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| A mysterious flash at night attracts the prospective audience member's curiosity on this poster for Joe Chapelle's Phantoms |
Shortly after the arrival of two sisters to a small Colorado town, a ghost chaos descends over it: Lights flicker, alarms go off for no apparent reason, and people are found dead. Along with some policemen and a superstitious doctor, the sisters now fight against 'it'.
Phantoms is written by Dean R. Koontz (Odd Thomas (2013, novel)), based on his own same-titled 1983 novel, and directed by Joe Chappelle (Thieves Quartet (1993)).
Koontz' novel may be worth reading (or not), but this sci-fi horror film isn't scary, which is its main problem. Liev Schreiber (Mental (2012)) and Rose McGowan (The Black Dahlia (2006)) add quality, while Ben Affleck (Field of Dreams (1989)) doesn't seem credible as the sheriff, and Peter O'Toole (King Ralph (1991)) is also here - but you can't but wonder why.
Related post:
1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: 5.6 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertain - but likely a huge flop
[Phantoms was released 23 January (USA) and runs 91 minutes. Shooting took place from October - December 1996 in Colorado. It opened #9 to a 3 mil. $ first weekend in North America. If made on a realistic 10 mil. $ budget, and with a projected total world gross of 9 mil. $, the film would rank as a huge flop with a return of 0.9 times its cost. Chappelle returned with Takedown (2000). Affleck returned in Armageddon (1998); McGowan in Devil in the Flesh (1998, video) and theatrically in Southie (1998). Phantoms is rotten at 13 % with a 4.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Phantoms?
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