Poster and Teaser Trailer for 'Phantasm V: Ravager'

Truth be told, the Phantasm series has never really been my bag. I've only seen a couple of Don Coscarelli's oddball sci-fi/horror/whatever movies and they were too weird even for me. But there are people I know who have been clamoring for a fifth film ever since 1998's direct-to-video Phantasm IV: Oblivion. To Coscarelli's credit, he's stayed totally quiet on the subject for so long that we're only just learning of Phantasm V's existence as the teaser trailer hits.

Phantasm V: Ravager brings back much of the familiar cast; Reggie Bannister, Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Kat Lester and Angus Scrimm for what will be the final film in the franchise. Coscarelli steps aside as director for the first time, handing the reins over to David Hartman who shot it over the course of two years. He explained the decision to  EW....

Coscarelli: "I felt it was time to let someone else play with my train set. David and I go back to my film 'Bubba Ho-Tep'. He did terrific visual effects on that, and more recently created a wild animated sequence and some amazing visual effects in my most recent film, 'John Dies at the End'. Our aesthetics are in sync and he's quite an experienced director in his own right."

Check out the trailer below, and we'll let you know once it gains a release date.

Phantasm: Ravager - Teaser Trailer by Dread Central

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Trailer Time: John Dies at the End, starring Paul Giamatti and Chase Williamson

Here's the funny thing about Don Coscarelli's movies: I know more than a handful of friends who swear by three of his flicks, Phantasm, The Beastmaster, and Bubba Ho-Tep, but have no idea who the director was for any of them. They aren't hardened film geeks like me, but still I find that interesting, especially given the flat out weird vibe running through all of Coscarelli's stuff. In particular Bubba Ho-Tep has become something of a late night favorite of mine, and a part of me wishes we'd gotten the sequel(Bubba Nosferatu) it so deserved. Alas, we'll have to settle Coscarelli's latest turn for the strange, John Dies At the End.

Starring Paul Giamatti, Chase Williamson, Clancy Brown, Doug Jones, Rob Mayes, and Glynn Turman, the film is based on a lethal street drug known as "Soy Sauce" that really screws with your head and has some other more permanent side effects. I  level than everybody else here, and I like the appearance by Turman(Super 8, A Different World) even it's likely to only be brief. Based on a 2007 novel by Jason Pargin, this looks like a creature filled head trip, but one that might just be a lot of fun. No release date yet but hopefully we'll see it some time in 2012...

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