Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead
Encyclopedia
Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead is a 1994 horror film
sequel to Phantasm II
written and directed by Don Coscarelli
. The film starred Angus Scrimm
as the Tall Man, Reggie Bannister
and A. Michael Baldwin
. Filming wrapped up in mid-1993 but the film sat unreleased for over a year before being released directly to VHS in 1995. Known for its dark humor and sci-fi plot tones, this film garners the most controversy of any in the series. It is also the first to refer to the dwarfs as "Lurkers" and the spheres as "Sentinels."
The other films in this series are Phantasm
, Phantasm II
, and Phantasm IV Oblivion.
, a new Tall Man
emerges from the white room dimension fork. During this time the hearse driving Liz and Mike carries on and explodes. Reggie, who was attacked by the Alchemy/Tall Man creature, rushes over and finds Liz dead and a dwarf devouring her face. After killing a few dwarfs with his 4-barrel shotgun, the Tall Man appears, apprehending Reggie and an unconscious Mike but leaves when Reggie threatens to detonate a grenade. Stating that he wants Mike in one piece, the Tall Man leaves with Liz's head in hand claiming to return for Mike when he's well again.
After apparently spending two years comatose in a hospital, Mike has a near death experience
, in which his brother Jody appears and tells him he's not ready to cross over into the light. Mike walks on but the Tall Man stands in his way causing him to wake up. Just as Reggie arrives, Mike is attacked by a demon nurse but fights her off. A sphere emerges from her head and crashes out through the window. Back at home, Jody appears again to warn Mike but the Tall Man arrives via dimension fork, fights off Reggie and Jody (now forcibly transformed into a charred sphere) and draws Mike through the gate with him.
The next morning, Reggie (with the Jody-sphere) travels to Holtsville, which turns out to be deserted. Reggie is captured by three looters who lock him in his Cuda's trunk and drive on to another house. There they are attacked and killed by a little boy named Tim, who also releases Reggie. After they have buried three looters in the yard, Tim tells Reggie how the Tall Man took his parents and destroyed the town. In the morning, Reggie and Tim find the three graves empty and their pink hearse gone. Setting out to find the Tall Man, Reggie wants to leave Tim with a woman looking after orphans but the boy hides in the trunk and comes along.
Reggie enters the Holtsville mausoleum and is confronted by a sphere. Before he can destroy it, he is assaulted and subdued by two young black women, Tanesha and Rocky. Reg tries to warn them but the sphere kills Tanesha, as well as damaging Rocky's nunchaku
. Tim appears and shoots it out of the air with his pistol. The three join forces and drive on, looking for a town called Boulton, which contains a large mortuary. On their way the come across a convoy of hearses driven by gravers and follow them.
As they camp outside, the Jody-sphere floats over to Reggie. In a dream, Jody appears and leads Reggie to the Tall Man's lair, where Mike is imprisoned in a small cell. The two free him but the Tall Man reappears and pursues the three. Jody is transformed back into a sphere and Reggie awakes. Jody appears again, opens another gate and Mike emerges. The Tall Man tries to emerge as well but Reggie manages to shut the gate just as he was about to reach through, cutting off the Tall Man's hands. They manage to fight off the small creatures the hands morph into and also later the pink hearse containing the three comically-zombified looters.
They reach Boulton mortuary, where they come across a cryonics facility, which reminds Mike that the Tall Man dislikes cold. While Reggie, Rocky and Tim are separately attacked by the looters, Mike consults with the Jody-sphere, who explains that the Tall Man is amassing an army to conquer dimensions. He also shows him in a dream what the Tall Man does with the dwarf creatures he has created from the dead: he removes the sapient part of the brains to create the spheres, turning the body into a drone and the mind into a killer. The Tall Man senses their presence and before they can leave, and paralyzes Mike. Surrounded by hundreds of spheres, the Tall Man reaches for Mike, who wakes up and finds himself strapped to the table. The Tall Man grabs and subdues the Jody-sphere and welcomes Mike. Soon after, two of the looters, Rufus and Henry, wheel in Tim. Mike tries to give a message to the boy, saying "There are thousands of them", but is paralyzed beyond speech by the Tall Man.
