The Tall Man is Shrinking!

Phantasm meets Back To The Future 2 meets Zabriskie Point?

Close, but no severed finger…

Before I explain, first, a shocking announcement. The Tall Man is shrinking.

Angus Scrimm - aka "Rory Guy" - who has portrayed Phantasm's lanky, nameless, extraterrestrial ghoul for four films to date - admitted to fans at FantAsia 98 that he's been reduced in size from 6' 4" to 6' 1 and a half thanks to the complexities and cruelties of aging.

Shrinking humans? Talk about "the Method"….

Phantasm: Oblivion, the latest, and presumably last, entry into the nearly two-decade long s.f./horror saga debuts on home video this month. The film was screened in Montreal and Toronto this past summer during the dual FantAsia 98 fantasy film festivals. Director Don Coscarelli and Scrimm attended both events, and during their Toronto Q &A, both veterans were a tad…er…"funereal"…in spirit.

Coscarelli confessed that during the difficult shooting of this ultra-low budget installment, it occurred to him that there was very little left to say with the series and he faced the realization that it was time to move on after numero quatro.

Well, if the film itself is any indication, Coscarelli has no intention whatsoever of cutting the Tall Man's mission short.

Picking up almost immediately after the non-conclusion of Phantasm: Lord Of The Dead, Oblivion opens with a "catch up" montage as adult Michael escapes with the Tall Man's hearse into the desert. Struggling with to maintain his humanity over the influence of a large silver sphere implanted in his head, Michael reminisces over better days with his brother Jody and friend Reggie, and contemplates the surreal events that have separated them in their attempts to stop the Tall Man's path of destruction.

Elsewhere, Reggie Bannister fears certain death at the hands of the Tall Man and his spheres, but is suddenly released. Clearly (is anything REALLY clear in a Phantasm movie?), the Tall Man plans to use Reggie to bait Michael into another confrontation.

Armed with some heavy weaponry and his sardonic sense of humor, Reggie makes his way to the Funeral Mountains in Death Valley to save Michael. Along the way, he picks up a comely blonde hitchhiker, whom he is forced into spending the night with at a dilapidated hotel in a dead town. But given the history of amorous encounters in the series so far, it shouldn't come as a surprise when the girl transforms into another harbinger of the spheres. Reggie escapes.

Jody, now living as a spirit encased in a sphere, materializes periodically to warn his brother. Michael arrives in the desert, and flashes back to the events of the original 1979 film. In new, never-before-seen moments from Phantasm, Michael and Jody confront the Tall Man and nearly succeed in hanging him. But the cunning giant tricks Michael into believing he'll leave the planet if he's freed, and young Michael gives in.

Michael happens upon another dimensional gate, and enters it. He's transported back to nineteenth century America, where he meets the Tall Man in his earthly, and innocent, incarnation. The man is on the brink of unlocking the secrets of the gates, and the spheres.

Eventually, Michael and Reggie are reunited to do battle with the Tall Man and his killer dwarves. Jody is revealed to be in cahoots with the nasty E.T.s. The Tall Man overpowers Michael, and the two disappear into the gate. Reggie, armed with a shotgun, follows them, vowing to get Michael back…

Credits roll. Your Canadian correspondent nearly blows a gasket.

Coscarelli admitted that he wrote much of Phantasm:Oblivion in response to fan suggestions offered on the official Phantasm website. It's clear they wanted fewer characters, less humor, more horror. In short, the first film all over again.

It's too bad I didn't know of the existence of this site, because I would've written requesting "some new material". Honestly, folks, this flick is the same old ball/dwarf/gun jazz we've seen for three movies in a row now. To his credit, Coscarelli has managed to milk a mere one million-dollar budget for everything such a paltry sum can buy. The overall film is effectively atmospheric and full of memorable visuals, especially the (I thought) Antonioni-influenced desert sequences in which Michael hallucinates the Tall Man's appearance out of heat waves, and in the rows of criss-crossing dimensional gates that disappear into the horizon line.

The real selling point with Oblivion is the rediscovered footage from the original that Coscarelli has incorporated into the sequel's narrative. 1979's alternate takes, multiple endings, and entirely new scenes augment the events of 1998. While there's little new story material in these sequences, the parallel timelines certainly make for intriguing viewing, as if 12 year old Michael will somehow come to the rescue of his older, '90s counterpart. A resourceful idea, sure, but one that amounts to absolutely nada.

Coscarelli is a whiz at keeping the viewer in his/her seat, but I suspect that by now he has absolutely no idea where this series is going. Following the weak Lord Of The Dead, it's clear he's just treading water again. Even "ambiguous" endings like those found in The Empire Strikes Back and The Quiet Earth resolved some of their respective film's issues. Coscarelli seems to think he can have it both ways, but anti-narrative surrealism mixed with gore and comic action can only coexist for so long. In the end, he just ends up alienating two camps.

No doubt that if he can raise the money - preferably for the Roger Avary penned megasequel - Coscarelli will revive the Tall Man again (he more or less admitted such a reality during the post screening Q & A).

So remember, fans. It's www.phantasm.com. Start writing those suggestions, and let's go for something new. I don't think I could tolerate a stunt like this again...

- Maxx Renn