I admit...I'm writing this review and still have 25 minutes of the movie left to watch - however I know things are not going to change. The Phantasm series descended into an incoherent mess from part 3 onwards. The first was a great horror film...the second though not being many people's favourite, took it in a more action and fun direction. It captured 80's cult horror well - now to be honest even after these 2 films you are left scratching your head at the plot - I don't even think the director had a totality in his head. But it was watchable and you could make sense of it loosely. Phantasm will have its die hard fans who love all the sequels but from 3 onwards it digs itself deeper and deeper with each scene into utter confusion. How difficult would it be to have at least some through line. Each scene just becomes a surreal set piece sometimes completely disconnected with even the scene before it, and within 2 months of watching those sequels I can't really remember anything. Ravager just continues in that vein with one surreal disconnected scene after another.....and then just thrown in for variety, some more totally bizarre and surreal scenes thrown in. You need some kind of plot or logic in a film, even one which is fantastical or surreal or you just get left with nothing. I'm sure within a week I won't remember a single thing. Should have quit after part 2

Jesus ... what is this crap? Reggie wanders around the desert fighting balls and (surprise!) meets up with a foxy chick. No, scratch that ... Reggie is in a hospital suffering from dementia and Michael visits him. No ... he's in an apocalyptic future where the Tall Man has destroyed everything. You know what? I don't care. I understand what they tried to do here, and (maybe) I admire the idea a tiny bit, but look ... their ambition clearly outstripped their resources and the results look horrible. Video game cut scenes look better than this film. It's a nonsensical that looks terrible.

Back in 1979 a small horror film was released that captured the imagination of fans around the world. It spawned several sequels back when the term franchise was yet to be a dirty word. It was original and brought to us a world we never knew existed, a world harbored over by someone called the Tall Man who controlled silver orbs with protruding blades and drills that could drain a man of blood in no time. The movie was PHANTASM.With each subsequent sequel fans have begged for more. Writer/director Don Coscarelli answered their pleas by releasing three follow up films, each leaving the door wide open for the next. So when word came out that he had another film in the making fans were ecstatic. Unfortunately he turned the director's helm over to someone else and the end result is PHANTASM RAVAGER.The movie opens in a near apocalyptic future with Reggie (Reggie Bannister) walking down the highway having had his '71 Cuda stolen from him. As he walks along the car nearly runs him over before screeching to a halt. The man behind the wheel takes the time to yell at him and in return finds himself removed from the car and Reggie back behind the wheel.What follows is a movie that seems to be in the same world we've visited before but at the same time not quite that world. Sure the spheres are still out there cruising along looking for victims. But their CGI inspired versions are just not quite the same as the old methods used. The Tall Man is back as well but even he seems less inclined to want to do damage like he did in the past.What makes the movie even more jarring is that it moves back and forth not only in time but in location as well. One minute we're seeing Reggie battling the spheres as they attempt to kill him and the next it's as if he's just woke up and finds himself sitting in a retirement home talking to Mike (A. Michael Baldwin). In this world Reggie is dealing with bouts of dementia, the events of the previous films being nothing more than images created in his own mind and having never actually taken place.This back and forth goes on for most of the film. Not only do we see Reggie having lengthy talks with Mike he has them with the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) as well. Perhaps all of this was due to budget but the film ends up with more talking than action, more discussion than discovery of what happened. Not only that, but the entire series is called into question since we're not sure it's real of if it's all in Reggie's head.The movie feels like something is desperately lacking here and my guess is it was the emotional tie in that would have come from Coscarelli. All of his films have had something of the man himself in them. In the hands of director David Hartman that spark is just not there. Hartman could have been the biggest fan in the world but somehow his vision of this story felt lacking.On the plus side it was great to see nearly all of the entire original cast back together again. Not only was the aforementioned cast in the film so was a returning Bill Thornbury as Mike's brother Jody and Kathy Lester as the Lady in Lavender. All of them on hand again just gives fans a warm feeling.In the end I'm sure that fans who want to own the complete story of PHANTASM will add this to their shelf. I'm not sure I can say the same. I just didn't enjoy it. It does deserve to be watched at least once though. And sad but true yes, it did leave the potential for yet another sequel. If that happens it needs to happen while the actors are still alive. Angus Scrimm passed away before this was released. And it needs to be under the helm once again of Don Coscarelli.

Looking at some of the reviews of the film on IMDb it's obvious this film is like Marmite you either like it out loath it, there's no middle ground. I'm so glad to say I'm in the "like it" bleachers. For me, when I watch a Phantasm movie I get a silly smile on my face and feel instantly at home, this instalment was no exception - A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL INVOLVED - your hard work is appreciated.The thing with Phantasm way back in 1979 it was exactly the same way and a lot of people just didn't "Get It". This is the majorly brilliant thing about the film and the series... you're not meant to get it... you're meant to reach out and just about grasp it... only for it to change and slip away from your grasp at the last second.I noticed a few reviews were complaining that there was no real resolve... this is one of those stories where there will never be a resolution. As the Tall Man says in the film, there are hundreds of thousands of him in hundreds of thousands of different dimensions. This means that there's also hundreds of thousands of Reggie, Mike and Jody. This is alluded to in the Dawn/Jane character and when Mike visits Reggie in the hospital and tries to describe the theory behind dimension hopping. So Reggie's dreams aren't really dreams at all. Then when you enter the Chaos Theory into the mix then every dimension should have a different outcome and conclusion to another. To get this film to a conclusion would mean killing all the Tall Men, which is an impossibility and because of the limitations our heroes have it would've been a slap in the face if they had reached a conclusion. However, the duel ending tells the viewer that no matter what happens and what you may face you have to fight - the future is in your hands.Though Don Coscarelli has handed the Director's chair over to David Hartman there is an air of the original film throughout this one. Hartman is also quite brilliant when it comes to segues as he effortlessly and easily slides from one reality to another. The major drawback and flaw to the movie are that it's filmed on digital media - I hate digital film as it can sometimes feel soulless and there are sections in this movie that have that feel and it is a digital rendition issue rather than directorial one; since it's visual you can literally see it.Yes, the special effects aren't on par with bigger budget films and I do wish Hartman had used wet-effects for the body and head explosions as they will always look more realistic, especially with the blood splatter and misting, than CGI.However, these are only small issues as they don't really disturb the viewer's enjoyment (if you're in that group) too much.If you've watched the series then you may enjoy this... or you may not. Though if you've not seen any of the series then fo yourself a favour and get the original movie and if you enjoy that then continue through the series.