Reasonable supernatural horror, the action taking place in a small town where all the inhabitants have vanished or are dead.
The first half hour builds up tension quite well as two sisters return to the town only to find a few dead bodies and some dismembered body parts. Ben Affleck comes on the scene as a very young looking Sheriff, and the plot sort of meanders along until the introduction of Peter O'Toole as an expert in strange phenomenon. The horror turns out to be an evil entity from the depths of the earth, having similar Devil characteristics to those seen in 'Quatermass and the Pit'.
The film is forgetable but is still better than most horror/monster movies that are churned out these days. 'Phantoms' rarely resorts to cheap humour or trite one-liners and, despite the presence of Affleck, doesn't fall back on any romance to pad out the plot. The horror theme stays strong throughout, and while there are obvious ideas lifted from other films - 'The Andromeda Strain' and particularly the metamorphosising dog from 'The Thing'- at least the film remains true to its roots.
The second half of the film begins to wilt but fortunately things are wrapped up quite quickly, and while the performances, effects and script are all routine, the story element itself is allowed to dominate and this is strong enough to carry the film past the average mark.
The first half hour builds up tension quite well as two sisters return to the town only to find a few dead bodies and some dismembered body parts. Ben Affleck comes on the scene as a very young looking Sheriff, and the plot sort of meanders along until the introduction of Peter O'Toole as an expert in strange phenomenon. The horror turns out to be an evil entity from the depths of the earth, having similar Devil characteristics to those seen in 'Quatermass and the Pit'.
The film is forgetable but is still better than most horror/monster movies that are churned out these days. 'Phantoms' rarely resorts to cheap humour or trite one-liners and, despite the presence of Affleck, doesn't fall back on any romance to pad out the plot. The horror theme stays strong throughout, and while there are obvious ideas lifted from other films - 'The Andromeda Strain' and particularly the metamorphosising dog from 'The Thing'- at least the film remains true to its roots.
The second half of the film begins to wilt but fortunately things are wrapped up quite quickly, and while the performances, effects and script are all routine, the story element itself is allowed to dominate and this is strong enough to carry the film past the average mark.