| Phantasm IV: Oblivion | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Don Coscarelli |
| Produced by | A. Michael Baldwin |
| Written by | Don Coscarelli |
| Starring | A. Michael Baldwin Reggie Bannister Bill Thornbury Heidi Marnhout Bob Ivy Angus Scrimm |
| Music by | Reggie Bannister Steve Morell Fred Myrow Malcom Seagrave Christopher L. Stone |
| Cinematography | Chris Chomyn |
| Editing by | Scott J. Gill |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) |
| Release date(s) | 1998 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $650,000 |
Phantasm IV Oblivion is a 1998 horror film, a sequel to the Phantasm film series written and directed by Don Coscarelli, starring A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm.
The other films in this series are Phantasm, Phantasm II, and Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead.
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The film opens where its predecessor left off. Mike flees from Boulton mortuary in the hearse, while Reggie is trapped inside by The Tall Man's spheres. However, The Tall Man decides to let Reggie go for the moment.
Mike's spherical brother Jody persuades a reluctant Reggie to go looking for Mike. On the way, Reggie runs into a police control. He is attacked by the policeman, who turns out to be a mysterious psychopathic demon, but manages to escape after blowing up the police car and destroying the body. Later, he meets a woman called Jennifer, rescues from her overturned car and takes her to the next town. They stay the night at an abandoned motel and Reggie tells her the story of The Tall Man. Jennifer doesn't believe him and also rejects his advances. Having dreamed of Mike, Reggie wakes up and unbuttons Jennifer's nightshirt, discovering two spheres sticking in her breasts. As they fly out and attack him, he smashes one with a sledgehammer but is pinned to the wall by the other. In desperation he strikes his tuning fork and the sphere explodes. Jennifer grabs his leg but he smashes her with the hammer and leaves.
Mike, trying to uncover the mysteries of The Tall Man and to escape the transformation, drives through abandoned towns and remembers the last days before The Tall Man's arrival. The Tall Man appears in the back of the hearse and takes control of the car before he disappears into the coffin. Mike drives the hearse into Death Valley. Mike intends to force The Tall Man to a confrontation and writes his testament. He finds himself at a 19th century colonial-style house with an earlier model of the gate inside. Mike meets a man resembling The Tall Man, who however welcomes him cordially and introduces himself as Jebediah Morningside. Jebediah wants to speak with Mike, who, however, is frightened and again escapes through the gate.
Back in Death Valley, Mike realizes that he can move rocks by the power of his mind. Jody appears. Mike is distrustful and accuses his brother of having abandoned him. Jody defends his behavior and disappears. Mike works on his car, using parts to build a makeshift sphere. Hoping that he might stop Jebedaiah from becoming the evil Tall Man, he again goes through a gate, but finds himself in a deserted city and escapes The Tall Man only with Jody's help.
Meanwhile, Reggie arrives at Death Valley and fights off a group of zombie dwarves when Mike and Jody appear through a gate. Mike embraces Reggie and tells him not to trust Jody. Reggie passes Mike the tuning fork, as the two brothers pass through the gate, appearing in Jebediah's house. Invisible to the old man, they witness how he perfects his craft and approaches the inter-dimensional gate. Mike tries to stab him before he can pass through but misses him, as they are in another dimension. Jebedaiah vanishes and moments later is replaced by the evil Tall Man who emerges in his place, having taken his form and using his human appearance as a disguise.
Mike escapes through the gate, finding himself in a cemetery. He is attacked and overpowered by his brother and awakes on mortuary slab. Jody holds him as The Tall Man begins operating. A panicking Mike strikes the tuning fork, thus immobilizing his opponents. Mike then kills Jody with a sphere but The Tall Man revives and telekinetically takes the fork from Mike. Again, Mike escapes through the gate back to Death Valley, pursued by The Tall Man. Reggie tries to shoot The Tall Man but is overpowered. Mike summons the sphere he built. The Tall Man is impaled in the neck but he is unharmed and he pulls out the sphere, amused. At that moment, Mike activates the hearse's motor, which turns out to be the true weapon against the Tall Man (a strange inter-dimensional bomb). A distracted Tall Man is vanquished after the explosion consumes both him and the car. However, a new Tall Man immediately comes through the gate, revealing that the Tall Man is but one of many. He resumes the surgery started by the last Tall Man he removes the golden sphere from Mike's head and disappears again through the gate. As Mike is close to death, Reggie arms himself and enters the gate, determined to overcome The Tall Man. Mike sees a childhood memory, climbing into Reggie's ice cream truck and driving off into the night.
Canadian film maker Roger Avary, a self-confessed hardcore fan of the Phantasm series, wrote an epic screenplay called "Phantasm 1999 A.D." as a sequel to Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead. It was set in a post-apocalyptic near future, featuring Bruce Campbell as a co-star. As the project ran into financing difficulties, Don Coscarelli wrote and directed this fourth installment as a pre-cursor to the project, using numerous outtakes from the preceding films. Avary also appeared in the film as one of the civil war soldiers. Despite these efforts, the budget for the sequel, now retitled Phantasm's End, could not be secured.
Rumours about a sequel were reignited in June 2007 by footage contained in Don Coscarelli's Farewell to The Alamo Drafthouse, featuring Angus Scrimm and A. Michael Baldwin in their roles. However an interview with Reggie Bannister surfaced on Youtube, when asked about the possibility of a fifth film he stated there was no activity or development involving a fifth installment but that anything was possible in the future.[1]
The film was released on Video in 1998 and on DVD in 2000, both by MGM Home Entertainment. In 2008, Anchor Bay Entertainment released a special edition of the film. News reports said it would be the uncut version[2], however, the special edition contains only the theatrical version (as did the MGM release).
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