Phantoms

Phantoms (1998)

A pair of sisters are returning to a small Colorado town called Snowfield. When they get there the town is deserted with no one in site. Soon though they start to find bodies. Not long after that they run into a trio of officers from the local sheriff’s office that are investigating a call from the town. Strange things continue to happen and it almost seems as if there is a malevolent force that is messing with them. One of their messages does get out of town and the military show up ready to go after the thing. With them is a journalist named Flyte, who has some strange connection to what is happening in the town. Do they figure out what is going on? Do any of them actually make it out of town? Watch and find out.

And I do think that Phantoms is worth checking out. This is one of those movies that I didn’t like when I first saw it in the theater. But 13 years later I suppose I might actually “get” what they were trying to do. The movie has a very slow pace to it and for much of the duration it doesn’t make sense what is going on. Why are some of the bodies there and others have disappeared? Also what is up with all the freaky creatures like the giant bug? If you stick with the movie then at the end everything makes sense. Not only does it make sense but also I found myself digging the twist on a traditional creature feature. Though I still thought it was a bit slow.

Next up let’s talk about the special effects. You don’t have a traditional creature in Phantoms, but a creature that can be anything it has “eaten” or anything that what it has “eaten” has dreamed of. They really don’t go as crazy with this as they could have, which is a bummer. But we do get a cool giant bug, a creepy dog, and some odd looking human drones. There are also some fun kills with people getting impaled thru the noggin as well as some gnarly looking bodies lying about. Hell they had me at severed heads in the bakery’s oven! My only real complaint is that when we finally get to the creature at the end it is very anticlimactic. Basically it is a giant black swirling cloud and isn’t very scary compared to what we have seen already.

Phantoms is an excellent example of why I always try and revisit movies that I remember not liking. Sometimes I change my mind about movies and learn to appreciate something that I didn’t like. Now I’m not going to say that Phantoms is a great movie, because it isn’t. But I did enjoy it this time and will not be waiting another 13 years before watching it again. If you haven’t seen this one then I recommend that you check it out.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer