Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead (Well Go USA) Blu-ray Review

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead (Well Go USA) Blu-ray Review



    Released by: Well Go USA
    Released on: September 18th, 2018.
    Director: Don Coscarelli
    Cast: Reggie Bannister, A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury
    Year: 1994
    Purchase From Amazon

    Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead - Movie Review:

    The third film in Don Coscarelli's Phantasm series continues where the second one left off. Reggie and Mike (Michael Baldwin reprising the role once more) are still living on the road, cruising down one long and lonely highway after the other in Reggie's Cuda in search of the Tall Man and in hopes of putting a stop to him once and for all.

    Our heroes are able to follow his trail pretty easily, as he leaves rather large calling cards in his wake, namely complete and utter destruction. The towns he has made his way through are nothing more than empty husks, ghost towns even, and not a single living soul is left save for one small boy living alone in the house where he and his parents once lived before the Tall Man took them from him. Much like Mike in the first film, this tough little guy knows how to fend for himself and he too wants to make the Tall Man pay for what he did. Throw a sassy black lady named Rocky (Gloria Lynne Henry who pops up briefly in The Devil's Advocate) with a penchant for beating her opponents into submission with her nunchaku and you've got yourself quite a team.

    This time out, Coscarelli concentrates as much on the horror as he does on the action and the results are a stronger storyline that continues more along the lines of the tradition setup in the first movie than in the second. There's still plenty of action in here and more than a few characters who show up to serve as nothing more than cannon fodder for the Tall Man and his spheres. The last half of the film and the abundance of supernatural elements bring this one to a much more surreal playing field than the second movie and it falls somewhere in between the first and the second film in terms of quality and in terms of scares.

    Plenty of gore and make up effects keep things interesting and a few atmospheric touches, such as the kid in the clown mask roaming the secret passage ways of his empty home guarding it from intruders, make this an interesting watch. Bannister is in fine form here, bringing a bit more personality to his character and giving us a bit more character development to chew on as the movie plays out. Another 'Reggie Bannister Love Scene' (a film phenomena equaled only by the patented 'Don The Dragon' Wilson Love Scene') adds some humor which he handles well but he's also quite at home in the action scenes here. Bringing Michael Baldwin back to support him was a wise casting choice - he's the real Mike in the Phantasm films and having him back in the role he made only helps the film in the end.

    Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead - Blu-ray Review:

    Phantasm III arrives on Blu-ray on a 25GB disc with the feature taking up over 20GBs of that space. The AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer is framed at 1.78.1 widescreen and it looks good. Colors are really nicely reproduced here, they look really strong and black levels are quite good here as well. Flesh tones look nice, there's solid detail here, good depth and texture as well. The image is also very clean, there's really no print damage here to note at all. The image is also free of compression issues or any noticeable edge enhancement.

    Audio options are presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with removable subtitles provided in English only. The 5.1 mix is a good one, with some nice surround action evident during the action set pieces in the picture. Dialogue stays clean and clear and easy to follow and there are no issues with any hiss or distortion. It's a shame that the stereo mix wasn't given a lossless option but it's here for those who want it in DVD quality.

    Extras start off with a commentary track with Coscarelli and editor Norman Buckley. It's a bit more technical than the other tracks on the set but still quite interesting. Coscarelli has more to say than his counterpart, as he talks about the storyline, reuniting with the key cast members and what they tried to do differently this time around but Buckley chimes in when he needs to and shares some insight into his process.

    The third film also gets a nine-minute Behind The Scenes featurette that shows off Coscarelli and company at work on the picture. We get a look at what it was like on set here. It's tape sourced and not in the best of shape but it's interesting to see.

    Rounding out the extras is a trailer for the feature, a single eleven-second deleted scene, and bonus trailers for Gonjiam Haunted Asylum, The Endless and Afraid. Menus and chapter selection are also included.

    Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead - The Final Word:

    Not on par with the first classic picture, Phantasm III is still a pretty worth sequel - just as good as the second film in many ways, with Coscarelli balancing horror and action nicely. Bannister and Scrimm are as fun here as they always are in the roles and bringing Michael Baldwin was a wise choice. The Blu-ray release from Well Go USA looks and sounds quite good and it's got some decent extra features on it as well. If you don't already have the boxed set release, this is a solid way to add this one to your collection.

    Click on the images below for full sized Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead Blu-ray screen caps!





























      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X