There are tall men, and then there's the "Tall Man". I actually saw the trailer, or preview, if you like, for Phantasm while awaiting the start of Invasion of the Body Snatchers in December of 1978. And I remember the trailer quite well, considering that the upcoming film looked scary as the word itself. The part in the trailer that really got to me was the scene in which the main antagonist, the Tall Man, played by Angus Scrimm, is standing outside of some kid's bedroom window (at night) looking in over the kid's head. It freaked me out ... Completely out. And being a horror film buff - even then at such a young age - I'd immediately said to my mother who had been sitting next to me: 'Ooh, ma, I wanna see that movie!' Phantasm looked horrifying ... And I loved horrifying movies. My mother said 'Yes'.

It would be the next year, in April of 1979, that we (only my mother and me that time) would finally see Phantasm. And it's scary as hell, I tell ya. Scary as hell. Oh, and as I'd also learned, the kid, whose window it was that the Tall Man stood outside of in the trailer, is named Mike. Scary as hell, I tell ya.

Be prepared, if you'll be a first time watcher of this cult horror, to scream and jump and feel chills as you're absorbing it. It is just that creepy. And I do believe that Clive Barker (God love him) would later borrow more than a few of the elements from Phantasm for his own cult masterpiece, "Hellraiser". I reckon that I'll always believe that to be the truth. Phantasm is sheer and ultimate terror. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.

Watch this one with the lights on, folks.