HorrorScience FictionThriller

Phantoms

- For centuries they told us the terror would come from above. We've been looking the wrong way.

In the peaceful Colorado town of Snowfield, something evil has wiped out the community. And now, it's up to a group of people to stop it, or at least get out of Snowfield alive.

Release Date : 1998-01-23

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Dimension FilmsRaven House, Inc.NEO Motion PicturesFuji Creative Corporation

Production Country : JapanUnited States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Sheriff Bryce Hammond

Original Name : Ben Affleck

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Timothy Flyte

Original Name : Peter O'Toole

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lisa Pailey

Original Name : Rose McGowan

Gender : Female

Character Name : Jennifer Pailery, M.D.

Original Name : Joanna Going

Gender : Female

Character Name : Deputy Stuart 'Stu' Wargle

Original Name : Liev Schreiber

Gender : Male

Character Name : Deputy Steve Shanning

Original Name : Nicky Katt

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gen. Leland Copperfield

Original Name : Clifton Powell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Scientist Lockland

Original Name : Rick Otto

Gender : Male

Character Name : Scientist Yamaguchi

Original Name : 周嘉玲

Gender : Female

Character Name : Scientist Burke

Original Name : Adam Nelson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Scientist Talbot

Original Name : John Hammil

Gender : Male

Character Name : Scientist Shane

Original Name : John Scott Clough

Gender : Male

Character Name : Soldier Velazquez

Original Name : Michael DeLorenzo

Gender : Male

Character Name : Scientist Borman

Original Name : William Hahn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Scientist Walker

Original Name : Robert Himber

Gender : Male

Character Name : Agent Hawthorne

Original Name : Bo Hopkins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Agent Wilson

Original Name : Robert Knepper

Gender : Male

Character Name : Church Soldier

Original Name : Paul Schmidt

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sgt. Harker

Original Name : Dean Hallo

Gender : Male

Character Name : Commanding Officer

Original Name : Clive Rosengren

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cpl. Guthrie

Original Name : Edmund Wyson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tunnel Boy

Original Name : Luke Eberl

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hilda

Original Name : Judith Drake

Gender : Female

Character Name : Cowgirl

Original Name : Yvette Nipar

Gender : Female

Character Name : Old Man at Bar (uncredited)

Original Name : Lonny Chapman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woman in Room 204 (uncredited)

Original Name : Linnea Quigley

Gender : Female

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

The first thing we'd like to know is what we're dealing with, biological, chemical, or other. Directed by Joe Chappelle and written by Dean Koontz, who adapts from his own novel, Phantoms (not the greatest title all things considered) is a considerably well put together amalgamation of horror/sci-fi/creature feature tropes. If at times it feels clichéd and formulaic, then that is ultimately a curse of the cinematic genres it lives and breaths in. Plot basically has two sisters played by Rose McGowan and Joanna Going arriving in the town of Snowfield, Cololrado, to find most of the inhabitants dead, diseased or dismembered. A trio of coppers turn up played by Liev Schreiber (shifty malevolence), Ben Affleck (square jawed bastion of heroism) and Nicky Katt (fodder of course), and thus a fight for survival ensues as Peter O'Toole's sharp doctor character comes flying in to become the fulcrum of the story. So yep! There's something very evil and nasty at work here and the makers expand upon the reasons why with a drip-feed mixture of mad science and intelligent thematic ideas. The effects work is more than adequate and the strong cast list perform well up to scratch (nice to see O'Toole doesn't phone it in to denigrate the story). Things are taken very seriously throughout, the makers in no way biting the hand that feeds them, while the requisite insertions of jump - shocks - twists and mayhem are handled with care and attention by the director. You may come away as I did with a hunger to dig out your copy of John Carpenter's sublime The Thing? Which in truth is never a bad "thing," but this is still sturdy stuff, a pic caked in genre cement, and crucially it doesn't waste the time invested by the genre compliant viewers. 7/10

Wuchak

@Wuchak

2021-06-23

The Thing’s long lost cousin (sort of) in an isolated town in the mountains of Colorado Two sisters (Rose McGowan & Joanna Going) visit a town in the Rockies, which is mysteriously absent of people except for a few corpses. They eventually encounter a Sheriff (Ben Affleck) and his deputies as the mystery deepens (Liev Schreiber plays one of the deputies). Peter O'Toole is on hand as an eccentric British writer who assists the group while Clifton Powell plays the commanding officer of an Army unit sent to the town. The movie came out in 1998 and was written by heralded horror author Dean Koontz (both the screenplay and the novel). The story is basically “The Thing” (1982) set in a Rockies town with various nuances, like the addition of two females. Speaking of whom, Rose and Joanna have stunning faces, but their beauty is never really capitalized on in the film. Joanna, for instance, wears ridiculously baggy tan slacks the entire runtime. The first half is nice & mysterious with several genuinely creepy sequences whereas the second half focuses on the incredible source of the horror and the complexities thereof. People complain about the latter portions, and I can see where they’re coming from, but I like the way the protagonists put their heads together to try to figure out and defeat the diabolical phenomenon. The film runs 1 hour, 36 minutes and was shot in Georgetown, Colorado. GRADE: B-