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

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.

I've loved the Phantasm series since I first saw the original on VHS in the early 80's. Sure, they're not Oscar worthy or bursting with state of the art SFX or A-list talent but they never pretended to be, they were just a continuation of an interesting premise with fun characters and a first class bad guy. Sadly, this final installment is an enormous let down.There's not much satisfaction to be found for Phantasm fans in Ravager. Well, not for me at least. Reggie is still great, it was nice to catch up with old characters again like Mike, Jody, The Lady In Lavender and even a surprise appearance by Rocky from Phantasm III. It starts quite well with Reggie reclaiming his stolen car and meeting up with a hot chick, even trying to seduce her by writing her a song on his guitar beside a fireplace. Classic Reggie! Some of the effects were OK, I especially enjoyed the shots of the dystopian Earth with enormous Sentinels hovering over everything. And that's about it.The rest is pretty bad. The storyline descends into chaos, with alternate realities coming and going with zero explanation or real purpose. The movie is shot on digital cameras which makes it look cheap and nasty and doesn't do the low budget SFX any favours. I'm not sure what's up with A. Michael Baldwin here but he just didn't turn up for this film, his acting is just abysmal. I have a pine coffee table in my home that is less wooden. And sadly they just left it too long to make this sequel. Angus Scrimm, God rest his soul, was a superb and truly horrifying villain but here he just looks too old, a shadow of his former self. Not that any of that is his fault. He does his best but I dunno, the fear factor has gone. It's hard to be terrified of a guy who looks like he needs oxygen and a lie down.I rated the film 4, because it's Phantasm, and there's always something to enjoy, but sadly the bad outweighs the good massively in Ravager and it's a feeble and inadequate way to end such a magnificent franchise.BOY!!!!

I wish Coscarelli returned to direct this. The bad pacing, acting and overall shoddy directing distract from a very cool script and some fine cinematography and no-budget FX.I like how the ending was poetic and a bit of a mindf*ck, tying back to the original film's. This was sorta The Force Awakens for the Horror B-movie genre. After 30 years, it all wraps together, but unlike that really uneven box office hit, Ravager actually ties back to ALL of the previous films and has the influence and blessing of the original creator. And the original Phantasm is fun and eerie, but it was far from a masterpiece so I'm not so offended with the weakness of this last film. If this series went mainstream, we would never have gotten a clear and logical ending with ALL of the original cast reuniting like this. Now at least if they reboot it, the original universe won't be effected or tarnished.