mike awakes in Morningside Cemetery to find the Tall Man looming over his bed, grabby-zombies on either side of him. Screwy Luie’s figures come with hand sculpted/painted heads, full articulated bodies and are said to be “tricked out,” whatever that means! Someone go grab a teenager who can explain that vernacular. The display also features silver spheres on the bedposts (a nice detail to include) and tiny Christmas lights strung throughout (not sure why, but okay!) The cracked tombstones and title display above the Tall Man’s head are also nice touches. 

Bidding on this unique piece starts at $250 with only a couple of days left in the auction. Check out the auction page here.

New Phantasm Quiz Book Out This Week

There is a new Phantasm book out this week from author Killian H. Gore. Phantasm Unauthorized Quiz Book dishes up more than two hundred trivia questions on the series. Killian solicited input from series veterans including star A. Michael Baldwin, dwarf-actor Ed Gale, co-producer Roberto Quezada, sphere master Kerry Prior and special makeup effects supervisor Mark Shostrom. 

Browsing these pages, I am already noticing a good range of difficulty. Some of these phans will immediately know the answer to while others will surely send you to the book's answer section or perhaps Google. Full disclosure: The book's final five questions are provided by yours truly and I did my best to make them challenging! You can purchase either the paperback version or Kindle Edition over at Amazon. The official description is below:

Are you ready for a truly Phantastic Phantasm Quiz, boooy!!!? Featuring over 200 trivia filled multiple-choice questions on all four Phantasm movies. With a Tall Man’s Tricky Bonus Question for each movie too! Plus! A selection of Special Guest Star Questions from Phantasm cast and crew members A. Michael Baldwin, Mark Shostrom, Kerry Prior, Ed Gale and Roberto A. Quezada! AND a set of bonus questions from a Surprise Special Guest Star! As well as the terrifying Phantasm-inspired short story “Video Projects” by Killian H. Gore. If you want to play a good game, boooy, the quiz is about to begin!

Phantasm Cast headed to Kentucky

The Phantasm crowd is being summoned for yet another reunion in 2015, this time in Lexington, Kentucky. A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister and Gigi Fast Elk Bannister have been announced as guests for the ScareFest Horror & Paranormal Convention happening this September 11-13 at the Lexington Convention Center. With the show still a long eight months away, there are surely plenty of guest announcements yet to come. A little silver sphere whispered to me recently that this fine Phantasm reunion may grow larger yet - time will tell!

Fan Spotlight Cont'd: The Revenge of Scott Hoffman

My first post of 2015 highlighted more than twenty works by artist and phan Scott Hoffman from his Transformative Impressions series. Scott has been one busy fellow since then and returns to share an additional six Phantasm-related works he has created. These images depict moments from Phantasm, Phantasm II, Phantasm Oblivion and the hotly-anticiapted Phantasm Ravager. If you did Scott's work, I encourage you to check out his web store and like him on Facebook.

Click here to see the new art!

Custom-Made Phantasm Action Figures!

On the heels of yesterday's terrific music, I'm back with another treat from composer and phan Dan J. Schulte. Some twenty-three years ago, Dan decided he wanted his own set of Phantasm action figures. The only problem was that none existed at that time. After all, that was still several years prior to NECA's Cult Classics 7" Tall Man figure, which is now out-of-print and fetching steep prices on the secondary market. So what did Dan do? He did what any resourceful phan would have done - he made his own badass Mike and Reggie figures!! Read on to see additional photos of his creations and learn what these toys were in their previous lives.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FIGURE GALLERY!

See A. Michael Baldwin Harlem Shake with Zombies!

This video and story aren't exactly new, but I'm willing to bet there's a significant handful of phans that have yet to experience their glory! You may have seen the Harlem Shake done in an office, on a plane and even while skydiving, but have you ever seen a Harlem Shake performed by zombies? Or better yet, have you ever seen a Harlem Shake by Phantasm star A. Michael Baldwin and dance crew of zombies? If not, read on to read about how everyone's favorite BOOOY got down with some funky dead-heads.

If you somehow missed out on the 2013 viral sensation that was Harlem Shake and have absolutely no clue what I'm referencing, consult the almighty Wikipedia's entry on it here. It's sort of like a video meme that swept the internet two years ago.

Click here to read the story and see the video!

New Phantasm Ravager Pic!

First off, Happy New Year to Phantasm phans everywhere! And what better way to start off the new year than with a new photo from the upcoming Phantasm Ravager? This selfie-from-the-set comes from star A. Michael Baldwin who refuses to reveal absolutely anything about it! So we'll all just have to use our imaginations until the film's release later this year. The photo caption does reveal that it hails from filming carried out in 2013.

(This photo isn't exactly brand new - it's been floating about for a few months now, but I think it's new to most people and it's new to this blog - so I suppose that qualifies it for the "new" tag!)

New Music Video with Michael Baldwin

Everyone's favorite boooooooy, Michael Baldwin, is back in a new music video from band Lucid Dementia. Directed by Justin Warren, Michael plays "The Conjurer" in this super spooky short. Chock full of great makeup effects and a creepy location, "It Came From the Dead" is sure to be enjoyed by Phantasm phans. Turn down the lights, turn up the volume and watch it below!

Catching Up With A. Michael Baldwin

To those phans eagerly awaiting A. Michael Baldwin's return to the horror genre, your thirst is about to be quenched. Everyone's favorite 'boooooooy' is back before the camera with three projects in his first genre work since 1998's Phantasm: Oblivion. And before you ask, the long awaited Phantasm V is not among them.... yet. These projects all appear to be in various stages of either production, post-production or distribution negotiation. I'll be sure to post here when news of their releases is available! 

Read on to learn more about the three spooky projects!

New Michael Baldwin Interview from the UK

Mick Bannister, host of the Plane Talking show on Secklow Sounds channel, has tipped us off to a new hourlong interview he did with Michael Baldwin, which can be heard here or below. This interview is different than the usual sort because Michael lists off some of his favorite songs, starting with Cracked Actor by David Bowie and ending with Orange Blossoms in Summertime by Kurt Elling, all of which the interviewer then plays for the listener. It's a fun and unique insight to Michael we haven't had before.

In addition to his eclectic taste in music, Mick asks Michael about his early years, working with the Phantasm cast, his upcoming children's book and the actor gives a cryptic tease about the possibility of a Phantasm 5.

Michael Baldwin appearing at FantaCon 2013

Northeast Phantasm fans have all the luck. It's just been brought to my attention by convention cohort Phil Sawyer (phantasmphil on the Phantasm Community forum) that Michael Baldwin has been booked to appear at FantaCon 2013 in Albany, New York this September 14th and 15th. Michael will be joined by a number of Night of the Living Dead guests, Tom Savini and more. Visit their website for more information!