This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

People are voting emotionally.

Just perfect...

Best movie of this year hands down!

Apparently, Phantoms is based on a book, but, seeing as I haven't read it, I really can't compare it to that. The popular consensus from those that have is that - as usual - the film doesn't compare to the book.It's about two sisters who come to a small town after their mother died, only to find that the whole town has also died, only in more hideous and disturbing circumstances. Luckily, the youngest Sheriff in America (aka Ben Affleck) is on hand to help them out and steer them through the danger. Add into the mix eccentric British academic, Peter O'Toole and you have a rag-tag bunch ready to combat evil. Yes, the American army does try to help, but it's fair to say that Ben and Peter are better at saving the world than any trained military force.Somehow I managed to watch Stephen King's (much maligned) 'Dreamcatcher' before I saw Phantoms and I found the two were pretty similar - both decent enough sci-fi/horror movies, but both also a bit flawed. Neither seems to know really which direction it's going and throws one new element into the mix after the next.If you regularly watch sci-fi/horror B-movies, then Phantoms is definitely a cut above those. It's just a pity that it wasn't a bit more focused, otherwise it might have been a classic.

I remember reading the book and thinking after the first hundred pages, "This is crap." The film fast forwards the first hundred pages in a matter of minutes...to a fault. They earlier scenes of horror seem random and senseless, as if no one has any idea overall of what to do but just shove old school practices into your face. Unfortunately, most people (those who haven't read the book) won't realize that all that effort was for the sake of the bored "Ancient Enemy" who is just playing its is prey. It's hunger is satiated. It's lust and desire satisfied. The only thing left is it's enormous ego. One thing that translates well from page to screen is hubris and the downfall it entails. Minor things will scrape against your skin (like a shot of sudden nightfall, followed by another shot in full daylight, or the fact that guns have infinite ammo and don't require reloading...or how a young Ben Affleck is a former FBI agent turned small town Sheriff at the ripe old age of 25) In the end, it holds up well more than 15 years later. I love the fact that the Ancient Enemy can assume the form of anything and everything it has consumed, as well as the thoughts and ideas from what it has devoured. There are so many other films that will waste your time, this isn't one of them........thought the last minute could have easily been cut out.

Reading the description of this film on net-Flix made out to be better then it actually was. The film has enormous potential, imagine all the things you could have done with a ghost town. But no, it turns into some science fiction BS that really lets you down. Throughout the whole film, I was constantly making my own version of what could have happened. It really fails at bringing any horror, and doesn't offer enough suspense. I would gladly take the concept of a town where the residents disappeared, and make it into a better film. I'm not saying it's bad, it just didn't work. Don't even get me started on the Stu monster making jokes.Ben Affleck was good, the two sisters were just fine. Liev Schreiber was creepy as all hell. Overall, I didn't really care for it. Give it a watch if you are interested.

If you have never read a Dean Koontz Horror Novel this Movie will likely not inspire such wantings. Scripted by the Book's Author this adaptation of his own work is full of it. Full of clichés, uninspired Acting, mediocre SFX, unfunny funny lines and references (Patsy Cline's I Fall to Pieces is heard while you see, you guessed it), well that's enough, but there's more.The Cast seems to be standing around a lot with blank stares waiting for someone, anyone, to say Action, or something. Speaking of Action, early on there is a Scene that telegraphs just how lame and misdirected this is. A "Thing" shows up and we have our three Leads, standing shoulder to shoulder pumping hundreds of bullets at a window. It looks like something out of completely different Movie, or Genre for that matter.So the warning comes early, and it is right on. Nothing that happens after-wards is remotely scary, interesting, or worth your time. This is not the worst Horror/Sci-Fi Movie ever made but it tries really hard to be a contender.