Horror is making money hand over fist right now and you have to imagine that anyone with the rights to a beloved classic horror franchise might be looking at Danny McBride and David Gordon Green’s soft reboot/continuation of Halloween with envious eyes.
Speaking of which, in a Reddit AMA, McBride was asked which franchise he’d like to see back on the big screen and he picked a stone cold cult classic: Phantasm. For those not familiar with the series, it begins with Don Coscarelli’s 1979 original, in which evil undertaker the Tall Man is transforming Earth’s dead into dwarf zombies that will be sent to his planet and used for slave labour (it makes more sense in context!).
Despite landing to mixed reviews, time has been kind to its charms, with contemporary critics praising the film’s surreal narrative and imagery. It eventually did well enough to merit four sequels, too: Phantasm II, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, Phantasm IV: Oblivion and Phantasm: Ravager. I haven’t actually seen any of them, but the last one came out as recently as 2016, so the franchise hasn’t been dormant for long.
David Gordon Green was asked the same question, and he responded that he’d like to see Chopping Mall (killer robots dismember teenagers in a mall) and Sleepaway Camp (mysterious killings in a summer camp with a seriously bonkers twist ending) resurrected. While I don’t think certain elements of plot of Sleepaway Camp would fly these days without a few serious alterations, you certainly can’t go wrong with killer robots and teenagers. Plus, it’d be a great opportunity to re-use Chopping Mall‘s awesome tagline: “where shopping costs an arm and a leg!”
Talking about these classics really takes me back – I can almost smell the cigarette-stained carpet of the video rental shop right now. Are there any schlock horrors you’d like to see make a return, though? Let us know in the comments section below.
