10 Great Films Under 95 Minutes Long
9. Phantasm (89 Mins)
An ambitious horror film from 1979. Not content with just putting a monster on screen and having it chase some teens around, Phantasm engages with a level of world building that stands out in a genre which relies on tropes more than any other.
Phantasm teases many distinct plot threads, leaving the viewer with just enough information to spark their imagination while stopping short of adding too much exposition.
At its heart, the film is about an extradimensional invasion instigated by The Tall Man, an imposing boogeyman who’s masquerading as the local undertaker so he can exhume corpses from the graveyard and transform them into monsters. It’s a brilliantly bonkers plot.
It would be wrong to not mention the iconic “murder balls” - cricket ball sized metallic spheres - equipped with tiny saws and drills - which hover through the air seeking to mine the contents from their victim’s skulls.
J.J. Abrams is purported to be a fan of the Phantasm series. In fact, Captain Phasma from The Force Awakens as a direct reference to these gruesome machines, both in her name and the design of her chrome armour.