The long awaited release of Phantasm on Blu Ray is finally here. Sometimes it is hard to believe the JJ Abrams, known for making Science Fiction and action movies, favorite movie is Phantasm. He had a team working on remastering the film for some time now. As horror fans, who were delivered a Scream Factory release of Phantasm II back in March of 2013, we have been waiting patiently. Was it worth the wait?
Product Details
- Actors: Angus Scrimm, A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister
- Directors: Don Coscarelli
- Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC, THX, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English
- Number of discs: 2
- Rated: R
Restricted
- Studio: Well Go USA
- DVD Release Date: December 6, 2016
- Run Time: 89 minutes
EXTRAS
Audio Commentary with Director & Writer Don Coscarelli, Michael Baldwin (Mike), Angus Scrimm (The Tall Man), Bill Thornbury (Joan)
Graveyard Carz
Interviews from 1979 with Don Coscarelli and Angus Scrimm
Deleted Scenes
Original Trailer and Remastered Trailer
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
MPAA Rating: R – For Nudity, Violence, and Intense Scenes
Review:
I will make this short and sweet. I asked if this remastered edition is worth the wait? I say, kind of, the picture quality looks pretty great, the DVD looks really rough, grainy and fuzzy at times. The scenes in the dark were harder to see. Now, everything is sharper and the dark is not as hard to see. Phantasm needed an update badly, it was hard to watch. There are still some rough spots in the movie, but overall it is an upgrade from the original DVD release, so I am pleased.
The sound quality is much better, it does not have the feel of watching an Italian film that has been dubbed, not that it is a bad thing, I love Italian horror dubbed in English. The copies I have seen make it look, at times seems like it was poorly dubbed. This edition is way better. The score seems to be a lot better as well, very sharp and pleasing.
My one big disappointment, the special features are pretty lackluster. Not much to it, I wish there would have been some kind of new documentary or even some kind of tribute to Angus Scrimm. There are now 5 movies in the Phantasm franchise, it seems fitting there be a documentary about the making of the movies, updated anyway.
Overall, this is a nice piece to have in any horror fans collections, it is a 100% for sure purchase. The cover art is great and if you get a copy early enough, you can get the slip cover, which adds to the art work. I am not a huge fan of Phantasm, but it is a film that belongs in every horror collector’s collection.
Best places to buy it, BestBuy.com and Amazon.com.