Rocky meanwhile manages to shake off her attacker and goes on to fight off Reggie's. Cut free by the Jody-sphere, Tim runs into the remaining looters who are killed by the Jody-sphere and Reggie's 4-barrel shotgun. The trio crash into the embalming room, where the Tall Man has begun operating on Mike. Rocky impales the Tall Man with a spear dipped in liquid nitrogen, causing his flesh to begin melting. Rocky and Reggie lock him into the refrigerator room. A golden sphere breaks out of his head, crashes outside and chases through the corridors. Surprised by the golden sphere, Reggie catches it with a plunger and is almost overpowered by it. With help from Rocky and Tim, he submerges the sphere in the nitrogen tank neutralizing it.
In the meantime, Mike climbs from the table and sees yellow blood issuing from his wound. He looks into a mirror and sees a golden sphere in his own head, concealed his torn skin. Just after the Tall Man's sphere has been dumped into the nitrogen, Mike appears, showing silver eyeballs, complaining of the cold and walking outside. Reggie chases after him but Mike warns him to stay away. Jody leaves as well telling Reggie that they'll be in touch.
Reggie suggests searching the mortuary but Rocky leaves having had enough of dealing with the undead. Reggie and Tim go back inside and Tim reports that Mike said that "There are thousands of them." Unknown to them, dozens of spheres are hovering above them. In the next room, Tim finds the poles of the dimension fork and the nitrogen tank overturned. He goes back to find Reggie pinned to the wall by force of the spheres. Tim tries to get his gun but a new Tall Man reappears and watches as Tim is pulled through a window by a creature followed by the sound of him getting torn apart and devoured, continuing the films' trademark ending.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
sequel to Phantasm II
Phantasm II
Phantasm II, also known as Phantasm II: The Ball is Back! is the 1988 sequel to Phantasm. It was written and directed by Don Coscarelli, starring Angus Scrimm, James LeGros and Reggie Bannister...
written and directed by Don Coscarelli
Don Coscarelli
Don Coscarelli is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for horror films. His credits include the Phantasm series, The Beastmaster, and Bubba Ho-Tep.-Biography:...
. The film starred Angus Scrimm
Angus Scrimm
Angus Scrimm is an American actor, best known for playing the Tall Man in the 1979 horror movie Phantasm and its sequels.-Life and career:...
as the Tall Man, Reggie Bannister
Reggie Bannister
Reginald Horace "Reggie" Bannister is an American musician, actor, producer, writer, and activist. He is often referred to as "The Hardest Working Man in Horror".-Biography:...
and A. Michael Baldwin
A. Michael Baldwin
A. Michael Baldwin is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter.He is the son of animator Gerard Baldwin, who worked on classic shows such as The Jetsons, Rocky and Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle and many more. Michael Baldwin began acting in his teens and was also a member of the Teenage...
. Filming wrapped up in mid-1993 but the film sat unreleased for over a year before being released directly to VHS in 1995. Known for its dark humor and sci-fi plot tones, this film garners the most controversy of any in the series. It is also the first to refer to the dwarfs as "Lurkers" and the spheres as "Sentinels."
The other films in this series are Phantasm
Phantasm (film)
Phantasm is a low-budget "cult classic" horror film produced in 1977 and released in 1979. The film was directed, written, photographed, co-produced and edited by Don Coscarelli...
, Phantasm II
Phantasm II
Phantasm II, also known as Phantasm II: The Ball is Back! is the 1988 sequel to Phantasm. It was written and directed by Don Coscarelli, starring Angus Scrimm, James LeGros and Reggie Bannister...
, and Phantasm IV Oblivion.
Plot
Immediately after his apparent demise at the end of Phantasm IIPhantasm II
Phantasm II, also known as Phantasm II: The Ball is Back! is the 1988 sequel to Phantasm. It was written and directed by Don Coscarelli, starring Angus Scrimm, James LeGros and Reggie Bannister...
