1998 | Dir. Don Coscarelli | 90 Minutes
"Where do you think you're going, boy? Death is no escape from me."
Mike travels alone to Death Valley seeking answers to the mysteries behind his supernatural connection to the Tall Man and Jody's unexplained reappearance. Stepping through a dimensional fork in the desert, Mike discovers the origin of his nemesis dates back to the American Civil War. Meanwhile, Reggie follows close behind, doing his best to protect Mike from forces unknown.
A frustrating experience even for Phantasm series fans, Phantasm IV: Oblivion deepens the central mysteries of the series without providing definitive answers or conclusive resolutions. With considerably less action and humor than previous entries in the series, this sequel hinges on the audience's emotional connection to Mike's journey as a character with mixed results. Mike's trips to the past through the dimensional forks are revelatory but his conflict with Jody falls disappointingly flat and unfortunately, Reggie's adventures are sidelined for most of the film.
The film cleverly repurposes unused footage shot for the original Phantasm to serve as fractured memories and alternate scenarios playing out in Mike's mind. When these flashback sequences work, they are gratifying for fans of the series, offering a glimpse into bits of Mike, Reggie, and Jody's lives that were previously unseen. However, the sequences that don't add much to the plot only serve to pad out the movie's running time.
The practical makeup effects and stunt work is top-notch, though the number of special effects gags is considerably lower than in previous Phantasm movies. The makeshift sphere Mike builds out of car parts to serve as a diversion during his final confrontation with the Tall Man and an intense sequence early in the film featuring a demonic lawman played by stunt coordinator and frequent Don Coscarelli collaborator Bob Ivy are real highlights of the film.
Principal cast members A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, and Bill Thornbury return as Mike, Reggie, and Jody. Baldwin does most of the dramatic heavy lifting acting against Angus Scrimm and Thornbury, doing considerably well considering the ambiguous nature of the script. Reduced screen time aside, Bannister is once again the heart of the movie and of the Phantasm series as a whole. Angus Scrimm is allowed to demonstrate more range than in previous Phantasm films, this time playing both the Tall Man and his affable nineteenth century counterpart Jebediah Morningside. The film also features Heidi Marnhout in a brief role as a pretty blonde woman that entices Reggie, naturally revealed to be one of the Tall Man's monsters in disguise with silver spheres for breasts.
Phantasm IV: Oblivion is unarguably the weakest entry in the series but it's not without its charms. The film is emotionally earnest, a showcase of resourceful and imaginative filmmaking, and true to the series' indie roots. The worst thing about the picture is its refusal to address pre-existing mysteries introduced in previous Phantasm movies in a satisfying way.
FRAGMENTS
- Produced on a shoestring budget, and released straight-to-video, the majority of the film's new footage was shot on location in Death Valley
- The film's Special Effects Makeup Coordinator, Gigi Porter, married series star Reggie Bannister in 2001
- Jennifer Bross, A. Michael Baldwin's wife, turned down the role of Jennifer but provides the voice of the cackling fortuneteller
- Screenwriter Roger Avary, who wrote an unproduced highly ambitious screenplay for a climatic fourth Phantasm film, makes a cameo appearance as a Civil War soldier
- Director Don Coscarelli's son, Andy, also appears as a Civil War soldier
- The ending theme song "Have You Seen It?" was written and performed by Reggie Bannister featuring the Phantasm motif composed by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave
- Identical to Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, at the tail end of the film's closing credits reads these legal disclaimers:
"The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living, dead, or undead, is purely coincidental. This motion picture is protected under the laws of the United States and other countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution, or exhibition may result in civil liability, criminal prosecution and the wrath of the Tall Man."
