“You’re never coming back you goddamn bastard!”
Sound, Safety, and Bereavement in Phantasm
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36399/GroundingsUG.11.176Keywords:
Phantasm, Scene Study, Sound, Safety, Bereavement, Don CoscarelliAbstract
Don Coscarelli’s 1979 sci-fi horror film Phantasm essentially depicts Mikey and his older brother Jody’s battle against, and eventual defeat of, an extraterrestrial undertaker: the Tall Man. Ultimately, it is revealed that Jody is in fact recently deceased and the entire plot was Mikey’s fantastical nightmare, the product of his grieving imagination. One scene’s use of sound is analysed here for its effectiveness in concisely tying together the disparate strands of Mikey’s subjective experience. Through the use of hushed dialogue, relational silences—particularly in relation to music—and the strategic repetition of doors being slammed, the soundtrack of this extract functions to elaborate upon the subthemes of sibling affection, abandonment, and ultimately profound terror. The audience is thus led through numerous stages of Mikey’s emotionally unstable psyche: from comforting relief, to deep distress, and finally fear.
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