, a new Tall Man
Tall Man (Phantasm)
The Tall Man is a fictional character and main antagonist of the Phantasm series of horror films. The Tall Man first appeared in the first Phantasm in 1979, and last appeared in Phantasm IV Oblivion in 1998. In all of his appearances; the Tall Man has been portrayed by Angus Scrimm.-Fictional...
emerges from the white room dimension fork. During this time the hearse driving Liz and Mike carries on and explodes. Reggie, who was attacked by the Alchemy/Tall Man creature, rushes over and finds Liz dead and a dwarf devouring her face. After killing a few dwarfs with his 4-barrel shotgun, the Tall Man appears, apprehending Reggie and an unconscious Mike but leaves when Reggie threatens to detonate a grenade. Stating that he wants Mike in one piece, the Tall Man leaves with Liz's head in hand claiming to return for Mike when he's well again.
After apparently spending two years comatose in a hospital, Mike has a near death experience
Near death experience
A near-death experience refers to a broad range of personal experiences associated with impending death, encompassing multiple possible sensations including detachment from the body; feelings of levitation; extreme fear; total serenity, security, or warmth; the experience of absolute dissolution;...
, in which his brother Jody appears and tells him he's not ready to cross over into the light. Mike walks on but the Tall Man stands in his way causing him to wake up. Just as Reggie arrives, Mike is attacked by a demon nurse but fights her off. A sphere emerges from her head and crashes out through the window. Back at home, Jody appears again to warn Mike but the Tall Man arrives via dimension fork, fights off Reggie and Jody (now forcibly transformed into a charred sphere) and draws Mike through the gate with him.
The next morning, Reggie (with the Jody-sphere) travels to Holtsville, which turns out to be deserted. Reggie is captured by three looters who lock him in his Cuda's trunk and drive on to another house. There they are attacked and killed by a little boy named Tim, who also releases Reggie. After they have buried three looters in the yard, Tim tells Reggie how the Tall Man took his parents and destroyed the town. In the morning, Reggie and Tim find the three graves empty and their pink hearse gone. Setting out to find the Tall Man, Reggie wants to leave Tim with a woman looking after orphans but the boy hides in the trunk and comes along.
Reggie enters the Holtsville mausoleum and is confronted by a sphere. Before he can destroy it, he is assaulted and subdued by two young black women, Tanesha and Rocky. Reg tries to warn them but the sphere kills Tanesha, as well as damaging Rocky's nunchaku
Nunchaku
is a traditional Okinawan weapon consisting of two sticks connected at their ends with a short chain or rope.-Etymology:The Japanese word nunchaku is the Kun'yomi reading of the Kanji term for a traditional Chinese two section staff....
. Tim appears and shoots it out of the air with his pistol. The three join forces and drive on, looking for a town called Boulton, which contains a large mortuary. On their way the come across a convoy of hearses driven by gravers and follow them.
As they camp outside, the Jody-sphere floats over to Reggie. In a dream, Jody appears and leads Reggie to the Tall Man's lair, where Mike is imprisoned in a small cell. The two free him but the Tall Man reappears and pursues the three. Jody is transformed back into a sphere and Reggie awakes. Jody appears again, opens another gate and Mike emerges. The Tall Man tries to emerge as well but Reggie manages to shut the gate just as he was about to reach through, cutting off the Tall Man's hands. They manage to fight off the small creatures the hands morph into and also later the pink hearse containing the three comically-zombified looters.
They reach Boulton mortuary, where they come across a cryonics facility, which reminds Mike that the Tall Man dislikes cold. While Reggie, Rocky and Tim are separately attacked by the looters, Mike consults with the Jody-sphere, who explains that the Tall Man is amassing an army to conquer dimensions. He also shows him in a dream what the Tall Man does with the dwarf creatures he has created from the dead: he removes the sapient part of the brains to create the spheres, turning the body into a drone and the mind into a killer. The Tall Man senses their presence and before they can leave, and paralyzes Mike. Surrounded by hundreds of spheres, the Tall Man reaches for Mike, who wakes up and finds himself strapped to the table. The Tall Man grabs and subdues the Jody-sphere and welcomes Mike. Soon after, two of the looters, Rufus and Henry, wheel in Tim. Mike tries to give a message to the boy, saying "There are thousands of them", but is paralyzed beyond speech by the Tall Man.
