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Phantasm: Ravager and Remastered Blu-Ray Details!

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After nearly 20 years of waiting and hoping from Phans, 2016 finally brought us the long-awaited fifth installment in Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm franchise. Although this time directed by David Hartman instead of Coscarelli – with the latter still playing a big role as writer and producer – Ravager arrived to mostly positive reviews from series diehards, despite some iffy low-budget CGI effects and an ending that raised more questions than it answered.

A few weeks prior to Ravager’s debut saw the release of Phantasm: Remastered, a remastered version of the original classic personally supervised by Coscarelli, and funded in part by Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams. At the time of their original release announcements, distributor Well Go USA promised that both Ravager and Remastered would make their way to Blu-Ray by the end of the year, and the full details on both are now in.

Late to the Party: Phantasm (1979)

Phantasm: Remastered

  • New 5.1 Surround Sound
  • Original Mono Track
  • Audio Commentary with Director & Writer Don Coscarelli, Michael Baldwin (Mike), Angus Scrimm (The Tall Man), and Bill Thornbury (Joan)
  • Graveyard Carz Episode
  • Interviews from 1979 with Don Coscarelli and Angus Scrimm
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Trailers

Phantasm: Ravager

  • Audio Commentary with Director David Hartman and Writer / Producer Don Coscarelli
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Phuntasm: Bloopers and Outtakes
  • Trailer

On the surface, Ravager has a fairly light extras haul, although what’s there sounds pretty interesting. The commentary with Hartman and Coscarelli will probably be the most treasured feature, as hopefully the duo can help Phans make a bit more sense out of that  ending. It’ll also be interesting to what scenes didn’t make the final cut.

As for Phantasm: Remastered, extras wise it seems to retain just about everything from the original MGM DVD release, although it’s sadly missing the extras from the later Anchor Bay DVD. In that respect, this can’t be considered a definitive home edition. Still, the main attraction is no doubt FINALLY having the film itself in glorious restored HD, instead of the often murky VHS and DVD transfers viewers have been offered up until now.

Both Phantasm: Remastered and Phantasm: Ravager hit Blu-Ray on December 6th. Well Go USA has yet to announce Blu-Ray releases for Phantasms III and IV, although both sequels can currently be purchased in digital HD formats.

Phantasm Remastered Poster

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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