vitaman2007
Sentinel Sphere
"Be de be de be de...f#@ you Buck!"
Posts: 698
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Post by vitaman2007 on Sept 10, 2008 8:39:59 GMT -5
Well my suspicions were correct.
If you notice the scene where Jody pops up from behind Reg in the Cuda, he is initially wearing a graver (gas) mask. I wasn't a 100% sure until I replaced my old VHS copy with the DVD.
Here is another one concerning the theory that The Tall Man is the devil/satan/death.
If you notice the scene when Angus is walking down the abandoned city street, he passes a numbered building 5466. The next consecutive number in reverse of "5" and "4" would be "6" , thus giving you 666.
By chance?
Maybe.
Could it be Kubrick's influence, where every scene has some cryptic meaning or purpose.
Probably...
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Post by playdrums on Sept 10, 2008 8:49:51 GMT -5
Well, indeed
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Post by gopher in heat on Sept 10, 2008 17:02:35 GMT -5
I've known about the graver mask for a long time. Read it in something I believe.
The 5466 thing... seems like a bit of a stretch.
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Post by 4barrelhemi on Sept 10, 2008 21:09:09 GMT -5
This is the first I've heard about the Graver mask I'll have to rewatch it. Is there any reason given why he has it on?
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Post by The Never Dead on Sept 10, 2008 22:04:09 GMT -5
I've never known about the graver mask. I'll have to look for it next time I give OblIVion a watch.
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Post by Natalie on Sept 11, 2008 5:39:00 GMT -5
Yeah, I knew about the graver mask. I think it was stated on its IMDB page............
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Post by mirai on Sept 11, 2008 5:44:17 GMT -5
i noticed the Gravers mask before, but i wasnt sure
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Post by OblivionGoon on Sept 12, 2008 11:30:57 GMT -5
As many times as I have seen that flick, I didn't notice the graver mask. Shucks, I suppose I will have to watch it one more time.
As for the 5466 deal. When they shot that scene, it was done on the fly. There is no way Coscarelli meant for that to mean anything. I don't think they even had a permit to shoot it.
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Post by The Never Dead on Mar 15, 2009 8:52:05 GMT -5
It's definitely the graver's mask. You can easily tell by watching the Anchor Bay DVD. I'm sure it's obvious on the MGM DVD as well.
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Post by krakenslayer on Mar 15, 2009 13:52:09 GMT -5
I think 5466 is a coincidence. It's more likely that that part of the street was the only place they couId get permission to close down for shooting.
Also, I don't buy the theory that the Tall Man is Satan. He doesn't seem to be motivated by "evil", and he doesn't seem to be interested in simple immorality or destruction - his aims are both more complex and more "practical" than that. Phantasm, I think, takes place in a harsh, godless universe, where even the "magic" powers of the Tall Man only serve to conceal cold, incomprehensible technology. At the point in Phantasm where the guys discover the spacegate room in the mortuary, the "supernatural", eerie gothic-horror facade is stripped away, IMO. I think the whole veil of superstition around death (and un-death) that people have is just something that the Tall Man uses to conceal himself and exert an intimidating influence.
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vitaman2007
Sentinel Sphere
"Be de be de be de...f#@ you Buck!"
Posts: 698
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Post by vitaman2007 on Mar 15, 2009 19:29:05 GMT -5
I think this link dovetails into the debate quite nicely: dustinmcneill.proboards50.com/index.cgi?board=phantasm&action=display&thread=134I believe the spacegate room (with it's blinding white interior) symbolizes knowledge or "illumination" . Therefor, not only is the Tall Man "The Lord of the Dead"(ref: P3), but the "Lord of Light", which can be interpreted (depending on who you agree with) as being representative of evil. Light (white), in this case, represents the opposite of good, which is a common ploy used by practitioners of wickedness. Jody from P3: "Stay away from the light". As far as 5466 being coincidental...well that may be true from a time constraint stand point, but maybe it was supposed to happen that way. Thus, it was intentionally random.
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Post by krakenslayer on Mar 15, 2009 20:17:52 GMT -5
I think this link dovetails into the debate quite nicely: dustinmcneill.proboards50.com/index.cgi?board=phantasm&action=display&thread=134I believe the spacegate room (with it's blinding white interior) symbolizes knowledge or "illumination" . Therefor, not only is the Tall Man "The Lord of the Dead"(ref: P3), but the "Lord of Light", which can be interpreted (depending on who you agree with) as being representative of evil. Light (white), in this case, represents the opposite of good, which is a common ploy used by practitioners of wickedness. Jody from P3: "Stay away from the light". I think the "light" when they discover the spacegate room (in contrast to the gloomy gothic interiors in the rest of the mortuary) symbolises "awakening", as in the shedding of frightening but oddly comforting superstitions, notions of things like magic and devils, and the blinding realisation of the harsh and brutal reality. Up until that point, the characters (and the audience) have assumed that the Tall Man is some sort of demonic being, but the moment they walk into that room they are faced with the realisation that the truth is not only far stranger than they imagined, but stranger than they ever could imagine. That's what's scary about the Tall Man. He's not simply some creepy stock monster, like a vampire or a demon, that can be easily pigeon-holed and understood. He is something uncategorizable. The nature of his powers - the fact that they initially appear to be the result of "magic" but are later revealed to be the result of an unconceivably superior technology - contribute to they horrifying nature of the character; it faces us with the uncomfortable prospect of a real and physical intellect so incredibly powerful that its machinations are indistinguishable from magic. It humbles us and makes us fear the unknown again.
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Post by tallman3 on May 7, 2009 17:42:49 GMT -5
The Tall Man is an unrelenting, unfeeling, superior technology, alien force, continually seeking dead human bodies to transform into reanimated dwarfs to work forever as slaves on his hot climate, desert planet, with the extremely heavy gravity. I see a similarity between the Tall Man, aliens, and the robotlike, half-human, half-machine Borg on Star Trek. The Tall Man works solely to benefit his alien planet by producing slave dwarfs from dead humans. The Borg worked solely to assimilate all spacecraft and humans to benefit the Borg collective and the Borg Queen. "Prepare to be assimilated, resistance is futile".
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Post by tallman3 on May 7, 2009 17:49:27 GMT -5
The Tall Man cannot be pigeoned holed into some evil/Satan/vampire/Frankenstein like character. He is nothing more than the unrelenting, unfeeling, regenerative alien with extreme strength and telekinnetic powers as I described before.
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Post by nightflier51 on May 18, 2009 23:18:46 GMT -5
As for the 5466 theory, i dont think the character of tall man has anything to do with satan or 666. He is from something else other than anything we have ever known. Probably neither of heaven or hell. If you remember mike in the hearse in phantasm 4 says to tall man " d**n you to hell" and the tall mans response was " not possible".
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