They only waited 4 years for the next in the franchise.\u00a0 I expect a lower budget and more desolate scenery.\u00a0 Will Tim return? It sounds like they didn\u2019t have the budget to do the original idea.\u00a0 Also, there appear to have been at least 4 different ideas for this project, and Bruce Campbell was pitched in one of them.\u00a0 That would have been fun.\u00a0 The last one lacked a great soundtrack, so hopefully we get back to that great music.\u00a0 Also, after some fan backlash, this one tones down on the comedy.\u00a0 I hate to say this, but fuck the fans!!\u00a0 Just make your vision.\u00a0 We see this too often and it\u2019s a huge overreaction to minor things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Due to time restraints, I may not be as descriptive as I would like to be\u00a0 This got a 5.5 on IMDB, so we\u2019re below the 6 but above the 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start Film<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re in a graveyard, and there\u2019s a vehicle.\u00a0 We enter the mausoleum and there\u2019s Tall Man walking along.\u00a0 He looks rough but he is flanked by 2 balls.\u00a0 Mike is driving a hearse and he looks a bit older.\u00a0 Some flashbacks, but without the normal storytelling.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think this was a great way to begin for people who don\u2019t know the story.\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of a mess.\u00a0 Mike now gives a voiceover giving an explanation. Mike fled into the wastelands to escape his transformation.\u00a0 Reggie is still held up by balls.\u00a0 When Reggie is let go, his elbow pushes into the fake marble wall.\u00a0 I love this series.\u00a0 Tall Man is just playing with Reggie.\u00a0 He calls Reggie Small Man.\u00a0 The final game now begins.\u00a0 Tobin Bell may disagree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I bet the marketing geniuses blew their loads when they realized there is an IV in the word OBLIVION.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s go back in time to some old footage that had been lost with Reggie the ice cream man and young Mike hitching a ride.\u00a0 This footage actually looks super clean compared to the newer stuff.\u00a0 Mike steals an ice cream bar.\u00a0 Good on him.\u00a0 The next day the Tall Man arrived.\u00a0 Mike and Jody pass by the Morningside hearse.\u00a0 \u00a0 Tall Man drove over the dog that was chasing the guys.\u00a0 Why doesn’t Mike currently have the golden eyes?\u00a0 Also, why is there a big truck driving at night?\u00a0 Aren\u2019t we like in the \u201cend times\u201d or perhaps not yet?\u00a0 There\u2019s an old lady who sits next to Mike briefly, I think she was the fortune teller from the original.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reggie is fixing the front tires because they got blown out in III, I like the continuity.\u00a0 Jody Ball is still with Reggie.\u00a0 Jody Ball is Mike\u2019s brother Jody but in black ball\/sphere form.\u00a0 Reggie doesn\u2019t want to go chase down Mike, but Jody encourages him to.\u00a0 We see all 3 jamming out playing music like a middle-aged rock group.\u00a0 Jody tells him to drive southwest a few hundred miles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike sees Tall Man in the hearse with him, and his brakes don\u2019t work.\u00a0 Mike says No, and Tall Man says Yes Boy.\u00a0 Mike can’t exit the car.\u00a0 The car will drive itself.\u00a0 The casket in the back is a portal to the red world.\u00a0 They\u2019re heading to Death Valley. Mike decides to check out the portal.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A cop pulls Reggie over.\u00a0 Who is left in civilization? I\u2019m confused by this.\u00a0 The cop walks behind his own car and seems to disappear.\u00a0 He finds a demon body in the trunk and the cop is a demon.\u00a0 Reggie wants the shotgun in the cop car.\u00a0 The cop is on the roof so Reggie just pulls the trigger.\u00a0 The cop oozes honey mustard into Reggie\u2019s mouth.\u00a0 They apparently needed to do that take five times.\u00a0 That sounds awful. The cop is up so time to fight.\u00a0 Reggie gets him in the backseat and puts a nightstick through the chest.\u00a0 And now he has a road flare.\u00a0 He puts it in the gas tank and runs like hell.\u00a0 The cop gets out of the car covered in flames but eventually falls to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike writes letters in the back of the hearse via candlelight and the Jawas watch him from the outside. Now we get flashbacks to the Civil War era, I think, and there\u2019s the Tall Man with his big needle ramming it up a guy\u2019s nose. Looked pleasant, like a COVID test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reggie finds a relatively attractive girl, Jennifer. I bet she won\u2019t be used to manipulate Reggie in some way, and I bet he won\u2019t be trying to get in her pants. I\u2019d probably lose both bets. He doesn\u2019t even say hi to her. How many people are left? