4K UHD Review: Scream Factory’s Phantoms (Collector’s Edition) 

It’s Phantoms yo!!! The late ‘90s cult horror film starring Ben Affleck, Rose McGowan, and Peter O’Toole makes its 4K UHD debut from Scream Factory.  

The Film 

The combination of Peter O’Toole and Ben Affleck is a mismatch made in heaven.  That’s what one wishes they could say about Phantoms.  The strange pairing alone is worth the price of admission, but buyer beware… Phantoms is exactly the movie you think you’re getting.  A movie sold on the basis of who’s in the cast.  The poser alone tells you what you need to know.  It’s that classic era Dimension Films cliché – the stars all photoshopped in a reversed V formation with the title between the V. No indication of the story just the “attractive young cast” and “well-established legend”.  

What that poster didn’t tell you is that the story is a play-by-play riff on HP Lovecraft’s In the Mountains of Madness. Though instead of Victorian-era explorers – it’s a hot young cast looking befuddled or frightened.  A screen legend doing his best to sell the ancient evil that’s been awoken in a deserted town in Colorado. 

The film is admirably directed with a commercial sheen by Joe Chapelle but it’s the script and the novel it’s based on – both by Dean Koontz that fumbles at every turn.  It’s serviceable but that’s about it.  It moves from plot point to plot point with a workman-like attitude that feels like either major studio interference or dreams of a quick paycheck. Hell, it might be both.  The script hobbles anything that’s done by the cast and director to inject life into the proceedings.  

The cast is uniformly “okay” with the exception of Liev Schreiber who’s great.  But it should be stated the actor seems to be in a completely different movie than everyone else.  So much so, is Schreiber’s sweaty serial killer in cop’s clothing out of whack with the film that Ben Affleck’s sheriff character (yes, please giggle at the fact that Affleck at 25-ish is playing a town sheriff) has to go heads up on his deputy and check him.  In fact, that scene actually feels more like a moment when the two went off script and had themselves a fight more than what was written in the screenplay.  

The rest of the cast including Affleck, Johanna Goings, and Rose McGowan, are just lost in a sea of clichéd character moments.  The most painful is watching Peter O’Toole push himself beyond the script and elevate the material to something better.  His speeches come alive because he wills it and is unwilling to believe that he’s in this film for anything more than a paycheck. 

Phantoms isn’t terrible, there are some great visual moments but nothing we haven’t seen done much better in other films.  For those who love a ‘90s midlevel genre piece, this is definitely for you.  For those looking for that elevated undiscovered gem… you may have an issue.  

The Transfer

The all-new 4K Scan from the Original Camera Negative approved by director Joe Chappelle is definitely a wonderful visual treat.  Regardless of the quality of the film this transfer rocks.  The film’s low light photography is wonderfully reproduced here with the Dolby Vision encoding giving a huge bump in the range of the Contrast and Black level.  The transfer is flawless without a scratch or blemish.  Scream continues to take the time and effort to give us Grade A next-level 4K transfers.  Phantoms is no exception. 

The Extras

They include the following;

• NEW “Terror From Below: Making Phantoms” 
• NEW “Chaos In The Flesh: Filming Phantoms” 
• Trailer
• TV Spot

Terror From Below: Making Phantoms (14:30)– is an all-new interview with Producer Joel Soisson that begins with the origins of the project – and by his own admission that he did not like science fiction.  Some of the other details include his thoughts on the novel by Dean Koontz; Soisson’s own admission of his own adaptation that was set up at Dino De Laurentiis’s company before it folded; the process in which the film got set up at Dimension Films; the studios thoughts on how the film should be constructed – and how Koontz fought the film every step of the way; the way that director Joe Chapelle fit into the production; the great cast in the film – including Brian Cox who was cast as the Computer’s voice; casting director Don Phillips huge contribution; the shooting schedule – and when the troubles and what the troubles were during the production; what his theories are on why the film was not successful; and much more.  

Chaos In The Flesh: Filming Phantoms (24:21) – is an all-new interview with Director Of Photography Richard Clabaugh begins with a discussion of how he got the job on Phantoms and other Dimension films he shot.  Some of the details include the town in Colorado they filmed in – including some great anecdotes on how they accomplished some of the bigger effects practically; his responsibility as a second unit DOP on the film that he did before taking the full role as DOP; how the difficult the production was and the specific issues he had – included people that helped the production be stronger and the struggles that those that opposed that; some of the inconsistencies that happened with making the film a “Dimension” – how that affected the story; working with the various cast and crew; a discussion of the various scenes and what it took to accomplish these from a photographic perspective; the huge trouble they had in post-production with FX works, multiple endings, and other issues; and much more. 

Trailer (1:01)

TV Spot (0:31)

The Final Thought 

Regardless of your thoughts on Phantoms, this 4K UHD edition by Scream Factory is truly wonderful with great picture and extras.  Recommended for the biggest Phantoms fan (that includes Jay)!!! 

Scream Factory’s 4K UHD Edition of Phantoms is out July 16^th