Phantasm IV: Oblivion

Hey folks! Um quick apology. As I was attempting to decide on Phantasm V: Ravager or Hellraiser, a thought occurred. I never reviewed Phantasm IV: Oblivion. Now I have seen it, probably made various mental notes and noticed some plot holes and jotted it down for Epinions.com oh so many years ago, but never got around actually reviewing it for the blog. My profound bad. So while many of you decide my viewing fate for the future! I will be here in the present, sitting through Don Coscarelli's fourth installment. This is Phantasm IV: Oblivion.

BOOoOoOoOOyy!!!

Released four years after the third film we have a few SNAFUs that have to be addressed. The budget after dealing with the $ 3,000,000 of Phantasm II and the $2,500,000 of Phantasm III, the fourth installment was about $650,000 so certain things were removed, forgotten or just cut.

Case in point, Tim (Kevin Connors of Harry and the Hendersons TV series, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, Full House, Prehysteria! 2 and Pleasantville) was taken through the glass by one of the bodies in the mortuary and then...nothing. Kinda hoped the undead Dwarves/Javas would play wishbone with his intestines.

Mike (A. Michael Baldwin of Kenny & Company, Eight Is Enough, Phantasm, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, Vice Girls, Virtual Girls 2:Virtual Vegas, Brutal, It Came from the Dead and The Pick-Axe Murders Part III: The Final Chapter) took off in a hearse, leaving Reggie to deal with his balls. Sorry, killer spheres. Reggie (Reggie Bannister of Kenny & Company, Phantasm, Survival Quest, The Demolitionist, Wishmaster, Bubba Ho-Tep, Satan Hates You and Bloody Bloody Bible Camp) looks like he is in the soup when The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm of Phantasm I through IV, Subspecies, I Sell the Dead and John Dies in the End) having Reggie at his mercy, simply lets him go with a parting few words about the final game is almost upon them. Yeah, Reggie the chucklehead who has been a thorn in The Tall Man's side for years gets to bounce. Huh?

Man, I hope the 70s never ends.

Reggie checks out the state of the Cuda, when visited by Jody ( Bill Thornbury of Summer School Teachers, Sarah T.- Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, Secrets of Midland Heights, The Lost Empire and Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead) pops by to reveal himself to Reggie again, urging him to help save Mike from The Tall Man and himself. Spoilers! Jody is now a sphere that cannot fully resist The Tall Man's power.

Meanwhile driving out into the desert leaving Reggie to fend for himself, Mike seeks answers to what has happened to him since the third movie, has flashbacks from when he was a boy and Jody was still alive. What is The Tall Man? Where did he come from? Was he ever human? What are his plans for Mike?

The Ice Cream Man is packing more than popsicles.

Reggie goes bombing out on the two lane blacktop to see a young girl, Jennifer (Heidi Marnhout of Roadkill, Vice Girls, Phantasm IV: Oblivion, Angel, Bubba Ho-Tep, CSI: Miami and Swingtown) managed to flip her car, it catch on fire and Reggie barely able to pull from the explosion. The two join up as she is out of a ride and it's not as though there has been any traffic. In fact, no traffic. Where the nine hells are they? 1-15?

They find an abandoned hotel and Reggie breaks in and they drop sleeping bags on the bed for the night. Bow chicka wew wew!!! Oh wait, it's Reggie. He gets no ladies. He had a wife and daugther and they blew up. By the way, I still have no idea what he does for money? Maybe like Spike from 976-EVIL and 976-EVIL II, he had a huge life insurance policy out on his family, just in case.

Thus far, all these distractions are keeping him from Mike. Who seems to be journeying through those massive tuning forks as he looks into the past when a fellow Jebediah Morningside, a doctor trying to discover the link of life, death and anywhere in between.

With a mishap with state trooper that is EEEEEVIL!!! No, I don't mean he gave Reggie a ticket or offered to destroy it for some highway head, I mean tries to tear Reggie apart Deadite style.

Can Reggie stop The Tall Man and his minions? Can Mike be saved? What the hell is the secret of 

 the Yeti?

A lot of creative shots had to be made as filler to deal with the lesser budget.  Again this is not a bad chapter to the series, it just feels a bit limited.  We are just at the cusp of computer generated effects so those simple post effects aren't as available compared to now and they had plenty of location areas but not all the effects or story elements could be added.  The spheres were almost all CGI and not bad for its time and looks pretty fair now.

A great musical score by composer Fred Myrow (Scarecrow, Soylent Green, Phantasm, Phantasm II, Hour of the Assassin, Love Is a Gun and Phantasm III) sadly passed away shortly after this film's release. Reggie Bannister's band, Reggie B and the Yiz Wailin' Ya' Doggies performed the end credits song.

That being said, we do get more questions answered and plenty of the fans will agree it has been a wild ride.

Hmm, Hell dimension looks cozy.