X
- 1998
- R
- Dimension Films
- 1 h 36 m
- 1998
- R
- Dimension Films
- 1 h 36 m
Summary When Dr. Jennifer Pailey (Going) brings her teenage sister Lisa (McGowan) to a little mountain resort community in Colorado, they find the town deathly quiet and realize its inhabitants are either dead, missing or both. Together with Sheriff Bryce Hammond (Affleck), his deputy (Schrieber) and a professor (O'Toole), they try to investigat...
Directed By: Joe Chappelle
Written By: Dean R. Koontz
- 1998
- R
- Dimension Films
- 1 h 36 m
- 1998
- R
- Dimension Films
- 1 h 36 m
Phantoms
26
7.5
Summary When Dr. Jennifer Pailey (Going) brings her teenage sister Lisa (McGowan) to a little mountain resort community in Colorado, they find the town deathly quiet and realize its inhabitants are either dead, missing or both. Together with Sheriff Bryce Hammond (Affleck), his deputy (Schrieber) and a professor (O'Toole), they try to investigat...
Directed By: Joe Chappelle
Written By: Dean R. Koontz
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 19 Critic Reviews
26
11% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
37% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
53% Negative
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 19 Critic Reviews
26
11% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
37% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
53% Negative
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
Pic's virtues all stem from taking its genre imperatives absolutely seriously rather than condescending to them or playing cute. Even venerable O'Toole resists what must have been an obvious temptation to wink at his role, and delivers a solid, enjoyable turn.
Director Joe Chapelle knows how to stage a spooky scene, and Going and McGowan supply a refreshing alternative to the shrieking bimbos so familiar to horror fans.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 162 User Ratings
7.5
80% Positive
129 Ratings
129 Ratings
6% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
15% Negative
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 162 User Ratings
7.5
80% Positive
129 Ratings
129 Ratings
6% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
15% Negative
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
Phantoms is a horror thriller with polished actors, a clever plot, clever special effects and the movie is
based off of a book by Dean Koontz. Phantoms is as intense and entertaining as Scream, The Faculty,
Orphan, Drag Me to Hell, Cabin In The Woods, Hellraiser, Candyman, Dracula 2000, et cetera.
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Phantoms is one of my favourite horror movies. The cast give fun performances and the movie has intense,
complex special effects. The movie was produced by Wes Craven's Dimension Films company. Phantoms is one of the wittiest and inventive horror movies of the 90's.
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Until it coughs up a ridiculously convoluted explanation of why an isolated town in Colorado suddenly goes deader than a weekday matinee of "The Postman," Phantoms delivers the shivers.
For about 20 minutes, Phantoms, based on Dean Koontz's bestseller, keeps you guessing. After that, it barely keeps you awake.
A horror movie that has the distinction of not even being scary... Although Koontz wrote the screenplay, the suspense for which he is supposed to be famous doesn't translate to the screen.
Phantoms may have sold like hotcakes as a book. But this movie version is a grotesque fiasco, a confoundingly senseless story told with unexciting visuals, cliched dialogue and ear-bashing sounds... Watching it is a truly hellish experience. [23 Jan 1998]
Since neither (Chapelle nor Koontz) seems to have any idea as to how to make an actual movie, they abandon form and reason and throw every stock trick in the book at the screen to see what sticks. And what sticks is the murky goo of storytelling gone bad.
This Movie Was Scary And Alot Of Fun!
Rose McGowan Does A Great Job (As Well As The Rest Of The Cast)
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Phantoms is a classic B-movie thriller. Phantoms holds the viewer only the first third of the film, after it becomes clear what is happening, the film starts to give up a lot. The plot here is simple. The cast is not bad, Peter O'Toole starred and not yet star Ben Affleck. If the film had not been based on a literary source, I'm sure it would have been worse. That's what you can't say is that Phantoms is a horror movie. It doesn't scare at all. And you can't call it a thriller, there is no suspense most of the timekeeping, except for the first third of the film. Phantoms can be watched once and forgotten, it's an ordinary passing thriller.
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This is a jumpy and surprisingly thoughtful horror. It really made me jump a few times. I was on the edge of my seat with fear at other points. The suspense is not the best although it is done really well. The story is clever and thoughtful (for a horror anyway). It was very reminiscent of The Exorcist (1973), The Thing (1982) and Prince of Darkness (1987) drawing inspiration from all three. It also felt like a Stephen King novel. This reminded me very much of Event Horizon (1997) - they are both films that make you jump a lot but leave little impression. It has a very nineties style but with high production values, this feels bigger than most horror films. The story has excellent pacing and the acting is perfect but there is sadly something missing. This is worth watching for the tense scares that are present and for the idea of an enemy to all other species that learns from them.
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Despite the lackluster acting performances from the cast, the predictable plot and the constant use of jump scares, Phantoms isn't all bad. The movie is quite entertaining, the practical effects are very well made and the ending was surprising. While it isn't a great horror movie and it's quite cheesy at times, it's still a more than decent film.
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Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Nomination
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1 Nomination
