Phantoms (1998)
Rating: 2.0 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars - Debatable 2.5 stars - Some people may like it 3.0 stars - I liked it 3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out ********************************* A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: Joe Chappelle
Written by: Dean Koontz and Tegan West, from a novel by Dean Koontz
Starring: Rose McGowan, Joanna Going, Ben Affleck, Peter O'Toole
Ingredients: Giant blob creature, four people trapped in a small mountain town
Synopsis: A giant ancient petroleum-based blob creature who thinks of itself as Satan has killed a small town of 400 people, but it has left four people alive: a sheriff (Ben Affleck), a doctor and her sister (Rose McGowan, Joanna Going), and a scientist (Peter O'Toole). Because the blob thinks that it is Satan, it wants the four survivors alive to 'spread its gospel.' Instead, the four people intelligently try to figure out a way to kill the thing. Will they succeed?
Opinion: The movie starts out pretty well. A lady doctor and her sister are driving their vehicle in the sunny mountains. They pass by a sign that says, 'Snowfield, 4 miles.' Then the creepy music sets in. No sooner do the sisters reach the town than they discover (gasp!) that everyone in town is dead. In a better movie they might find themselves in a battle for survival against an evil creature. But in this movie the evil creature has already determined it wants the heroes to live, so there is not much chance of the women ever being in danger. That's where the movie begins to lose suspense; the audience already knows the girls can never get hurt. The other thing is, since the blob has already killed everyone in town in the first minute of the movie, there is not much for it to do the rest of the movie but sit around and wait for people to spread its 'gospel.' This doesn't make for an exciting or believable movie. There are a couple of scenes were tentacles jump out of dead people, and giant butterfly attacks the police, but it doesn't help the movie gain any momentum.
Reviewed by David Sunga January 23, 1998
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