31 Days of Horror: Phantasm

Writer / director Don Coscarelli made this low budget horror film in 1978. He would later bring to the big screen such cheesy masterpieces like The Beastmaster and Bubba Ho-Tep. Here he tries to actually create a horror film that scare the crap out of you.

The story has two orphaned brothers (A. Michael Baldwin and Bill Thornbury) looking into the mysterious deaths of the residents of the small town that they live in. They suspect that the local creepy mortician they call the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) is behind it. And it's not to hard to figure out that the Tall Man is behind it. There aren't too many other tall, creepy and sinister looking suspects to choose from. With the help of his evil jawa like minions - he has very some very sinister plans for our heroes.

This horror film has a huge cult following and Coscarelli has made three sequels so far but this is the best of the bunch. With the terror of the Tall Man and the shiny metal ball that he uses to zip around through the air looking for a head to impale - along with numerous twists and turns - this movie has an unsettling creepiness about it.