Back in 2014, author Dustin McNeill released the book Phantasm Exhumed: The Unauthorized Companion, a 268 page examination of the entire PHANTASM franchise – which at that time only consisted of four feature films, with a fifth on the way. Two years later, that fifth film, PHANTASM: RAVAGER was finally released into the world… and now McNeill is back with an all-new book that chronicles RAVAGER's journey to the screen.
162 pages long, the new book is called Further Exhumed: The Strange Case of Phantasm Ravager, and it has the following description:
The fifth and final PHANTASM took an incredible eight years to go from set to screen. The project began as an experimental short before becoming a thirteen part web series and finally a feature length sequel. Shot in secret on a microbudget, RAVAGER reunites PHANTASM ‘s core cast thirty-five years after the original cult classic. The new sequel filmed not in Hollywood soundstages but in the homes of cast and crew. Visual effects were handled mostly by the director. Decades-old props were taken out of storage and dusted off for reuse. They just don’t make movies like this anymore. In fact, they never really did to begin with. Such is THE STRANGE CASE OF PHANTASM RAVAGER!”
FURTHER EXHUMED includes:
– A thorough chronicle of the journey from web series to feature film
– Analysis of unproduced scripts by Roger Avary and Stephen Romano
– Examination of RAVAGER’s story, themes and conclusion
– Info on deleted scenes and alternate dialogue
– Why the film was delayed years after announcement
– Details on filming locations and special effects
– A breakdown of the Red Credit sequence
– Phantasmic Drink Recipes and Trivia Questions from the Hollywood Premiere
– More tips and tricks for better embalming (still kidding!)
The book was officially released today, January 22nd, and is available for order through Amazon.
PHANTASM: RAVAGER is indeed a strange case, an unsatisfying conclusion to the franchise that ditches a storyline that had been building up over the previous films in favor of dimension-jumping madness… but it is fun, and I'm interested in learning more about how we ended up with such an oddball film.