The first teaser trailer is out for the latest film in Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm franchise, Phantasm V: Ravager. Based on this first look, the new Phantasm will be just as strange and low-budget as ever.
The Phantasm series is not the most famous of horror film franchises, but it does have one thing not a lot of its colleagues can boast: consistency. Sure, Robert Englund played Freddy Krueger in every Nightmare on Elm Street (aside from the reboot), but the original film’s director/writer, Wes Craven, and star, Heather Langenkamp only came back for the third and seventh films (and Craven is just one of four credited writers on the third). John Carpenter and Sean S. Cunningham only directed the first Halloween and Friday the 13th films, respectively. Tobe Hooper directed the first two Texas Chainsaw Massacres but didn’t write the second as he did the first.
Compare those franchises with Phantasm. Up until now, Don Coscarelli has written and directed every film in the series. The closest you get to that is Sam Raimi who directed and wrote (with some help on the second and third) all three Evil Dead films (once again, discounting the remake), or Don Mancicni who is a credited screenwriter on all six Child’s Play films (yes, even the wackier ones). Ravager marks the first time Coscarelli will not be in the director’s chair, though he does share a screenwriting credit with new helmsman, David Hartman. This will be Hartman’s debut as a feature film director; he has directing credits on numerous animated television shows, and he’s worked on visual effects for two of Coscarelli’s other films: Bubba Ho-Tep and John Dies at the End.
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