Ben Affleck Sci-Fi Horror Cult Classic Rediscovered And Restored

Have you never seen Phantoms and want to know what this creepy film is about? It begins with a doctor bringing her younger sister to live with her in a ski resort village, but they find one dead body after another. They link up with the sheriff and others only to discover this isn’t the work of some serial killer but instead an ancient enemy of humanity who attacks people through the titular and tangible Phantoms it creates.

If you’re a horror fan, you’ll probably enjoy that Phantoms wastes no time jumping into the action. The two sisters discover those dead bodies almost right away, and every scene after that ramps the tension up. Your mileage may vary, but many fans enjoy their horror, lean, and mean, and Phantoms deserves special praise for filling almost the entirety of its 96-minute runtime with corpses and creepiness.

Of course, it’s impossible to talk about Phantoms without talking about its cast, which is a veritable “who’s who” of major Hollywood stars. Chief among them is Ben Affleck, who infuses his haunted sheriff with pathos even as he shows audiences what a great leading man he can be. If you’ve only heard about this film from Kevin Smith’s comedy Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, I’m happy to confirm what Ben Affleck says about his own career in that film: Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms.

He’s not the only famous face who brings this film to life. For example, Rose McGowan plays a great audience surrogate for all the horror around her, and her fellow Scream star Liev Schreiber oozes creepiness as a deputy who may pose a very different kind of threat to the group. Finally, Peter O’Toole steals every scene he is in as a disgraced academic and the only man in the world who understands the threat the town faces.

Sadly, Phantoms is a movie that went unappreciated in its time. At the box office, it only earned $5.6 million against a budget of more than $12 million, making it a bomb. Meanwhile, the movie currently has a 10 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was savaged by critical luminaries such as Roger Ebert.

Why is Phantoms getting a 4K upgrade and Blu-ray re-release, then? For one thing, this is a killer horror movie from the late ‘90s that every film fiend should see, and horror is one genre where you should always take critics’ reviews with a grain of salt. For another thing, there’s a reason the movie has built a cult following over the years, and modern audiences have learned to appreciate a movie that blends a fast pace, major frights, and big ideas into a slick package featuring great actors.

Whether you love Ben Affleck or original horror films or want to see some of your favorite Scream actors together again, Phantoms is worth watching. You can pre-order the restored 4K copy from Shout! Factory today to add another great title to your collection and to support physical media. Plus, consider this homework: if the Ancient Enemy ever comes to your town, you’ll know exactly what to do after you watch this film.