Despite a vast number of popular bestsellers, author Dean Koontz has not had the distinction of a proliferation of film adaptations like some of his contemporaries. However, one of his most well-read novels, Phantoms, was adapted for film in 1998 by Miramax, with Koontz as scriptwriter and Joe Chappelle directing. The production was fraught with turbulence and ultimately suffered from its release date, coinciding with a number of other like-minded releases as well as a prominent wave of slasher movies (of which Phantoms can only be moderately considered). Still, with its 25th anniversary looming, the body snatchers-esque film about an ancient enemy that has survived by feeding on and decimating civilizations is actually slightly better than memory serves.
The film has a cast of stars including Ben Affleck playing the young sheriff Bryce Hammond, Liev Schreiber as the seemingly malicious-intentioned Stu, Peter O’Toole as paleobiologist Dr. Timothy Flyte, and Rose McGowan basically here for screaming in the background. The setup is rather snappy for a film of this ilk: heading to the small resort town of Snowfield, both Dr. Jennifer Pailey (Joanna Going) and her sister Lisa (McGowan) encounter an entirely deserted area that they quickly find is due to the gruesome deaths of all its residents. Only Sheriff Hammond and his team remain, and ultimately they end up calling in the National Guard after finding that a malevolent ancient entity is at work in town that can shapeshift and consume the organs of its victims.
The scenes where the cast are traipsing around the deceptively quiet town are well-paced, and Phantoms‘ very abrupt start cues viewers into the tension quickly. Unfortunately, that element starts to stagnate once the film finds its limited settings – specifically a hotel and later a truck full of biological weaponry. The actors are good – Schreiber and O’Toole great – but the pacing wears rather thin as the film devolves into a series of encounters with body snatchers; slowly the plot slips away, with much of the actual idea of the phantoms of the film’s name lost to mumbo jumbo that isn’t explained properly enough to have much resonance.
There are some goopy practical effects here that often mimic similar movies like Carpenter’s The Thing, and these elements are some of the best Phantoms has to offer. Unfortunately consistency is not the film’s strong suit, and worse, the film doesn’t make good use of the sense of paranoia that is so present in the best body-snatching movies. While the ghost town atmosphere and occasionally snowy visuals are appealing, there’s just not enough going on in Phantoms‘ latter half to keep engagement high, and the conclusion’s muddled approach just adds insult to injury.
Still, Phantoms isn’t half-bad for what it does present, even if it pales in comparison to both its progenitor and other closely related films of its nature. While it’s clear this one suffers from production meddling, it’s an entertaining-enough watch to revisit and relive phantoms of the past.
4K UHD
Scream Factory has bypassed a Blu-ray release of Phantoms in favor of directly releasing a 4K UHD version of the film, and the results are exceptional. The new 4K scan of the original camera negative in 1.85:1 looks fantastic, with nary a sign of film damage. Strong textures and highly detailed backdrops abound, notable both with the mottled appearances of the film’s unfortunate victims as well as the various set pieces particularly in the quaint inn. Slick and slimy special effects are very prevalent in this transfer, maintaining a nice gloop that preserves the admittedly strong practical effects. The CGI, on the other hand… well the less said about it, the better. This release also features Dolby Vision HDR, and while the color scheme is fairly drab overall, the most prominent elements are the lighting effects which are quite strong; the visually dark appearance captures great black depths without losing any detail, most notable in the gorgeously-shot church sequence with the infected dog. Grain resolves very nicely and is fairly medium-bodied throughout. This is an impressive-looking release for Phantoms.
The film features both a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround track. Besides the ambient elements ported to the satellite speakers, they are effectively the same mix for dialogue and feature fairly strong volume despite a few discernible drops of specific whispered phrases. English subtitles are included as well.
For extras, Phantoms sports a surprisingly short list. It’s possible that a majority of cast and crew did not want to come back to discuss the film’s production due to a problematic time on set; however, an audio commentary discussing some of the production changes would have been a welcome addition here. Regardless, we do get a new interview with producer Joel Soisson about the making of the film where he touches on some of the production decisions that went into the movie as well as his role in getting it made altogether. There’s also a new interview with Director of Photography Richard Clabaugh who goes into detail about some of the lighting effects, trouble with reshoots, and different versions of the ending that never made it into the final cut. Finally, a trailer and TV spot round out the extras.
Extras
DISC ONE (4K UHD):
- NEW 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative Approved By Director Joe Chappelle
- Presented In Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible)
- Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround & 2.0 Stereo
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY):
- NEW 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative Approved By Director Joe Chappelle
- Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround & 2.0 Stereo
- NEW “Terror From Below: Making Phantoms” – An Interview With Producer Joel Soisson (1080p; 14:30)
- NEW “Chaos In The Flesh: Filming Phantoms” – An Interview With Director Of Photography Richard Clabaugh (1080p; 24:21)
- Trailer (1080i; 1:01)
- TV Spot (1080i; 0:31)
Verdict
Phantoms is an okay practical effects thriller adapting Dean Koontz’s novel into a semi-predictable creature feature. This 4K UHD release from Scream Factory has a great transfer that brings the movie to life again, though somewhat short on extras for a Collector’s Edition release.
