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i saw this back when i was a kid and enjoyed it. picked it up on dvd to see it again. as with many films, what was fine then leaves a bit to be desired now.
the plot: a kid, his older brother, and his uncle (?) get mixed up with a otherworldly creepy "tall man" who masquerades as the funeral director. his creepy minions help him out and the mystery of what and who they are unfolds as they discover what the "tall man" is actually doing with them.
the unusual sized minions, and the motives of the "tall man" are explained. and thankfully they don't go into much detail about how it could be possible. (one of the movies assets is not toiling over details but using them as matter of fact possibilities. trust me explaining "how" in this movie would just be aweful for sure)
the acting isn't so much bad as it is far from good. the stunts (yes there are some minor ones) are laughable. the dialog is 70's lame, "man". the sets are cheap but effective. the filming is mixed and occasionally dark.
the music is good, typical 70's horror soundtrack, that plays a little less like a score than it does added music. often it fills the void where nothing much is happening in the film.
so whats so great about the film? its unique, fairly creepy although not to much, plods along at an ok pace with no major errors, and is still fun to watch today.
the worst part about this movie is the "twist ending". i seem to recall a lot of movies from back then attempting twist endings that ended up just being confusing. phantasm's "twist ending" isn't so much a twist as it is an about face that leaves you wondering what the hell was supposed to have happened. not sure what happened there. bad editing? who knows. unlike the rest of the movie which avoided the problems with horror and sci-fi plots, the ending seems like a train wreck that perhaps was suppose to be a cliff hanger to entice you to watch the sequel (i'll have to watch part II again).
if you expect a lot you'll probably not like this. if you're used to modern horror movies, this will seem slow and not terribly gory. if you know old horror films and appreciate them in that context, this is deffinately a cult classic worth seeing.
