Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994)

July 2, 2018

"It's never over!" The Tall Man and his spheres are back to enslave the human race in Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead. This time writer/director Don Coscarelli had complete creative control over the production and we finally get back the original actors for Mike and Jody. Also, the film has a huge budget similar to the previous sequel so there is nothing creatively or budgetarily stopping Coscarelli from making the film he wants. The film continues immediately after the second movie with Reggie and Mike following the Tall Man to stop his evil plans for world enslavement. Along the way, Reggie and Mike get a few extra followers, Tim (a boy they meet whose family the Tall Man had killed), Rocky (a nunchuck wielding woman), and most importantly Jody (whose soul has been encased in one of the Tall Man's spheres). Together they battle zombies, spheres, and the Tall Man himself as he tries to destroy the world.

The previous movie was lacking two things: the more illusionary aspects of the first and the original actors of the first film. Luckily this film has the latter and if my memory serves me we will get a ton of the former in the next sequel. The original actor that plays Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) adds needed continuity to the film and give the film a more familiar feel the first film. Also, we're able to get Jody back who appears as a dream and talks through a sphere that his brain has been encased into. There is one beautiful moment where we get all four original cast members in one scene.

The movie, like its predecessor, is a road movie and leans heavily on the action movie genre. There are some amazing scenes. In one scene the Tall Man's hands are cut off and the severed hands proceed to fly around and attack the gang (remember the finger in the first movie? or Ash's hand in Evil Dead 2? or even the hand in Idle Hands?). They also flip a hearse again.

Phantasm III also builds on the orbs. In the last movie we had the golden orb that can shoot lasers, in this film we have spheres with protruding eyeballs (awesome) and we learn that the brains of the Tall Man's victims are what are placed into the orb. This is given to the viewer in a great scene where we see the Tall Man at the operating table shrinking down the body of one of the deceased and then inserting its brain into a sphere (this is cleverly how we get Jody back). After the Tall Man is killed at the end of the movie we learn there are other Tall Mans when another one comes out of the other dimension.

This is the first movie in the franchise to use CG effects. By now it has become clear my first stance against CG effects but this movie uses them sparingly and in good taste. Instead of being an orgy of computer generated effects used for novel purposes, the filmmakers use them sparingly and primarily for things that would be impossible to do practically (shrinking Jody into a sphere).

Now for the new characters: Tim and Rocky. Tim, the precocious kid seems to be a replacement or at least homage to Mike's character in the original film. However, unlike Mike, the kid is a bit obnoxious and lacks the emotional qualities of a child. At the start Tim kills a gangster with a razorbladed frisbee by throwing it at his throat and then goes on to shoot out zombies like he's Wild Bill Hickock. I don't understand what his purpose is of having a child in the film if they are going to behave like some cowboy adult (maybe the filmmakers felt the same because I don't think he makes it into the sequel). Rocky on the other hand is amazing! She is a tough talking woman who knows karate that could've jumped out of a 1970s blaxploitation film. She also serves at the love interest for Reggie (it ain't a Phantasm film is Reggie ain't shooting spheres and getting laid).

Great moments in Phantasm III: Reggie getting head from what he thinks is Rocky but turns out to be a zombie (oh yeah, this film adds zombies to the Tall Man's arsenal). Reggie trying to take Rocky from behind while trying to ignore Jody's ghost who is in the room trying to give him advice about the Tall Man. Rocky's friend getting a sphere to the head. Reggie getting duped by the hot blonde woman and her gangster boyfriend. Jody's first appearance as the sphere. Reggie is back with his four barreled shotgun! The additional Tall Man entering the screen and proclaiming "It's never over."

Some Phantasm fans complained that there was too much of a focus on action in this film and not enough of the weird cerebral elements that were in the first film. Be careful what you wish for, because up next is Phantasm IV: Oblivion.