Best Phantasm Movie (And Rank Them)

[Shadow Master]

With the recent release of Scream Factory's new Phantasm II Blu-ray, I wonder how many Phantasm fans are around here and what's everyone's favorite of the series and how the community here ranks them. This is my all-time favorite Horror series and one that sadly never gets the attention it deserves.

Phantasm II is easily my favorite. As great as the original is with it's weird and creepy dream-like atmosphere and nightmarish imagery, I feel Phantasm II far surpassed it with a much darker tone and macabre atmosphere, The Tall Man being even more malevolent and it's great action scenes. I feel Phantasm II was an instance of a bigger budgeted sequel using the bigger budget to enhance the vision of the original movie in a big way and not simply use it all on flashy effects.

Phantasm IV I liked for the darker tone and the return to the more serious mood of the first two, as well as the all-around strange quality of it and how it shed insight into who The Tall Man was without giving away too much. The third was definitely my least favorite due to the excessive comedy in it, but it was still a lot of fun.

I'd rank them as:


Phantasm II
Phantasm
Phantasm IV: Oblivion
Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead