#michaelbaldwin

[vicsage-retroist]

Happy 40th Anniversary to Don Coscarelli's Phantasm!! Thank you #doncoscarelli #reggiebannister #michaelbaldwin #billthornbury and bless you #angusscrimm for 40 years of frights - it's been one big silver ball! https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvi7ns_nJsG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=dm4nvsfzugdq

[davidskeet]

Beelzebub's kitchen. Routine mischief. @strongarm61 #blindlemonpie #jefferson #poofballs #nightmare #mrdeath #michaelbaldwin #andrews #reg #red (at Hades)

[poetponyofmidgard]

I’d love to see #wesanderson remake #phantasm !! #angusscrimm #michaelbaldwin #reggiebannister #wesandersonstyle #thetallman @wesandersonfanclub @wesandersonplanet #31daysofhalloween #31nightsofhalloween #halloween #horror #1979 https://www.instagram.com/p/BohXmalgQLX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=4cwulde7hdke

[catdfraser]

How awesome is this?! #ChristianLeBlanc & #SeanCarrigan in #Toronto! My little heart was beyond thrilled! #MichaelBaldwin #BenStitchRayburn #Y&R #YoungAndTheRestless (at Kingsway Movie Theatre & Cafe)

[framedepth]

Phantasm and the Gift of Extreme Weirdness

One of the main reasons horror fans are so die-hard about the genre is that it a truly committed filmmaker can pour his imagination and creativity onto the screen unlike in any other genre. A lot of the beloved cult films of the 70′s and 80′s were made by eccentric people who just wanted to show off their weirdness on the big screen, and so many people thank them for it. According to the 1979 horror film Phantasm, Don Coscarelli was one of the weirdest human beings to walk the planet at the time of the movie’s making, and I could not be happier that he was.

Phantasm is the story of Mike (A. Michael Baldwin), a young man who is being taken care of by his older brother Jody (Bill Thornbury) after the tragic death of his parents. After the funeral of one of Jody’s old friends, Mike witnesses a very imposing Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) lift a coffin with a single hand, and he becomes somewhat obsessed with this man’s activities, much to Jody’s chagrin. Most of the plot then devolves into the two brothers and their ice cream man-friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister) going back and froth between their home and the funeral home in which the Tall Man resides, but the film keeps your interest in these events by consistently only getting stranger each time they change locations.

It’s very easy to see what Coscarelli’s weak points are as a director, as the script written by him is full of forgettable and embarrassing dialogue. The line deliveries by the actors does not help much either, especially the lines delivered by Bannister. Baldwin and Thornbury mostly do okay in their parts. Baldwin, being rather young, has an innate vulnerability to him that does make him sympathetic, but he always seems a bit too reserved for the events that transpire. Even more damaging to the movie is the weak editing, also done by Coscarelli, which makes a lot of basic mistakes with timing. But these things also add to the alluring weirdness of the movie. Everything about it is off in just the right way to make it fairly unsettling.

What works best in this movie are three things: Angus Scrimm as The Tall Man, the funeral home set, and the wackiness of Don Coscarelli’s brain. Every shot of Scrimm contains so much ethereal mystery, and the insane facial expressions he makes make him so much more than human. His voice was made for the threats he delivers, and every line he speaks feels like a treat for us. There’s no question he deserves a spot in the upper echelons of classic horror villains, right alongside Jason and Freddy. His domain, the funeral home, is a space that simultaneously begs and dares you to explore it. We never see a lobby or waiting room, it is simply an endless chain of hallways with no endings and no way to know what is just around the corner. Combined with the excellent score by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave (which is derivative of Halloween and Suspiria in the best way), it makes for some extremely impressive and creepy vibes whenever our characters enter this space. Coscarelli deserves so much credit for the imagination on display: freaky dwarfs relentlessly pursue our characters, disgusting pus-like blood, crimson red and desolate alien worlds, and best of all, floating silver orbs armed with drills and knives that become responsible for an incredible and unforgettable death scene. These elements come together like a fever dream to both confuse and delight the audience consistently throughout the second and third acts.

Mike’s obsession with The Tall Man and the mortuary clearly establish a theme of death, and a lot of the movie seems to be about how we as people are pulled towards and repulsed by death in terms of our interest in it. While The Tall Man is a scary figure that dominates the movie with his presence, their is also something very alluring about him. His size in this movie alone demands your attention, and during most of my watch I was just waiting for his next appearance. The ending of the film firmly establishes that there is no escaping or conquering death as Mike might have hoped, which makes this ending very harsh and bleak. Anyone who has ever lost close family or a close friend can relate to the young boy’s story, which makes the final shots all that more tragic. In a movie that reaches some truly baffling and goofy heights, there is some heft in what it is trying to say to us.

