I picked up a real "Blast from the past" at work today: a VHS cassette of the movie "Phantasm".

[Richard Steele]

I think it was made in 1979; I probably saw it sometime
between '85 and '92.

For those of you who weren't there, I should mention that
THAT period was the GOLDEN AGE of bad horror movies.
It was the age of "Direct-to-video", and every loon
with a camera and 20 grand had something on the shelf
of my local video store.

I saw them all, and got a bit numb to them.
I saw the Friday13th flicks on the big screen, and yawned through them.

But "Phantasm"...
I saw this film on my little tiny TV, through my old VCR that had
to be HIT in a specific place on the top every time you pushed a button
on the remote...

And this film gave me NIGHTMARES for 3 straight nights after I watched it.

I'm wondering if it will still seem as powerful to me now,
or if that was just some special moment that won't ever come again.

[bluesbassman]

1. I kinda had the same memory of the movie.

Picked up a DVD copy in a bargain bin somwhere and thought I'd found the holy grail. Talked it up all the way home to my son who is a big hooror film fan. We watched it together and both went "meh" when it was over.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a pretty creepy movie. Just not as creepy as it was 30 years ago.

[Richard Steele]

2. Yeah, I'm kinda thinking that's how I'm gonna feel when I see it again.

It'll probably be a "Meh" thing...
But it's a piece of my personal history that I picked up
in like-new condition for 79 cents, so it's all good.

Heck, I think I paid 2 bucks to RENT the thing overnight 20 years ago,
back when my rent was $250 a month and gasoline was 89 cents per gallon.

[flying rabbit]

3. I loved it.

Not sure how well it would hold up if I saw it today though.
:shrug:

[Jamastiene]

4. I don't think I'll ever NOT be creeped out by tall man's balls.

Dude played hardball that sucked their brains out and pureed them on the way out of their heads. That's one creepy mug you HOPE takes his balls and goes home. :scared:

[Aristus]

5. The one time I saw it, I was decidedly underwhelmed.

For years I'd been hearing about how scary this movie was, and what a genius Don Coscarelli was. When I finally watched it, I wondered what all the shouting was about. It looked very low budget, and didn't even have some of the tawdry charm low budget films can have. Even the one boob shot I can remember, which is what might have appealed to me instead of the horror stuff, was disappointing. Very third-rate boobage. I know this movie has a devoted cult following, but its attractions escape me...

[DS1]

6. I watched "Street Trash" over the weekend

Classic!

[Forkboy]

12. One of my favorites.

Hilarious movie.

[PassingFair]

7. Hahahaha...one of the great silly movies of all time!

[HopeHoops]

8. Yeah, that was the image that came to mind when I read the movie name - right there.

[PassingFair]

9. Honestly, I first thought about the silly robes with hoods that the ET's wore.

They scuttled around in such a SILLY way.

[hamsterjill]

10. Gave me nightmares, too

I remember seeing it and it scared the $$**** outta me!!! Creeped me out!

It had a sequel (or sequels), too, didn't it? Of course, I was too scared to see any of them!

[Richard Steele]

11. It had at least 1 sequel. Phantasm 2 was lame, boring crap. nm

[Forkboy]

13. 3 sequels now.

I haven't seen 3 and 4.

On edit- make that four sequels. There's a #5 too. :)

[Jamastiene]

17. There is a Phantasm II, III AND IV

http://phantasm.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=5&Itemid=28

[Richard Steele]

19. Having seen the utter LAMENESS that was Phantasm 2...

..the fact that someone made a III and an IV is very sad news to me.

I pity the fools.

[redqueen]

14. The best part for me...

was when the guy had the whatever it was wrapped up in a towel and was so dramatically fighting with it as he went downstairs.

Classic.

[Greyskye]

18. ...and stuffed it into the garbage disposal.

:evilgrin:

[Forkboy]

15. Phantasm came out in '79 and played in theaters.

I remember begging my father to take me to see it. He did and I ended up covering my face for most of the movie, something he still gives me a hard time for. :)

[Greyskye]

16. "Boy!"

What a great campy horror movie! I loved the garbage disposal scene! :rofl:

The sequels were kind of fun as well, especially the last ones. It was fun seeing the same characters/actors many years later. Even if some of them still can't really act that well.

I give an 'A' grade for this cheesy C-Grade horror series. :thumbsup: