Phantoms

MPAA Rating: R

Entertainment: +1 1/2

Content: -2

To get her away from their alcoholic mother, Dr Jennifer Pailey (Joanna Goins) takes her sister Lisa (Rose McGowan) to her home in Snowfield, Colorado. Snowfield is an isolated town nestled in the mountains with a population of about 400 except in tourist season. But when Jenni and Lisa roll into town, there's no one there - alive. They discover some corpses and severed body parts but feel safer when the sheriff (Liev Schieber) and his deputy Stu (Ben Affleck) arrive. But soon they are under attack by a creature that dissolves victims in seconds and disappears. Dr. Timothy Flyte (Peter O'Toole), a specialist in ancient civilizations, and a team of Army chemical warfare experts are brought to Snowfield. But the creature does away with the team and it's up to Flyte and the girls to find its weakness.

Typical of recent horror films, it depends on shock, gore and special affects to scare viewers. The predictable action begins to bore rather than entertain. The best thing about the film is it's brevity. But it's long enough to assault the senses with gross corpses, severed body parts and ugly creatures leaving gory victims. The creature is referred to as living deep in the earth and existing for centuries. Flyte calls it "the ancient enemy" in articles he writes for tabloids. When confronting the creature, it tells Flyte to write the gospel and witness the miracles. It apparently absorbs the intelligence of it's victims and can take on any form. There are a few references to being absorbed as a form of hell. The sheriff says the creature's like Satan who thought himself like God but was cast down and defeated. Destroying it involves lots of gun shooting. A part of it takes Stu's form and chases the girls even after being blown in half. Along with the violence, several crude words, 10 f- and s-words, as well as God's name used in vain several times pollute the dialogue. PHANTOMS is not worth the time.

Preview Reviewer: Paul Bicking
Distributor: Dimension Films, 375 Greenwich, NY NY 10013

Summary
The following categories contain objective listings of film content which contribute to the subjective numeric Content ratings posted to the left and on the Home page.

Crude Language: Several (9) times - mild 5, moderate 4

Obscene Language: Many (12) times - S 3, F 7, other 2

Profanity: Several (8) times - regular 6 (G 1, GD 1, J/C 4) exclamatory 2

Violence: Many times - Moderate and Severe (severed heads/hands, bloody corpses, graphic shootings, creature attacks bodies then they seem to come back to life, dead body grows tentacles and comes back to life)

Sex: None

Nudity: None

Sexual Dialogue/Gesture: None

Drugs: None

Other: Creature lures victims singing 'Jesus Loves Me' in child's voice, reference to Satan falling because he thought be as great as God, creature tells Flyte to write the gospel and witness miracles

Running Time: 90 minutes
Intended Audience: Older teens and adults

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