These days Phantasm is definitely a cult classic, but it deserves to be a bit more mainstream. There is zero denying that the movie is filled to the brim with wonder and creativity, which can be a film’s greatest commodity. If nothing else, Phantasm  is proof that allowing the weirdos of the world to do whatever they want in film can produce some awe-inspiring results.

[weekendwarriorartlife]

Finally a nice find at the local Wal-Mart.Been wanting to see Ravager for a minute(miss it the last time Wal-Mart had it😣).... #phantasm #phantasm2 #phantasm3 #lordofthedead #phantasm4 #oblivion #phantasm5 #ravager #doncoscarelli #angusscrimm #michaelbaldwin #reggiebannister #horror #horrormovies #horrorcollection #horrorclub

[horrororman]

Celebrating 40 years of Awesomeness!!!

Released March 28th, 1979.

#PHANTASM

#Phantasm40

#DonCoscarelli

#MichaelBaldwin

#AngusScrimm

#BillThornbury

#ReggieBannister #scifi #sciencefiction #horror #HorrorMovies #horrorgeek #horrorlovers #horrorfamily #horroraddict #HorrorMovie #horrorjunkies #horrorjunkie #horrorobsessed #scary #scarymovie #horrorfanatic #horrorfanatics

[pvdhorror]

You play a good game, boy, but the game is finished. Now, you die. It was cool meeting @amichaelbaldwin and hearing some stories about himself and the cast from Phantasm. . . . . . #horror #horroraddict #horrormovies #horrorhound #horrorcollector #horrorfilms #horrorfanatic #horrorjunkie #horrorfamily #horrorlover #horrorobsessed #horrorfan #horrorclub #horrorlife #pvdhorror #horrormovie #phantasm #shudder #guttergarbs #frightrags #scarecon #horrorconvention #scareacon #michaelbaldwin (at Providence, Rhode Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bynkj0_lHRR/?igshid=1fbe42o2kz39t

[bryanlenning]

Tribute #posterdesign for @don_coscarelli’s magnificent Phantasm!!!!! #youplayagoodgameboy @mondonews . . #phantasm #doncoscarelli #thetallman #angusscrimm #kathylester #reggiebannister #silversphere #horror #scifi #fantasy #movieposter #posters #art #artistsoninstagram #cinema #indie #soundtrack #fredmyrow #michaelbaldwin #graphicdesign #design #digitalart #minimalism #minimalist #scarystories #photoshop #illustration #billthornbury https://www.instagram.com/p/BxAcOb3h6DS/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=yygl6gzy8lzo

[gastonbertin]

#summerreading Conceptual Art Conceptual Forms #christianschlatter @galerie19002000 #christianschlatter #vitoacconci #vincenzoagnetti #artandlanguage #terryatkinson #johnbaldessari #michaelbaldwin #robertbarry #bernhillabecher #melbochner #alighieroeboetti #chrisburden #danielburen #victorburgin #hannedarboven #jandibbets #bracodimitrijevic #barryflanagan #terryfox #dangraham #hanshhaacke #douglashuebler #onkawara #josephkosuth #christinekozlov #davidlamelas #barryleva #leslevine #richardlong #robertmorris #taniamouraud #mauriziomannucci #brucenauman #dennisoppenheim #melramsden #allenruppersberg #johnstezaker #bernarvenet #lawrenceweiner #ianwilson

[themoviecave]

4K Remastered Screening followed by live Q&A Stream with director Don Coscarelli. STOKED! #nowwatching #phantasm #reggiebannister #michaelbaldwin #angusscrimm #doncoscarelli #atthemovies #cinema #alamodrafthouse #horror #movies #70s #70smovies (at Alamo Drafthouse Dallas / Fort Worth)

[psychoticrocknrollbitch]

Mirror on canvas. #transcendingreality #michaelbaldwin

[jimwhildreth]

#todayimet #tootstavern #Zydeco #michaelbaldwin (at Toot's Tavern)

[necrosuit]

Phantasm sandwich. #michaelbaldwin #phantasm #texasfrightmareweekend #horror (at Texas Frightmare Weekend)

[horrororman]

Released this day 1979. #Phantasm @DonCoscarelli #DonCoscarelli #MichaelBaldwin #AngusScrimm #ReggieBannister #BillThornbury #Cuda #Fantasy #scifi #Horror #HorrorMovies #ItWasLittleBrownAndLowToTheGround

[thradyfan4ever]