Rocky meanwhile manages to shake off her attacker and goes on to fight off Reggie's. Cut free by the Jody-sphere, Tim runs into the remaining looters who are killed by the Jody-sphere and Reggie's 4-barrel shotgun. The trio crash into the embalming room, where the Tall Man has begun operating on Mike. Rocky impales the Tall Man with a spear dipped in liquid nitrogen, causing his flesh to begin melting. Rocky and Reggie lock him into the refrigerator room. A golden sphere breaks out of his head, crashes outside and chases through the corridors. Surprised by the golden sphere, Reggie catches it with a plunger and is almost overpowered by it. With help from Rocky and Tim, he submerges the sphere in the nitrogen tank neutralizing it.
In the meantime, Mike climbs from the table and sees yellow blood issuing from his wound. He looks into a mirror and sees a golden sphere in his own head, concealed his torn skin. Just after the Tall Man's sphere has been dumped into the nitrogen, Mike appears, showing silver eyeballs, complaining of the cold and walking outside. Reggie chases after him but Mike warns him to stay away. Jody leaves as well telling Reggie that they'll be in touch.
Reggie suggests searching the mortuary but Rocky leaves having had enough of dealing with the undead. Reggie and Tim go back inside and Tim reports that Mike said that "There are thousands of them." Unknown to them, dozens of spheres are hovering above them. In the next room, Tim finds the poles of the dimension fork and the nitrogen tank overturned. He goes back to find Reggie pinned to the wall by force of the spheres. Tim tries to get his gun but a new Tall Man reappears and watches as Tim is pulled through a window by a creature followed by the sound of him getting torn apart and devoured, continuing the films' trademark ending.
Cast
- Angus ScrimmAngus ScrimmAngus Scrimm is an American actor, best known for playing the Tall Man in the 1979 horror movie Phantasm and its sequels.-Life and career:...
as The Tall ManTall Man (Phantasm)The Tall Man is a fictional character and main antagonist of the Phantasm series of horror films. The Tall Man first appeared in the first Phantasm in 1979, and last appeared in Phantasm IV Oblivion in 1998. In all of his appearances; the Tall Man has been portrayed by Angus Scrimm.-Fictional... - A. Michael BaldwinA. Michael BaldwinA. Michael Baldwin is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter.He is the son of animator Gerard Baldwin, who worked on classic shows such as The Jetsons, Rocky and Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle and many more. Michael Baldwin began acting in his teens and was also a member of the Teenage...
as Mike - Reggie BannisterReggie BannisterReginald Horace "Reggie" Bannister is an American musician, actor, producer, writer, and activist. He is often referred to as "The Hardest Working Man in Horror".-Biography:...
as Reggie - Bill Thornbury as Jody
- Kevin Connors as Tim
- Gloria Lynne HenryGloria Lynne HenryGloria Lynne Henry is an American actress best known for her role in the film Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead.Gloria Lynne Henry was born in Detroit, Michigan and her first experience in front of the camera was a role in the TV movie Bare Essence in 1982...
as Rocky - Cindy AmbuehlCindy AmbuehlCindy Ambuehl , is an American actress and fashion designer.She played Sophie in Seinfeld's season 9 episode "The Burning"....
as Edna - Brooks Gardner as Rufus
- John Davis ChandlerJohn Davis ChandlerJohn Davis Chandler was an American actor. He portrayed the gangster Vincent Coll in the sensationalized and factually inaccurate 1962 movie Mad Dog Coll. Chandler also appeared in several of Sam Peckinpah's Western films...
as Henry - Claire Benedek as Tim's mother
- Sarah Scott Davis as Tanesha