The people who watch this film are the hard core fans who were entranced by the disorientating chilling imaginative world of the First Phantasm Movie. Most likely viewed multiple times at late night triple features in actual cinemas, like me. So when the franchise lays this confusing mess in your lap it is with sadness we view the results rather than dismissively as consumers of media. This was the last chance Angus Scrimm got to play his iconic Tall Man roll, and he totally delivered on his lines yet again, creepy, with a plan we can't understand, everything we could ever want from him. But how those nuggets fitted into an overlaying story, well, really they don't. There was nothing there for them to slot into, for them to make sense in. Granted, part of the original movies charm was how sense was tossed out the window; but everything in the original movie fitted within the universe of Phantasm; everything had a point, and a result to that point.

In this 5th installment most things that happened went nowhere; were smoke and mirrors; a collection of disconnected setups; some with style; many executed with cringe-worthy cheesiness; naff effects, and an edge of unintended sadness, as they chipped away at the legacy of the original.

What was it all about? I don't really know and it gives the feeling that no one, particularly the director did. It didn't make any sense, and not in a good way, just looping round some vague concept of "is Reggie dreaming, or is it real"?, but it's done so poorly the end result is a wasted opportunity to do something solid with an all-original-cast back together to pay tribute to a legendary movie franchise.

Reggie was OK as a disposable side man, but it was the 2 brothers that were the interest factor in the original. To be honest, it was kind of boring,....

.... of note, the music was a reasonably decent reworking of the original catchy score orchestrated excellently, although the original did use non classic orchestra sounds and rock instruments well, so it deviated from that innovation. The only jarring thorn in an otherwise stellar soundtrack was the cringe-worthy Ravenger rap over the score as the credits rolled. Utterly awful.

Either the director has no understanding of what was good about the original , or Coscarelli totally 'George Lucas'd' his own series, and also didn't understand what he got right in the original.

Farewell Phantasm. I wish you could have had a better send off than this. Thanks for the original though. A true iconic milestone in disorientating creepy cinema.

Reggie (Reggie Bannister) is wandering through the desert seeking out his friend Mike and the evil Tall Man (Angus Scrimm). Along his journey, he is hunted down by the dangerous spheres and stumbles upon the gorgeous Dawn.

I have to talk about the actors. Reggie and Angus were fine, of course, as they know exactly who their characters are. Dawn Cody is the worst part, with awful acting as Dawn (though she seems to be better as Jane, strangely enough). Daniel Roebuck is a nice addition, even if he seems out of place.

Joe Leydon and Marten Carlson both criticized the film's narrative cohesiveness. Leydon speculated that the film's troubled production may have cause this, and Carlson more directly blamed the film's origin as a series of shorts. This is a legitimate concern. The film is quite a mess, even in a series that has some bizarre continuity. Anyone going in to this without knowledge of the series will be completely confused. (But, of course, it seems obvious not to watch "part five" without seeing earlier chapters.)

A very, very long time has passed since the first Phantasm film...and even since the last movie in the franchise. Now Reggie is 71 and The Tall Man is almost 90!! I am surprised that at this advanced age they'd come back for yet another film together. And, despite Angus Scrimm dying around the time this movie debuted, I STILL wouldn't be surprised to see another installment one day...perhaps when Reggie is 90!!

When the film begins, Reggie is wandering around the Western part of the US--where is is mostly desert and scrub. How long he's been doing this is anyone's guess. What follows is a very, very confusing plot...one involving Mike in a few scenes, The Tall Man, a woman named Dawn who dies and then didn't die, possible dementia on Reg's part, an invasion by aliens, a super-virus and a lot of other things...all of which feel less like a plot and more like a lot of plot ideas tossed together haphazardly. Little of it made much sense and the film just bounced all over the place in time as well as plot. After a while, I just gave up trying to keep up with it. As far as the ending goes, I have no idea WHAT the heck even happened!!

So is it any good? Not particularly. As I said, it's a bit of a mess plot-wise and all you have left are the usual killings, blood and gore. For some, that might just be enough...for me, it wasn't. The film should have stuck with a single, coherent plot. Instead, it looks like they tried filming a lot of different scripts and then tried to piece them together in post-production. The notion of all this being explained by Reg's dementia just seemed awfully contrived and silly.

I now have seen all five films. I'd give the First and Third one an 8--very creative and well done. The Second (5),Fourth (3)and Fifth was all disappointments...with the Fifth being the worst and least necessary. I think a score of 2 is clearly warranted, though I even considered giving it a 1...it was often that bad. The only reason I didn't was that Rocky (Gloria Lynne Henry) made a cameo in this one....and she was one of the reasons I loved "Phantasm III"! It's fair to say this was the last...and the least of the series.

By the way, in addition to Reg often being the most impossibly good shot ever in the history of cinema in this film, he never once seemed to have to reload!! Truly amazing seeing him use his pistol to knock out those spheres with incredible ease and never running out of bullets!!