**Potential Spoilers **
I recently watched the Joe Bob Briggs Phantasm marathon on Shudder and decided why not review another Phantasm movie? Considering most horror fans have probably seen the first two in the series I have decided to review Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994). The original Phantasm (1979) has become a cult classic over the years. The second movie in the series (1988) is also a great movie but is more of a straight action movie with a horror theme, and a larger budget. The third movie, due to the poor performance of the prior movie is a much lower budget movie, but that is not to say it is bad. Many great horror movies have been made on relatively low budgets. Indeed the first Phantasm was financed in part by the directors parents.
The plot of Phantasm III picks up where Phantasm II ends. This will take quite some explaining, so be patient. The Tall Man emerges from a portal and the hearse containing Mike and Liz explodes. Reggie finds Mike still alive, but Liz has died. Reggie saves Mike from the Tall man by threatening to blow himself and Mike up with a grenade. Mike goes into a coma and is only awakened after two years only to be attacked by a nurse under the control of the Tall man. Reggie takes Mike home where he is visited by Jody who died in the first movie. The tall man finds them, turns Jody into a burnt sphere and takes Mike back with him. Reggie, and Jody the burnt sphere, set off in his Cuda until they come to another town decimated by the Tall man. Reggie is knocked out by three looters and stuffed in the trunk of his car. The looters are killed by a young child called Tim who goes all Home Alone but with lethal force on them. Together they end up in a large Mausoleum where they run into Rocky who becomes the latest in Reggies long list of women who do not sleep with him. Together these three must rescue Mike from the clutches of the Tall Man.
The thing I like about Phantasm movies is that they are all quite different. Yes of course they have a common thread, but no two movies are alike. The first movie is like a dream within a dream, the second is a more straightforward action horror movie. The third movie expands the Phantasm universe a bit more and introduces new elements. For example we learn that the Tall Man is harvesting the brains of the dead and putting them into his killer spheres, the bodies are then shrunken down and turned into lurkers. Whilst the majority of his military muscle appears to be his lurkers he also has created what appear to be zombies. The nurse that attempts to kill Mike and the three looters whilst not lurkers appear to be under the Tall Man's control.
Whilst the third movie expands upon the Phantasm universe it is perhaps a little too busy. Almost as if someone had a lot of good ideas and tried to shoehorn them into the movie some way or another. The plot is despite the seemingly complex series of events probably the most straightforward of the Phantasm movies. The acting is of a good standard with Reggie Bannister and Michael Baldwin both putting in good efforts as per usual. The special effects are decent enough not to spoil the movie. All in all, considering the reduced budget, a decent third movie that entertains and expands on the previous movies.
6 out of 10
Summary: not the best of the Phantasm movies but still an enjoyable movie.