Mike and Reggie continue to hunt the mysterious Tall Man.
With this third entry we had to wait a long time again, not a decade but still a while with the film being released 5 years later.
The story continues where we left off and we see that Tall Man is slowly winning the war, but that doesn’t stop our heroes Reggie and Mike from continuing to fight him. Reggie is a character you grow to love more and more with each film, I personally feel he gets overlooked a-lot but with Angus Scrimm’s amazing performance as Tall Man it’s understandable as to why.
After the low box-office results of “Phantasm II”, Universal Studios chose not to personally pursue a sequel but did offer to distribute it should Don Coscarelli and associates make it themselves. With no casting restrictions this time, Coscarelli offered the role of Mike to his original performer, A. Michael Baldwin, who returned to the role after almost 16 years.
Talking of actors, the cast is very solid and no-one puts in a bad performance, one thing that amazes me everytime I watch this is that in the dream sequence with Reggie, Jody, Mike and Tall Man is the first time in which the four main actors in the series are all reunited again on-screen after 15 years. To see the scene you wouldn’t think it had been that long as they all seem to slip straight back into their roles.
Once again Don Coscarelli does an amazing job in the Directors chair, which is funny when you read that he admitted during filming that he had run out of ideas after finishing the script and had no clue which direction would the story take in case there was a fourth Phantasm movie. Luckily that doesn’t show up on screen, true it’s the weaker entry of the series but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad film.
Despite it’s flaws “Phantasm III” still makes for great viewing, the story flows on brilliantly and you have to remember that with this franchise it’s all about the big picture, not just one entry.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
Production started in late 1992 and wrapped in mid 1993. The distribution of the project was then put on hold by Universal for almost a year. After a very limited theatrical release in 1994, the movie went straight to video in 1995.
Apart from reprising his role as The Tall Man, Angus Scrimm also plays the part of the doctor who opens Mike’s eye to check his pupil with a mini-torch in the opening sequence. The nurse next to him is played by Kathy Lester, who portrayed the “Lady in Lavender” in Phantasm.
A. Michael Baldwin’s wife, Jennifer Bross, has a cameo appearance near the beginning as the nurse behind a desk who greets Reggie while listening to a Walkman.
The flying hearse was performed by stuntman Bob Ivy. Using a seven foot tall “pipe ramp,” he managed to get the massive hearse airborne and it traveled over one hundred and sixty feet through the air. Ivy later played the “Demon Trooper” in Phantasm IV: Oblivion and the title role in Bubba Ho-Tep.
Some sets were constructed at a warehouse that was previously an egg hatchery.
The interiors were shot at a real mausoleum called “Angeles Abby Mausoleum” and situated in Compton, California.
Most of the shooting took place at night, forcing the cast and crew to spend several weeks of night in spooky locations such as a real mausoleum and a cemetery.
This marked the first usage in the series of any digital effects. Though quite limited, these tools enabled the director to compress actor Bill Thornbury into a sphere and also to create an “event horizon” for the plane of the space gate.
An alternate ending was filmed but not used: Reggie and Tim travel up to the wild regions of Alaska. Reggie digs a small hole in the ice and Tim places a little case (containing The Tall Man’s gold sphere) inside. Subsequently, Reggie puts a metal plaque over the hole and seals it up. The plaque reads “Here Lies The Tall Man – R.I.P.”. Reggie then says “Now, all we have to worry about is global warming” and they walk off.
In this sequel, for the first and only time in the series, the main characters refer to the dwarves as “Lurkers”, the gas masked grave diggers as “Gravers” and the spheres as “Sentinels”.
Reggie Bannister was the only cast member to be present on set every single day of principal photography, either acting or helping behind the camera.
The character of “Rocky”, played by Gloria Lynne Henry, stands out as the only main female character in the Phantasm movie series not to die, nor to be a Tall Man’s minion either.
To reduce costs, the movie score was basically a reuse of the material composed by Fred Myrow and Christopher L. Stone for the previous sequel Phantasm II. Apart from some minor changes and additions made to the existent tracks, only a few minutes of original music were written.
The inclusion of Tim’s character in the story, portrayed by Kevin Connors, was intended as a homage to young Mike in Phantasm.
Don Coscarelli has revealed that the character of Rocky was inspired by some funny Karate women featured in Joe R. Lansdale’s stories, an author he started reading by the time he was writing the script for this sequel.
The opening sequence in the woods was shot on a freezing cold day.
A bulk of the silver sphere effects were done in camera.
Bob Ivy was given his own custom made silver sphere for doing the dangerous hearse stunt.
Two of Don Coscarelli’s children make cameo appearances in the scene at the orphanage.
Shot in forty-five days.
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