Phantoms (1998)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Joe Chappelle

Writers (WGA):

Dean R. Koontz (novel)
Dean R. Koontz (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 January 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Horror | Drama

Tagline:

For centuries they told us the terror would come from above. We've been looking the wrong way.

Plot:

150 dead and 350 missing in the tiny mountain town of Snowfield, Colorado. And that's only the beginning...

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Alien | Death | Shot To Death | Severed Face

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ben Affleck	...	Sheriff Bryce Hammond
Peter O'Toole	...	Dr. Timothy Flyte
Rose McGowan	...	Lisa Pailey
Joanna Going	...	Jennifer Pailey, M.D.
Liev Schreiber	...	Deputy Stuart 'Stu' Wargle
Nicky Katt	...	Deputy Steve Shanning
Clifton Powell	...	Gen. Leland Copperfield
Rick Otto	...	Scientist Lockland
Valerie Chow	...	Scientist Yamaguchi (as Rachel Shane)
Adam Nelson	...	Scientist Burke
John Hammil	...	Scientist Talbot
John Scott Clough	...	Scientist Shane
Michael DeLorenzo	...	Soldier Velazquez (as Michael Delorenzo)
William Hahn	...	Scientist Borman
Robert Himber	...	Scientist Walker

Also Known As:

Dean Koontz's Phantoms (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sci-fi violence/gore and language.

Runtime:

96 min | Argentina:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Colorado, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

The "flatworm theory" used in the movie (that flatworms can eat the remains of their own kind and absorb their knowledge) is based on actual tests given to flatworms which involved seeing how quickly they would make the "correct" turn at a Y-intersection after eating the previous experimenters. The results were more inconclusive than the film says.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The spent 9mm shell casings on the floor of the police station are from blank rounds.

Quotes:

General Copperfield: The first thing we'd like to know is what we're dealing with, biological, chemical, or other.
Sheriff Hammond: Well, I'm leaning towards other.

Movie Connections:

References The Blob (1988)

Soundtrack:

I FALL TO PIECES

Not bad...but should be credited as a remake

This may have been based on a Dean Koontz novel, but Phantoms should acknowledge itself as being an unofficial remake of an old Hammer Studios film, X The Unknown, with which it shares it's main antagonist. The only real difference is that Phantoms lends a more mystical slant to the idea (though primarily just at the beginning of the movie).

As a horror film, this movie is fun...very reminiscent of a good old 50's or 60's horror movie that immediately immerses you in the situation. The one problem with the film is that each character is interesting by themselves, but they don't really gel together that well as a whole. Peter O'Toole is at his quirky best, and Ben Affleck is always enjoyable, so it's really hard to complain about that.

The SFX are okay to middling, but work well with the atmospheric cinematography.

Definitely worth a rent!