I had high hopes for this one. "Phantasm IV: Oblivion" has the inescapable 90's direct-to-video feel to it. Other than that, good shooting location, nice end credits song (Reggie Bannister does an almost-heavy-metalish cover of the Phantasm theme), and my favourite part was the motel scene where the blonde had spheres in her...well, you know where I'm going with this.

This movie is not scary. So why does it have a cult few up? Why did it get 5.7. This movie is so overrated. The story line is awful. The ending is awful. This movie is pooh. All the Phantasm movie are just pooh pooh. Stinky pooh pooh. And they are wast time. They are also a wast money. Do not see any of these movies. This movie is pooh pooh. Stinky stinky pooh pooh. Plan 9 from outer space is better. The Halloween movies are better. A Nightmare on elm street movie are better. Friday the 13th (1980) is a lot better. Good actors wasted there talent being in this awful movie. This movie is not scary. It is just pooh pooh. Not scary at all.

Not in the least bit thrilling, or scary, or funny, or full of action. Any one of which could make for a decent horror film. I found myself yawning throughout most of it.The last few weeks I've been catching up on the sequels to Phantasm after having just become aware of them. I didn't like II very much for its randomness, and lack of Michael Baldwin. III was entertaining and over-the-top, but even though Michael Baldwin returned, we didn't get to see much of him during that flick.And then we get this one, where we see him a lot. In extreme close-up. And I mean, a LOT. Perhaps they were trying to make up for his lack of screen time in the previous one. Or perhaps because they only had about six characters in the whole movie. MB was a nice-looking kid, but as a thirtysomething adult a few more medium shots might have worked better.The biggest fault of this movie is that it's BORING. Lots of reaction shots, plot points that come out of nowhere, plot points that go nowhere. Literally, the middle of nowhere, which is where Michael spends half the movie. In the desert by himself.Only one or two memorable scenes in the whole movie (notably the motel surprise). I actually enjoyed the flashback sequences more and wish they'd used some more of that rediscovered film, or even worked in the deleted scenes from the first one.

Like all the sequels in this series this one picks up right where the previous installment left off. Mike (Baldwin) with a silver sphere stuck in his head steals one of the Tall Man's (Scrimm) hearses and drives into the desert into Death Valley. He seems headed for an eventual showdown with the Tall man. Meanwhile, Reggie (Banister) having no idea where Mike has gone decides to quit from this crazy life. Jody (Thornbury) again appears through a sphere and tells Reggie that Mike is counting on him. Reggie hits the road along the way encountering a cop from hell in a scary and fun sequence in the middle of the desert he also hooks up with a blonde (Heidi Marnhout) but still can't get laid as her demise is ghastly. Using outtakes from the original, Don Coscarelli cleverly splices them together into the current storyline making it very interesting seeing the characters from the original in comparison to how they are today. Another very nice scene has Mike going back in time and meeting Dr. Jebediah Morningside (Scrimm) who was the Tall man before he became the Tall man. You can clearly see Jebediah is all ready experimenting with things that would eventually turn him into the Tall man. A thoughtful scene that Angus Scrimm nails to the wall and makes you wish you could see more of this origin of how he becomes evil. It still remains unclear as to why the tall man wants Mike so bad and why he is so important to his plans. This sequel is more focused than part III and there is an intensity to it that keeps things on edge. The effects and scares are there as usual and Coscarelli doesn't really bring outside characters into the storyline this time. We just focus on Reggie, Mike and Jody battling the spheres, jawa creatures and the Tall man, everything fans of this series want. Clearly left open for more, part IV departs from the type of road movie II and III were and the change sprinkled new life into this bizarre, scary, and original series.