PHANTASM doesn’t quite succeed as a horror film, feeling too outlandish to be truly frightening, but it's undeniably original and captivating in many ways. It seems the filmmakers were aiming to construct an entirely new and distorted world where appearances are deceptive and anything is possible—and likely will happen. Conventional logic quickly becomes irrelevant within this twisted landscape. A group of characters are dropped into this strange, surreal environment – perhaps even due to shortcomings in their performances – who feel like a natural part of the setting itself, despite struggling to understand or survive it. I found PHANTASM to have an almost mesmerizing quality because of these elements. Flying ball drills, a cemetery caretaker who changes gender, hooded corpses reduced for forced labor in another dimension, a finger that transforms into a bizarre (though somewhat humorous) fly, and countless other outlandish fantasies all contribute to unsettling visions that linger in my mind—regardless of how well they’re handled. They represent the essence of those darkest, most inexplicable episodes that intrude upon our sleep. The film's habit of abruptly shifting between realities – assuming there is a reality at all – leaves you constantly off balance. Dreams are very important and frequent throughout PHANTASM, to such an extent that by the conclusion, it’s hard to tell what was real and what wasn’t. In this regard, the movie explores territory later popularized by NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, but somehow achieves a dreamlike atmosphere that even Craven's film doesn't quite reach. Only Dario Argento’s similarly strange INFERNO comes close as another example of a dream brought to life on screen. PHANTASM is a singular and disorienting portrayal of an ordinary American town, interwoven with nightmarish visions of death, loss, and loneliness, seemingly drawn from the subconscious—perhaps even ultimately originating from the young, insecure, and isolated central character. As Poe wrote, "Is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?" PHANTASM makes a strong argument for that idea. I suggest those who aren’t initially impressed give it another viewing while considering these ideas.

Source on TMDB