Independent film director Don Coscarelli is attempting to scare up a video game adaption of his cult classic horror/fantasy franchise, Phantasm. Posting on Twitter, Coscarelli claimed that there’s never been a better time for an adaption of the horror films to a new medium and called out to friends in the game industry and film fans to put their momentum behind the idea.
The most common question I get about PHANTASM is…..
WHEN WILL THERE BE A VIDEO GAME?
What better time than NOW.
To all my friends in the video game industry. DMs are open.
To all the PHANS reply to this thread and tag who would do it justice. pic.twitter.com/AuCfFnX3kv
— Don Coscarelli (@DonCoscarelli) March 22, 2022
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First released in 1979, the original Phantasm is a surreal cult classic that wowed critics upon its initial release. More films came over the years, finishing off with Phantasm: Ravager in 2016. That film was released after the death of main star Angus Scrimm, who portrayed longtime series antagonist The Tall Man.
While a new movie is likely out of the question due to Scrimm’s death, an interactive continuation makes sense, and it would follow a trend of horror games hitting the mainstream in recent times. Everything from the hype surrounding Ghostwire: Toyko to Dead by Daylight‘s menagerie of classic movie killers hints that there’s an audience for horror in games, and a successful adaptation could only help in keeping these cult classics alive in the public consciousness.
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It remains to be seen if Coscarelli’s call to arms will lead to any developments, especially since the director encouraged fans to tag studios that might be well-suited to the project. Considering that everything from The Warriors to Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis has seen an interactive interpretation, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that The Tall Man and his army of dwarf zombies could rent a new lease on life on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.