Critic Reviews
Phantoms (1998) Rank 5 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (73) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Reviews by Score:
SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
Variety (Godfrey Cheshire)
Pic's virtues all stem from taking its genre imperatives absolutely seriously rather than condescending to them or playing cute. Even venerable O'Toole resists what must have been an obvious temptation to wink at his role, and delivers a solid, enjoyable ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Variety (Godfrey Cheshire)
BeyondHollywood.com
DVDTown (John J. Puccio)
THE WEEKLY MOVIE REVIEW
DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
Teen Movie Critic (Vivian Rose)
Houston Chronicle
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
B. Fatt & Lazy Movie Reviews
Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
Well-crafted in most aspects, Phantoms is finally more ambitious than satisfying. It also could have used more humor. But it can't be accused of insulting the intelligence of its audiences. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
Movie ram-blings (Ram Samudrala)
Advocate/Weekly Newspapers Online
Mutant Reviewers From Hell
Light Views, Reviews & Previews (John Larsen)
Cinema Laser (Derek M. Germano)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
The Boston Phoenix
Philadelphia City Paper (Cindy Fuchs)
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
Anchorage Press (William J. Thompson)
“Phantoms” is such crap, such insipid ballyhoo, such preposterous nonsense, that a new genre must be created so I can pigeon-hole this thing into oblivion. “Phantoms” does not even have the decency to overplay its kitsch like "Plan 9 From Outer ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Anchorage Press (William J. Thompson)
Joe Chamberlain
David Nusair
"Phantoms" is based on a novel by Dean Koontz, one of my favorite authors. In fact, I read the book about the same time I heard a movie was going to be made, and loved it. It was with this knowledge that I went into "Phantoms" expecting a kick-ass horror ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at David Nusair
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Arrow in the Head ("The Arrow")
Box Office Magazine
Boxoffice Magazine
Palo Alto Weekly (Susan Tavernetti)
TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Director Joe Chapelle knows how to stage a spooky scene, and Going and McGowan supply a refreshing alternative to the shrieking bimbos so familiar to horror fans. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
USA Today (Susan Wloszczyna)
Until it coughs up a ridiculously convoluted explanation of why an isolated town in Colorado suddenly goes deader than a weekday matinee of "The Postman," Phantoms delivers the shivers. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at USA Today (Susan Wloszczyna)
Film Threat (Ron Wells)
Hot Damn! A full-on gory (relatively) unpretensious horror movie!... Far better than it has any right to be. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Film Threat (Ron Wells)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
A horror film that starts out creepy but ends up disjointed and borderline- incoherent. It's a shame that the final product isn't a little better packaged because, unlike many lame entries into the genre, this one actually contains a few interesting, ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Cinematter (Matt Williams)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
U.S. Distributor: Dimension Films Snowfield, Colorado. In the summer, it has a population of 4000. In the winter, it has a population of 400. On this day, it has a population of 4. So begins Dean Koontz's Phantoms, a horror film that starts out creepy bu ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
The effects are murky and the giant worm looks more like a smear on the lens than anything else. Most of the intensity is generated by sudden sound effects like ringing phones, alarm clocks or oven timers. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
All the movie's free-form horror phenomena might have been more interesting if the plot didn't keep insisting on a systematic explanation for them. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
Film Threat (--)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Liam Lacey)
For about 20 minutes, Phantoms, based on Dean Koontz's bestseller, keeps you guessing. After that, it barely keeps you awake. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Liam Lacey)
FilmLand Web (--)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Two sisters travel to a small town in Colorado only to find that the inhabitants have all died mysterious and grisly deaths, save for the sheriff and a pair of deputies who are trying to get to the bottom of things. What is causing people to die without s ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Sometimes in horror movies, bad acting is effective, its very woodenness contributing to the sense of robotic horror. That ain't happening here. These guys are just bad actors. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Director Chappelle lays on the spook factor heavy in the first 30 minutes or so, but the film quickly devolves into a simplistic slash 'n' bash shoot-'em-up which goes nowhere fast. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Detroit News (Susan Stark)
Dragan Antulov
Globe and Mail (--)
San Francisco Chronicle (Ruthe Stein)
A horror movie that has the distinction of not even being scary... Although Koontz wrote the screenplay, the suspense for which he is supposed to be famous doesn't translate to the screen. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Ruthe Stein)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Did you know that if a certain kind of worm learns how to solve a maze, and then you grind it up and feed it to other worms, the other worms will then be able to negotiate the maze on their first try? That's one of the scientific nuggets supplied in ``Pha ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
A movie, based on the popular Dean Koontz novel, that seems to have been made by grinding up other films and feeding them to this one. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Movie Poop Shoot (Michael Dequina)
Quickly degenerates from X-Files to Baywatch Nights once the culprit is ultimately revealed. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Movie Poop Shoot (Michael Dequina)
eFilmCritic.com (--)
Entertainment Weekly (Ty Burr)
It's nearly unwatchable, a farrago of confusing direction, stupid plot coincidences, and banal dialogue. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Ty Burr)
Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
San Francisco Examiner (Walter Addiego)
The New York Times (Stephen Holden)
The movie's computer animation is so cut-rate and its direction (by Joe Chappelle) so slack that the attacks are virtually terror-free. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at The New York Times (Stephen Holden)
LA Weekly (Hazel-Dawn Dumpert)
Since neither (Chapelle nor Koontz) seems to have any idea as to how to make an actual movie, they abandon form and reason and throw every stock trick in the book at the screen to see what sticks. And what sticks is the murky goo of storytelling gone bad. ...read the complete Phantoms movie review at LA Weekly (Hazel-Dawn Dumpert)
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