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike tries to hang himself out in the desert from this weird-looking tree. He\u2019s dangling, but off in the distance is the Tall Man whispering to him. More flashbacks to Mike at 13. Mike did lynch Tall Man back then, I guess. There\u2019s the old dagger, and Tall Man convinces Mike to cut him down. In real-world time, the rope snaps and Mike is still alive. Tall Man tells him that he\u2019s been waiting for him for a very long time. Mike cannot take his own life. Tall Man tells him to come along, they got things to do. Mike doesn\u2019t want to. He sees a portal and gets up. Tall Man warns him to be careful of what he\u2019s looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike is in an office or an old-time science lab.\u00a0 I swear, the architecture for these homes is all so similar.\u00a0 Mike goes outside and finds the Tall Man on the porch, but he is very friendly and offers lemonade.\u00a0 He realizes that Mike came from a dimensional fork.\u00a0 Jebediah is Tall Man\u2019s name, and there\u2019s the old lady who was in the car with Mike earlier.\u00a0 Mike runs for the portal, but it doesn\u2019t work as intended.\u00a0 He tries cranking on some gears. I just did this 2 days ago in a video game called Remnant 2, in a clock tower.\u00a0 Mike goes back through the portal.\u00a0 Ends up in the desert with several other portals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reggie is following a car, presumably Jennifer\u2019s car.\u00a0 It\u2019s her.\u00a0 Awww, they smile at each other.\u00a0 Then she flips her car trying to avoid a turtle. That was a big-ass turtle.\u00a0 Reggie to the rescue.\u00a0 The car is on fire, and he tells her to get away before it explodes, she says that only happens in the movies, and then it explodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike keeps thinking about the sphere in his head. He has a scorpion crawl on his leg. And then a rock falls on the scorpion because Mike has telekinetic powers now. He also squashed a Jawa with a boulder. Jody appears to Mike so they can have brotherly conversations. They made great use of the lost old footage. Mike says that he can\u2019t trust Jody but can trust Reggie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jennifer introduces herself to Reggie. She has a blue flannel, Reggie has a nice brown and turquoise flannel. He is always dressed for comfort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jody tries to describe what he went through to get back to him. How he was taken. Really, no mention of Tim, by the way. In the bedroom flashback, Jody saw Tall Man in the mirror. Goodness, there are so many portals all set up in a massive grid. Also, I feel it is taking Mike a lot longer to repair the vehicle than it did when he was 13. I know he had better tools and less stress. Just saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reggie finds a place to break into for the night, he calls it affordable-looking, hahaha.\u00a0 She isn\u2019t liking this.\u00a0 Reggie needs a good night\u2019s rest.\u00a0 Reggie making hotel jokes to impress Jen.\u00a0 Mike is outside by a fire.\u00a0 He visualizes stuff with the car and fixing it. Jen is changing and going over the whole Tall Man thing.\u00a0 Jen is in her panties behind a see-through curtain.\u00a0 We\u2019re gonna get dick teased, aren\u2019t we?\u00a0 She comes out covering her tits.\u00a0 She is dismissive of the Tall Man story.\u00a0 She asks for a shirt, he gives her a red flannel.\u00a0 Okay, she\u2019s wearing the shirt and panties.\u00a0 Reggie rubs her arm, but she has a lame policy about dealing with people with more problems than she has.\u00a0 Yup, blue balls city, population Reggie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reggie dreams of waking up in the graveyard. Reggie is startled by Tall Man Mike. He wakes up and her shirt is mostly unbuttoned and he is drinking it all in. Her tits are moving though. Not exactly optimal. He opens up her shirt and she has spheres for tits. Every guy watching that was severely disappointed and half the women too. He destroys one boob ball, the other drills his hand. Fortunately, he has the power of the tuning fork, which they never truly delved into in prior films adequately enough. Demon Jen grabs his leg, says they aren\u2019t done yet, and then Reggie uses the old hammer to end that scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike goes through another portal, and ends up on the streets of LA, I think.\u00a0 They somehow got the shot guerilla-style because it is always so busy.\u00a0 The Tall Man approaches.\u00a0 They basically had 10 minutes and got the shots they needed.\u00a0 Good for them.\u00a0 Jody is there and mentions it\u2019s not so much where they are but when they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reggie is driving and ignores the infamous \u201cDANGER\u201d sign on the road.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why, but that makes me chuckle.\u00a0 Reggie gets geared up, locked and loaded, and dressed as the ice cream man.\u00a0 If that didn\u2019t get a pop from long-time fans, I would be shocked.\u00a0 Mike is basically doing an episode of Quantum Leap at this point.\u00a0 Drake\u2019s coffee cakes are amazing, but so damn messy.\u00a0 Reggie is looking around, a Jawa approaches from behind.\u00a0 He smells something weird, has his gun angled, and pulls the trigger because he\u2019s the fucking man.\u00a0 Reloading that must be a bitch.\u00a0 He kills off 2 more.\u00a0 And kills another in the car.\u00a0 Then another leaps on him, so he gets use out of the switchblade.