I think the “it was all a dream” rationale can be cheap in most films/shows, but with Phantasm I think it kind of works. The films have always played around with different dimensions and dream realities. Even the first film retcons everything that came before in the last few minutes. But…because they didn’t give us a definitive explanation, we’re left to ponder and analyze it which is certainly a good thing.

If you believe the whole thing was all in Reggie’s head, don’t you feel like you got ripped off?

I prefer the alternate dimension theory. I like this answer because I don’t want to believe that Reggie is dead. Also, and more importantly, I choose not to believe that all five films were nothing more than a product of Reggie’s dementia. If I chose to believe that scenario, I would feel cheated like you couldn’t imagine. All of my DVDs would then go straight into the garbage can.

Ultimately, I believe Coscarelli/Hartman want us to take what we will from the ending. I believe the Phantasm films are about cheating death or atleast the desire for those we love to be able to cheat death.

Taking that reading of the films into consideration, I think Reggie did in fact die and all of this was in his head. The ending is almost a way of saying, despite that he did manage to cheat death and thwart The Tall Man as somehow his subconscious lives on, weaving more tall tales. He’s finally reunited with his friends and “the one that got away”, Rocky. Their adventure never ends. His own personal, fucked up heaven.

You could also just say, it’s Phantasm. This shit is just taking place in a different dimension. It’s completely up to you to decide. :)

Would love someone to please help out with this.

Yeah, I would think the Blu is going to be loaded with some cool features.

Yeah, it was strange…came on about eleven last night, even had the WELL GO USA and BAD ROBOT logo before the film. Kinda unusual this didn’t get any kind of fanfare, especially considering this is supossed to get a (small) theatrical release, which is where I would’ve ideally like to see this.

I only watched it once also. I’m trying to decide if I should just wait for the Blu Ray to come out or not. It is a must-own for me, no debate necessary.

I’m curious to watch it again, now fully aware of what’s in store – I feel like it might get better with repeated views. We’ll see

That would be cool, I can’t wait to see what kind of extras this bluray release is packed with. Im so happy they have all finally gotten HD transfers

Yeah I’ve signed up to host a TUGG screening of Remastered. I was aiming for Halloween night but they said that date was too soon. :( maybe I can line something up for Nov?

Yeah I hope there’s an extensive BTS on the Blu release. As I was saying in the review, I was surprised by all of the deleted footage playing through the credits. Some it looked pretty epic. I wonder if they have something planned for all of that they’re not telling us yet.

Exactly. I appreciate the movie and am happy we got one more game with The Tall Man, but I had trouble with that. I feel like if I was shown this movie on a dusty old VHS tape on an old tube TV and was told it was some lost Phantasm sequel I’d have probably thought it was great fun. Also, I love reading/hearing about how this movie was made so much more than I actually liked watching the final product, and that’s not even necessarily a slant against it, Coscarelli is just an awesome storyteller and has been telling all about the long and wild production of it.

See the remaster on the big screen if possible, I did and it was absolutely incredible. The remaster is gorgeous and it booms on a big screen.

Completely understand. The production values are puzzling as anyone with an iPhone these days can shoot something that looks better than parts of this. From what I gather, they started shooting several years ago when shooting in 1080 first became feasible. It’s a lot to ask a viewer to forgive or ignore in 2016.

What?! Certainly was a surprise. I hadn’t heard a thing about it. I’m really hoping to see “Remastered” on the big screen, though. Certainly give Ravager a chance. Just know only half of it works, but it’s a really good half. :)