The Tall Man has haunted horror fans for over 35 years, but now his nightmare-inducing dwarves and deadly bladed spheres are going to thrill and chill like never before in high-definition, as it's been revealed that J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions is working with Don Coscarelli on a 4K restoration of Phantasm.
Word of Phantasm's 4K restoration from the original camera negative comes from Ain't It Cool News' Quint, who reported the exciting news from Butt-Numb-A-Thon 17, Harry Knowles' annual film festival that took place this weekend at Austin's Alamo Drafthouse.
Abrams, Bad Robot, and Coscarelli have been keeping the restoration under wraps, but the silence has now been broken, along with the reveal of two crystal clear stills from the 4K makeover (shown below).
Phantasm has never been released on Blu-ray, so this 4K news comes as a surprise holiday gift for fans dying to see the horror of the Tall Man's morgue properly depicted in high-def. There's no word yet on when Phantasm will make its Blu-ray debut, but we'll keep Daily Dead readers updated on further details.
Also revealed at Butt-Numb-A-Thon was fresh footage from the long-awaited fifth (and likely last) film in Coscarelli's macabre franchise: Phantasm: Ravager. Directed by David Hartman instead of Coscarelli (although the latter still co-wrote and produced the movie), Ravager reportedly hasn't hit its expected 2015 release schedule due in part to Coscarelli's involvement on the restoration (and if that's the case, Phantasm fans likely won't mind waiting a bit longer for the sequel knowing that the original is finally getting its high-def due).
Tying two beloved franchises together, Abrams mentioned earlier this year that Phantasm inspired the name given to Captain Phasma, the chrome stormtrooper played by Gwendoline Christie in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates. In the meantime, we have a look at two stills from the 4K restoration of Phantasm, courtesy of Ain't It Cool News:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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