Memorable, crazy movie

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A Major Disappointment

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

PHANTOM TOWN is a straight-to-video kid's horror movie, shot by Charles Band's Full Moon Pictures studio in Romania. The story is set in the Wild West, where some kids hunting for their missing parents end up in the titular location, full of creepy old cowboys possessed by some kind of green alien goo. What's impressive about this film isn't the slightly nonsensical story or the cheesy scripting, but the film's relatively good staging on what might have been a tiny budget. The sets are good enough to bring a little atmosphere to the proceedings, and the larger-than-life villains are quite memorable.

Juvenile tale of teen Mike (John Patrick White), his genius younger brother Arnie (Taylor Locke, son of the producer, and worse than most kid actors) and little sister Cindy (Lauren Summers), who receive a weird phone call from their parents one night. Mom and dad (Belinda J. Montgomery and Jim Metzler) never come home so the kids track them down to a ghost town in some kind of time freeze (it's 1882 there). The town is full of alien cowboys that spit green goo, people wrapped in cocoons underground in catacombs and strange symbols painted on walls. The ghost of an old Indian shows up to help. The western town set is good and a handful of surprising effects (a mutant sheriff, a giant eye monster, an evil book that grows legs and runs) keep this watchable for younger horror fans, who are the target audience anyway. It was filmed in the U.S. and Romania from the same production company that brought us TEENAGE SPACE VAMPIRES.

This is one of those movies I rented because it sounded good by the description on the tape case, but after I watched it....well I just don't know. I try not to bash a movie for what it is not, so here is the problem. If it was trying to cash in on the Friday the 13th, or the Nightmare on Elm Street series, I hate it. But, if the idea behind it was to give kids under thirteen a scary movie, then it was pretty good. The plot was interesting, and the special effects were a little cheesy, so little kids won't be grossed out. Something else too, I do like the idea of the kids rescuing the parents for a change. Love it, or hate, one could say it at least little kids might enjoy it, but if you as an adult want so see a good shocker, don't get this one.

When I watched this movie it was an afternoon after I got home from work. I love horror movies and have seen some really cheesy ones, but this takes the cake. The plot presented to the viewer in the beginning of the movie seems a little intriguing, but as the movie progresses the script makes a wrong turn with horrible cliches and bad presentation, which in turn makes the movie completely dull and boring. I don't mean to keep criticizing the script and plot, because believe me that is not the worst part. I have to say as a whole the acting was not terrible for beginning actors, and I was impressed with Taylor Locke, this being one of his first movies. The worst part of the movie was the special effects. They reeked of low budget, and really ruined the viewers entertainment, even if he had been remotely interested in the plot. I do recommend you watch this movie to understand the power of a bad script and plot. Only then can you really appreciate good writers and directors.