Strictly average movie

A Disappointing Continuation

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Looking at some of the reviews of the film on IMDb it's obvious this film is like Marmite you either like it out loath it, there's no middle ground. I'm so glad to say I'm in the "like it" bleachers. For me, when I watch a Phantasm movie I get a silly smile on my face and feel instantly at home, this instalment was no exception - A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL INVOLVED - your hard work is appreciated.The thing with Phantasm way back in 1979 it was exactly the same way and a lot of people just didn't "Get It". This is the majorly brilliant thing about the film and the series... you're not meant to get it... you're meant to reach out and just about grasp it... only for it to change and slip away from your grasp at the last second.I noticed a few reviews were complaining that there was no real resolve... this is one of those stories where there will never be a resolution. As the Tall Man says in the film, there are hundreds of thousands of him in hundreds of thousands of different dimensions. This means that there's also hundreds of thousands of Reggie, Mike and Jody. This is alluded to in the Dawn/Jane character and when Mike visits Reggie in the hospital and tries to describe the theory behind dimension hopping. So Reggie's dreams aren't really dreams at all. Then when you enter the Chaos Theory into the mix then every dimension should have a different outcome and conclusion to another. To get this film to a conclusion would mean killing all the Tall Men, which is an impossibility and because of the limitations our heroes have it would've been a slap in the face if they had reached a conclusion. However, the duel ending tells the viewer that no matter what happens and what you may face you have to fight - the future is in your hands.Though Don Coscarelli has handed the Director's chair over to David Hartman there is an air of the original film throughout this one. Hartman is also quite brilliant when it comes to segues as he effortlessly and easily slides from one reality to another. The major drawback and flaw to the movie are that it's filmed on digital media - I hate digital film as it can sometimes feel soulless and there are sections in this movie that have that feel and it is a digital rendition issue rather than directorial one; since it's visual you can literally see it.Yes, the special effects aren't on par with bigger budget films and I do wish Hartman had used wet-effects for the body and head explosions as they will always look more realistic, especially with the blood splatter and misting, than CGI.However, these are only small issues as they don't really disturb the viewer's enjoyment (if you're in that group) too much.If you've watched the series then you may enjoy this... or you may not. Though if you've not seen any of the series then fo yourself a favour and get the original movie and if you enjoy that then continue through the series.

I've been a die hard Phantasm phan for almost 30 yrs ..And,I've waited for this movie to come out for almost 20 yrs .. I have never been SO damn disappointed in a movie and it's creator in my life !!..The movie ended the way it should of began !!!..It didn't have the dynamics like any of the previous sequels​(including Phantasm : Oblivion).. Nothing to scare you , excite you or make you even give a sh*t about the story anymore .. I think,NO pretty sure,that the series died when Scrimm died !!Now , Coscarelli has not only sold-out the phans ...But,now he's selling the rights to the highest bidder from any Hollowood studio !..BTW ,Where did they find that sh*tty rapper to do that Disney-style pop-rap song during the end credits ??

A very, very long time has passed since the first Phantasm film...and even since the last movie in the franchise. Now Reggie is 71 and The Tall Man is almost 90!! I am surprised that at this advanced age they'd come back for yet another film together. And, despite Angus Scrimm dying around the time this movie debuted, I STILL wouldn't be surprised to see another installment one day...perhaps when Reggie is 90!!When the film begins, Reggie is wandering around the Western part of the US--where is is mostly desert and scrub. How long he's been doing this is anyone's guess. What follows is a very, very confusing plot...one involving Mike in a few scenes, The Tall Man, a woman named Dawn who dies and then didn't die, possible dementia on Reg's part, an invasion by aliens, a super-virus and a lot of other things...all of which feel less like a plot and more like a lot of plot ideas tossed together haphazardly. Little of it made much sense and the film just bounced all over the place in time as well as plot. After a while, I just gave up trying to keep up with it. As far as the ending goes, I have no idea WHAT the heck even happened!!So is it any good? Not particularly. As I said, it's a bit of a mess plot-wise and all you have left are the usual killings, blood and gore. For some, that might just be enough...for me, it wasn't. The film should have stuck with a single, coherent plot. Instead, it looks like they tried filming a lot of different scripts and then tried to piece them together in post-production. The notion of all this being explained by Reg's dementia just seemed awfully contrived and silly. I now have seen all five films. I'd give the First and Third one an 8--very creative and well done. The Second (5), Fourth (3)and Fifth was all disappointments...with the Fifth being the worst and least necessary. I think a score of 2 is clearly warranted, though I even considered giving it a 1...it was often that bad. The only reason I didn't was that Rocky (Gloria Lynne Henry) made a cameo in this one....and she was one of the reasons I loved "Phantasm III"! It's fair to say this was the last...and the least of the series.By the way, in addition to Reg often being the most impossibly good shot ever in the history of cinema in this film, he never once seemed to have to reload!! Truly amazing seeing him use his pistol to knock out those spheres with incredible ease and never running out of bullets!!

Essentially a glorified fan film, Phantasm: Ravager brings all key cast members together with underwhelming results. Don Coscarelli's assured touch is sorely missed here, with veteran actors badly in need of direction. Michael Baldwin and Bill Thornbury in particular appear lost and unmotivated. Reggie Bannister gives an enthusiastic performance and still has a lot of charisma, but that's not enough when pitted against woefully poor dialogue and amateurish mise-en-scène. Angus Scrimm as the Tall Man talks way too much (he even unashamedly bargains with Reggie at one point) and fails to project much menace. Kathy Lester's cameo as Lady in Lavender serves no purpose. One wishes Gloria Lynn Henry had stepped in earlier on in the film. Dawn Cody, Daniel Roebuck and Daniel Schweiger barely register in their roles. Only Steven Jutras (Chunk) makes an impression, but his thinly-written character, essentially a mean parody of an 80's action hero, is given awful dialogue and remains unlikable. The Phantasm saga was never known for its plot coherence, relying on atmosphere, dream logic and assaulting the viewer with stylish visuals instead. Ravager has neither the visual splendor nor the suggestive, subliminal creepiness of the previous films. The story is a mere series of vignettes, with the befuddled Reggie zipping from one less-than-photogenic location to another. With its extremely erratic framing and frenetic editing Ravager doesn't fit stylistically with the previous films at all. The sound design is threadbare and new rendition of the classic Fred Myrow/Malcolm Seagrave theme is embarrassingly bad. The machismo, muscle car worship and bad language have taken place of eerie poetic minimalism that made the 1979 film a genre classic. Embarrassingly short on meaning, chock full of bad CGI (the lethal flying spheres have never looked so laughable), mismatched stock footage, shaky camera work and choppily-edited action scenes, Ravager is a chore to sit through. There's no journey for the original characters and the new characters are too sketchy to make them interesting. Phantasm:Ravager is bound to disappoint most Phans. It's unfortunate that Don Coscarelli has authorized this atrocity to be made and released. The low-key Phantasm:Oblivion was a more fitting final installment of the much-loved Phantasm saga.