Phantasm: Ravager follows Reggie as he is in search of his friend Mike
who he swore to protect. In his search for Mike he must fight from one
alternative reality to another while being hunted down by the relentless
Tall Man. Will he be able to escape this fight with his life and sanity
intact or will he succumb to the Tall Man and his legion army of killer flying spheres?!
The Phantasm series has been one that I have been able to go back and watch whenever I want to see something original and out there. Of the first 4 films I enjoyed them all, even the 4th one which was the weaker of the 4. Before the Phantasm film I am reviewing here today was ever released I had heard rumors that Don Coscarelli wanted to do a fifth and final film for the series. I was excited by what I had heard even if it was just rumors. At the time it sounded like it would be on a much more epic scale than the prior films. Awhile passed and finally I heard about the official plans to do the film and it was titled Phantasm: Ravager. What we got in the end was a crowd funded film with a quite low budget that ended up getting directed by someone other than Don Coscarelli. Let's crack this corpse open and see what it has to offer!
Despite hearing many criticisms of this film I still went into it with an open-mind and if you are a huge Phantasm fan like myself then I suggest you do the same. I'm not going to say that none of the criticism I heard was not valid because honestly it was. The one thing I can agree with is that this film suffers from such a small budget. For me I would of loved to of seen this film with a budget 3 or 4 times the size it actually had so they could of done what they truly wanted to do. Despite the budget it was nice to see the original cast come back one last time to finish off the series once and for all. You can really tell that they were having a good time doing this film. Above all it was great to see Angus Scrimm as the Tall Man one last time before his passing on January 9th 2016.
I'll talk about some of the other things I enjoyed with this film before I get into my personal negatives about this film. Like I said it was great to see the original cast back and like always Reggie Bannister is back as Reggie who is one of my favorite characters of all time. He has this charisma to him that makes you want to see him prevail against the Tall Man. Seeing Angus Scrimm back is great also even though you can tell that he is limited to what he could physically do in this film. I also think that the writing in this film is very much on par with the others. There is also some shots in the film that were done very well and brought back the feel of the original, one in particular is when Reggie is walking through a mausoleum and they have a shot with the camera facing up from the floor at Reggie.
Now for the negatives and there is more than I wish there was. First and foremost this film looks like something that would of been financed by The Asylum and shown on Saturday night on the Syfy Channel. Now it does have more heart put into it than The Asylum's bullshit. When I say that I am talking more about the bad CGI and cheap look of some parts of the film. Especially when they have the Tall Man walking down a hallway after Mike and Reggie and you can easily tell that Angus Scrimm's face is badly put on someone else. Really that is the biggest gripe I have. I just wish I could of seen some well done practical effects maybe mixed with some well done CGI effects. One last thing I will mention is that the film should of ended with the 71' Barracuda riding off into the desert, but instead they end with a seemingly tacked on ending after a few moments of credits.
Overall this film is simply made for those who are fans of the series already, even though some fans will probably hate this film. I personally enjoyed it for what it was despite it's downfalls. Nonetheless I think it's the worst of the series. This series did deserve a better send off then what it got, but at least we got a film to end this series once and for all. Will I revisit this film like I do the others, yes I will. Love it or hate it, but it's here and it's better than 99% of the unoriginal bullshit you see spewing out of Hollywood nowadays!
-Daniel Lee
Director: David Hartman
Lead Actor/Actress: Angus Scrimm, Michael Baldwin, Reggie Banister
Genre: Horror
Blu-ray Release Year: 2016
Theatrical Release Year: 2016
Time Length: 86 mins.
Rating: NR
Region Code: Region A
Release Company: Well Go USA
Website:
www.wellgousa.com
ADDITIONAL SCREENSHOTS:
Phantasm: Ravager follows Reggie as he is in search of his friend Mike
who he swore to protect. In his search for Mike he must fight from one
alternative reality to another while being hunted down by the relentless
Tall Man. Will he be able to escape this fight with his life and sanity
intact or will he succumb to the Tall Man and his legion army of killer flying spheres?! 