\u00a0 Then another attack so he uses his handgun.\u00a0 Basically, that was the scene so Reggie could look like a badass.\u00a0 Mike and Jody appear through the portal.\u00a0 Mike tells Reggie not to trust Jody.\u00a0 Now they are gonna time travel to the beginning.\u00a0 So they can pick and choose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re back to friendly Tall Man.\u00a0 We see him have his aha moment for the portals.\u00a0 But he can\u2019t see Mike and Jody.\u00a0 Why can\u2019t he?\u00a0 Mike sees the picture he saw way back in the original, I think.\u00a0 Mike goes to stab him, but they are in different dimensions.\u00a0 Jody says that Jebediah Morningside never comes back.\u00a0 Tall Man returns so Mike leaves.\u00a0 \u201cAnd so it begins,\u201d says the Tall Man.\u00a0 Now we\u2019re in a graveyard.\u00a0 Mike calls for Jody.\u00a0 Jody just turned heel and tried to hurt Mike with a ball.\u00a0 Mike slices Jody\u2019s hand and stabs him.\u00a0 Mike won\u2019t be like Jody, supposedly.\u00a0 \u00a0 As Mike walks away, another Jody grabs him from behind and they go through a portal.\u00a0 Mike is being held down on a table by Jody as Tall Man approaches.\u00a0 Time to do a minor operation on the skull.\u00a0 Mike drops his dagger as his head is being sawed into.\u00a0 Mike uses the tuning fork and they freeze up. The saws get Jody in the throat, and the Tall Man freezes.\u00a0 Jody says that he did die in the car wreck.\u00a0 The Tall Man steals the tuning fork.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike portals to Reggie. Reggie doesn\u2019t have another tuning fork. Reggie is waiting with his shotgun. The Tall Man comes out of the portal, Reggie backs up and pulls the trigger, but it doesn\u2019t fire. The Tall Man tosses Reg to the ground. Tall Man says that it\u2019s time now, Boy. Mike agrees and sends his own sphere at the Tall Man. Mike looks confident in his plan. The car is smoking and then explodes as the Tall Man looks inside. Is that really enough though? Nope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Tall Man comes through the portal again. This dude has his shit together.\u00a0 He pries Mike\u2019s head open and takes out the ball.\u00a0 Does Mike have a brain still?\u00a0 Then the Tall Man approaches the portal, turns around, and then goes through.\u00a0 Mike has to have a headache, right?\u00a0 Mike tells Reg that he\u2019s dying.\u00a0 Reg says that he\u2019s coming right back for him.\u00a0 Reg grabs his gun and heads through the portal.\u00a0 Who is controlling where Reg is going though?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We get a flashback to young Mike hearing Reggie say that Mike is still alive. Reg picks him up in the ice cream truck. Reg hears Mike say that he\u2019s dying. Mike tells him that it\u2019s just the wind. They drive off into the darkness. No mirror grab. Was this meant to be the finale?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
End Film<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wheels are starting to fall off a bit here. This is a movie that is only for fans of the franchise. Imagine if this was your first Phantasm movie. You’d be so confused. Even fans of the franchise can be a bit confused while watching. No shame in that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hated how Tim’s story didn’t continue. He looked to be poised to have a big role given how 3 ended. I’m not sure why that changed it. I know that they wanted to go back to their roots and be done with the comedy, but Tim would be 4 years older and could have become more stoic. They could have used Tim as a lure to get Mike back to the Tall Man. It seemed like they had possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The positives are the unused footage from the original. That’s a real treat. The other big draw is the song during the credits called “Have You Seen It” by Reggie B and the Jizz Wallin’ Ya Doggies. That is Reggie’s actual band. This looks good for what they were trying to accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Final Rating: 5.8 – I have read some reviews on this. A few people mentioned that this could have used a longer runtime. I think that is fair, If they had the budget and desire to dive a bit deeper, even 20-30 minutes, this movie could have actually surpassed the third one. Did they have enough story to do that? I have no idea. I can’t give this a 6 because you would be utterly confused and turned off by this movie with no prior Phantasm experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Please go find a copy and support the creators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They only waited 4 years for the next in the franchise.\u00a0 I expect a lower budget and more desolate scenery.\u00a0 Will Tim return? It sounds like they didn\u2019t have the budget to do the original idea.\u00a0 Also, there appear to have been at least 4 different ideas for this project, and Bruce Campbell was pitched […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[361,362],"tags":[6835,6833,6841,4055,6834,6832],"class_list":["post-18193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film-reviews","category-horror","tag-a-michael-baldwin","tag-angus-scrimm","tag-bill-thornbury","tag-phantasm","tag-reggie-bannister","tag-tall-man"],"yoast_head":"\n