Phantasm III: Lord of the Living Dead

[CK]

1 being the worst, 5 being the best.

[Conan]

I am going to have to watch this one again before I vote.

[GL]

“Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead” isn’t that bad, but it’s got a few middling problems of it’s own.

**SPOILERS**

Escaping from the cemetery, Mike, (A. Michael Baldwin) manages to convince Reggie, (Reggie Bannister) that his dead brother Jody, (Bill Thornbury) has come back to warn him about The Tall Man, (Angus Scrimm) and his nefarious plans for them before being kidnaped by The Tall Man. Traveling to a deserted town to find out, Reggie meets young Tim, (Kevin Connors) and the two decide to team up for a while. While checking a possible deserted town, they find Rocky, (Gloria Lynne Henry) also on the same mission and reluctantly decides to join them. Guided by Jody’s spirit, they are able to reclaim Mike from The Tall Man’s grasp, luring the group into a final showdown for the fate of mankind.

The Good News: A rather decent addition to an underrated series, this here has some really good moments. One of the film’s best factors is that it does some much-needed exposition on the series. Finally giving the secret behind the Silver Spheres is a nice touch, and their revelation is quite spooky and really chilling. It also blends in with what had been giving so far and is nicely appreciated. The true story of The Tall Man is also given here, and is a really neat twist to the story. While not exactly clever, it does have an aura of being able to be convincing in the series, and that is the most important thing that can be done with it. With Reggie now at the forefront of the series, the comedy is now increased, and some classic one-liners are evident throughout. The physical stuff is subdued, leaving the mostly on-the-mark jokes to come out, and comes across nicely. There’s also no shortage of gore here, including the still-messy head-drilling-silver-sphere sequence that still unleashes a gallon of blood, as well as some exploding body parts, a neat sliced throat, an axe in the head, a decapitation and a whole slew of gunshots cutting bodies up, not including the un-fatal wounds inflicted that are spread throughout. There’s also no shortage of action in here, including the customary hearse chase that ends in a big crash and fireball, which is one of the greatest ones done, and a spectacular showdown in the mausoleum at the end. Taking place in an incredibly chilling Gothic mausoleum, with long, empty corridors, one-off rooms and plenty of equipment inside, this is a great showdown that pales slightly compared to the masterpiece one at the end of the second one but is still noteworthy on it’s own. This here is the film’s highlight sequence, and is no surprise to come at the end when everything that had been built up to it. Filled with inventive fight techniques, some really clever chases and a non-stop pace, this here is a really glorious ending that sends it out on an appropriate high-point. The Tall Man is at his most creepy here, finally being able to do something constructive to his evil personality and he even has a really creepy scene, being lit by a suddenly-changing light during a chase down a hallway that only shows his outline in the darkness. With a fun, workman-like pace and a couple of neat throwbacks to the other entries, this here is a pleasantly-entertaining entry.

The Bad News: Quite frankly, this film doesn’t have a whole lot of problems, but they are pretty big ones. This one here doesn’t make a lot of sense, despite answering several questions about the series. It’s nice that it did, but there is still way too much happening here that doesn’t seem to be explainable. The gateway sequence, which in the first one is shown sting the hands, now is able to lock it closed. There is still no explanation for what’s the actual plan of The Tall Man’s attack of where he came from, and these are perfect questions to answer this deep into the series. They prevent it from being a stand-alone film like the first two, which could be enjoyed despite not having seen the other, and this one needs the others to make sense. There’s also a couple of unnecessary sequences in here, most noticeably the orphanage scene, that served nothing to the series and don’t seem to have any reason to be there. These aside, this is a really good overall entry.

The Final Verdict: While not as clever or as scary as the first two, this is still a solid, enjoyable entry in a very underappreciated series. It’s problems mainly stem from it being unable to be a stand-alone entry like the others, and really needs to be seen in conjunction with the others to make the most sense, and is more-than-usually recommended for fans of the series.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity and a mild sex scene

[abraxas]

By no means as good as the first, but it had the original actor in it so its better then the second one.

[GL]

The second one is still the best one of the franchise, but there was so good stuff in here. I'll give it that.