Episode 488: Phantasm (1979)

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It's Halloween time again, and we're looking at the last two original horror franchises we haven't done yet! First up - a story that starts off a thriller, turns to horror, and then clips into the realm of science fiction as well! Written and directed by Don Coscarelli, 1979's "Phantasm" kicks off with a cemetery, an amorous couple, and a stabbing, which provides the reason for our protagonists, Mike (A. Michael Baldwin), Jody (Bill Thornbury), and Reggie (Reggie Bannister) to arrive at Morningside Funeral Home and Cemetery for the funeral services. While Mike and Reggie attend as guests, Jody is spying from the nearby woods, and witnesses the funeral director, someone referred to only as "The Tall Man," (Angus Scrimm), pick up the body-filled coffin by himself and deposit it in the hearse. Of course, neither Mike nor Reggie believe him, so Jody begins a quest to find proof that something strange is going on at the funeral home. Only after witnessing the death of the graveyard's caretaker (Kenneth V. Jones) after he's impaled on a chrome-sphere that sprouts blades and a drill, and chopping the Tall Man's fingers off, does Jody have sufficient proof to convince Mike and Reggie. The inevitable showdown between the trio and the Tall Man can only end one way... but who will emerge victorious? Also starring Kathy Lester, Terrie Kalbus, and Mary Ellen Shaw.

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