It’s been 18 years since the last Phantasm movie, Oblivion, ominously floated onto video store shelves like a shiny, murderous ball. Now, director Don Coscarelli has released a new trailer for the franchise’s fifth (and likely final) installment, with Phantasm: Ravager set to debut on October 7.
The film once again pits ice-cream-man-turned-monster-hunter Reggie Bannister against the monstrous, inhuman Tall Man (still Angus Scrimm, who filmed his part before his death earlier this year). Plot coherence has never been the Phantasm films’ strong point—what with all the mirror monsters, dream sequences, and sequel-establishing fakeouts—but the latest movie seems to be a dimension-hopping post-apocalyptic tale, complete with the series’ iconic spheres showing off a new trick by laying waste to a city with giant laser beams. Honestly, we have no idea what’s actually going on in the trailer, but as long as Ravager still has big guns, Scrimm’s glowering performance, and flying, murderous orbs, our inner Phantasm fan is just happy to have it back.
Meanwhile, for those of you who’ve never indulged in Coscarelli’s cinematic madness, the J.J. Abrams-helmed remaster of the original film also had a trailer arrive today. You can check out the origin of Reggie, the Tall Man, and doom-prone brothers Jody and Mike (Bill Thornbury and A. Michael Baldwin) in all its 4k restored glory, before Phantasm: Remastered arrives in theaters for Art House Theater Day this Saturday, September 24.