With its strong characters, great plot and solid comedy and horror, Phantasm III Lord of the Dead is one of, if not the best film in the Phantasm series.

When the Tall Man kidnaps Mike, Reggie tries to track him down with the guidance of a mysterious black sphere that appears to contain the essence of Mike’s thought-to-be-dead brother Jody. While Reggie faces new enemies and friends on his journey, Mike experiences some shocking revelations regarding the Tall Man and his plans.

The Characters

Phantasm III is a real turning point in the series, the plot takes the characters to places they can’t return from. Mike is awestruck when he sees Jody as he’s unsure of whether or not he is another one of the Tall Man’s tricks. Not long after however, Mike makes some devastating discoveries as Jody reveals the Tall Man’s arrangements and his part in them from the Tall Man himself. Following these discoveries, Mike undergoes dramatic changes. By the end of the film he is a changed character, especially compared to himself in the previous two films.

Reggie is in an interesting position as while he displays the strong leadership characteristics he revealed in the second film, he’s presented in a lot of new scenarios. Firstly, we see him separated from Mike, one of his only friends. There’s a small period in the first act where Reggie hunts the Tall Man by himself, trying to rescue one of his loved ones using his own knowledge and resources. Secondly, we see him with some new characters, specifically a boy called Tim and a woman called Rocky. He develops a unique chemistry with the two. Especially with Rocky, which results in some comedic moments that’ll be covered later in the review.

Rocky is an entertaining character. She contrasts hugely to our three main characters as she is aggressive, sassy and more capable of defending herself. She doesn’t have an interesting backstory or character arc but she helps Reggie on his journey and is quite fun to watch. Tim is also quite entertaining. Since losing his family to the Tall Man, he’s learned to defend himself with guns and weapons he’s made in his house. When I first watched Phantasm III I was immediately concerned when Tim appeared. I was scared he was going to be a typical annoying kid character who would act like an adult and make cheesy one-liners. Fortunately, that isn’t the case. Tim’s composure is usually serious and mature, he comes across as a child who grew up too early. The way he interacts with Reggie and Rocky sometimes make you forget how young he actually is.

The characters in Phantasm III are fantastic and one of the film’s greatest strengths.

The Plot

Like the second film the plot adopts motifs from the Road Trip movie genre as it mostly follows Reggie’s struggle to find Mike. Following Jody’s guidance, he makes numerous stops as he searches abandoned towns, meets Tim and Rocky and fights the Tall Man’s forces. The plot is as entertaining and compelling as Phantasm II’s, however Phantasm III’s final act contains a lot more action and revelations.

It all takes place in a large mortuary where Reggie, Tim and Rocky fight spheres and zombies while Mike has an eye-opening encounter with the Tall Man himself. It’s action packed, gory and full of twists and turns that radically alter the course of the series. It’s brilliant.

The Horror (and Comedy)

I said in my review of Phantasm II that the film relied more on body horror rather than traditional scares like the original. By the third film Phantasm doesn’t really want to scare you. The series is more of a gory sci-fi action franchise at this point.

The gore and body horror are amped up here compared to the second film. The spheres and dwarves are more violent, nibbling faces off and slashing people to bits. Tim offers some more humorous gore as he is armed with Home Alone-style traps and weapons, like a Frisbee covered in blades that can decapitate people. The over-the-top gore is more comedic than disgusting, which makes the film even more fun.

While the comedy is a refreshing addition to the series, in Phantasm III it’s hit and miss. For example, Reggie’s attempts at seducing Rocky are great. However, most of Rocky’s sassy comments and one-liners can be really corny.

The poor comedy is a forgivable flaw when you consider Phantasm III’s good comedy, compelling plot and great characters. It’s Phantasm at its best and, like a great TV show, is worth watching the previous episodes for it.

I give Phantasm III Lord of the Dead a solid 8 out of 10.

With two more films to go we’re halfway through the series! So keep an eye here on Duffhood for the beginning of the end of our coverage of the Phantasm saga with the review of Phantasm IV: Oblivion.