Exclusive: Don Coscarelli Talks Phantasm: Ravager and More!
Staci Layne Wilson
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It’s always a pleasure to talk to an undisputed master of horror, Don Coscarelli – over the years we’ve talked to him about his movies from The Beastmaster to Bubba Ho-Tep to John Dies At The End. And of course, there’s the inevitable and inimitable Phantasm sci-fi horror film series he created back in the late 70s and continues to shepherd to this day. Don acts as the producer of the latest (and last?) entry, Phantasm: Ravager (review). He’s also unveiling a newly remastered version of the original Phantasm for the big screen so, knowing how busy his schedule is, we were delighted when the filmmaker sat down to talk with us about both projects.
Dread Central: What’s it like revisiting the movie you made so long ago, especially in such an intimate, frame-by-frame way, on the restoration?
Don Coscarelli: Oh, well, for me it’s great because there were a lot of errors back in the day in the laboratories in the seventies. I don’t know if there was a lot of weed smoking going on there or what but there were a lot of flaws and defects. Two of the best parts were, I was able to frame the movie correctly and also the movie was done decades before visual effects and so everything was done with paperclips and tape and a lot of fishing line. We flew those balls with fishing line and I think fans have been very charitable with some of the scenes and all of that is just gone but also just as exciting is the audio restoration. The tracks that were originally mono, really have a full featured stereo and all the hard effects have much more impact, I’m just so happy with that. Filmmakers, when we watch our films, we’re looking at the flaws so if you can go in and erase maybe seventy to eighty percent of them, then it’s just a joy for me to watch now.
DC: How would you describe the legacy of the movie?
DC: It’s very hard to have perspective to tell you the truth because decades ago when we made the movie, the notion was to just make a movie that you could get into a few theaters and maybe get a few people popping out of their seats in spots, that was the main goal. But it had a lot going for it that I didn’t necessarily realize at the time. A lot of great collaborators created this landmark iconic role, who would have thought? I mean, I had an idea he’d be good but I didn’t really see this. Then surrounded by the rest of the cast, each one has their appeal in a certain way and the young boy, who was maybe one of the better child actors of that era, and then you had Bill Farmer who played the brother, it was just a character that was very integral to the movie now that I watch it again, and he had an impact on people. Then you had the sidekick Reggie, so the actors were really important and I had a really amazing set of composers who created this iconic theme that is haunting and sticks with people through the years, a very compelling central concept, what happens when you die, years can go by and that question will not be answered and so people want to think about that and chew on that idea. There are other aspects of it that I didn’t realize till recently, that there’s a sub cult of men who are in their thirties, forties and fifties now, who saw the movie when they were twelve and in a way it was like a male teen empowerment movie because you had this kid who was driving their car, shooting a shotgun, fighting the undead, drinking Mexican beer so kids at that age, it stuck with them. Another thing was some of the scares, you see I’m thinking now why it caught on but of course I never thought that any of those would, like for instance, I didn’t know that if you made a movie with a couple of good scares in it, which the film has, that those people who had never seen a scary movie, that would be the first movie that ever scared them and everybody seems to hold onto the first movie that scares them and then remember and talk about it and share it.
DC: So, kind of a coming of age for the characters and the fans.
DC: Now you remind me of that, it has to do with the fact that it’s a movie from the seventies and eighties so it’s a nostalgia piece in some respects and also the amount of love that is coming out just with this re-release and people are just so excited. I’ve been thinking about the movie a lot and have decided it’s a total mystery and it’s a complete blessing. It’s wonderful to have that for me but also it’s something that I think about as well [the fan base].
DC: Do you still have the original black ‘Cuda featured in the first movie?
DC: The original car was lost after the making of the film because I made this incredible bad decision to saw open the roof and put a sun roof in it because I had this idea of someone popping out to shoot the shotgun and back then it was just a car. So that car, unfortunately that sun roof that was put in there did not hold water and it got all filled with mildew and I think the last sighting of it was in a car lot out in the desert, but the point is people always come up to me with photos and say this might be the Phantasm car, because in the seventies and eighties, everyone had a car, well a lot of them, and took them home and painted them black so there are a lot of clone versions floating around that a lot of people drove for a lot of years but definitely, it’s a car from another era but it still looks good on-screen.
DC: With so many classic horror movies, and just beloved movies in general, being turned into TV series, so you think Phantasm could make that leap too?
DC: It does seem like it could of course, and without any sarcasm, Supernatural has proven that two guys driving around in a black muscle car can play for ten years, fighting evil so yeah, it’s certainly something to explore. About ten years ago there was a big push by New Line, they were interested in doing a remake, they did a lot of publicity about it very prematurely and we didn’t ultimately do it, and one of the big reasons was is that we needed a total recast and honestly I just couldn’t face making a Phantasm movie without Angus Scrimm involved while he was still alive so we put that on hold. Then this, Ravager, we had the opportunity to make it and so all of those kind of things have been put on hold because it’s taking Dave the director forever to finish the visual effects to get this out but I think next year, once all the movies are out and distributed and hopefully we’ve created some new fans, it might be a good time to try something like that. I think the core concept of a mysterious figure, an invasion from another world, all of that could work in a lot of different areas in a lot of different locations.
DC: You have so much going on right now… and what’s next on the horizon?
DC: I have lots of plans but whether they come to fruition is a whole different thing. I can see where I came from to where I am now and sure, the future is bright. I would love to do more in the Bubba Ho-Tep world, I’ve been very public about that. Finding the right situation, if Bruce Campbell was to be involved, that’s what kept that from not happening last time. But Elvis is eternal and there have been other people who have played it so who knows? I’d still love to do something with that. I’d like to do something with Phantasm as well. I’m executive producing a movie that Chase Williamson actually has a part in, called Applecart, that the producer from John Dies At The End is directing, his name is Brad Baruh. It stars Brea Grant, a very good actress, and Brad has created something that was all shot up in the mountains in the snow and… wow, how do I describe Applecart? It is an amazingly structured different movie, but firmly in horror and the blood does flow so we’ll get some info to you soon, but I’ve got a couple other scripts I’m trying to get funding for.
The 4k restoration of Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm premiered at this year’s SXSW in Austin. All five films, including Remastered and Ravager will be available on digital HD on On Demand October 4th, but Remastered and Ravager will be in theaters October 7th!
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