Phantasm and the Enduring Power of Liminal Horror
ScreenRant’s recent list of “Liminal Space Horror Movies That Still Haunt Us” includes many well-known titles that have shaped the genre. Among them is Phantasm (1979), a film that stands apart not only for its surreal visuals and eerie atmosphere, but also for its foundational role in what we now recognize as liminal horror. While the article highlights its strange, dreamlike qualities, Phantasm deserves a deeper look to fully understand its significance within the horror genre and its lasting cultural impact.
Contextualizing Phantasm in Late 1970s Horror
Released at a time when slasher films were beginning to dominate the horror landscape, Phantasm offered a radically different approach. While other films were focused on physical danger and linear narratives, Phantasm explored the abstract, the psychological, and the unknown. Its ambiguous storytelling and nonlinear progression placed it in stark contrast to the more grounded and formulaic horror that was emerging during that period.
Rather than aiming for conventional scares, the film delved into themes of grief, memory, and reality distortion. These ideas positioned Phantasm not only as a cult favorite, but also as a quiet pioneer in a form of horror that is only now being fully appreciated through the lens of liminality.
The Silver Spheres as Liminal Objects
One of the film’s most iconic and unsettling elements is the set of floating silver spheres. While the ScreenRant article mentions them briefly, their thematic and symbolic weight merits further attention. The spheres serve as liminal objects—tools that exist in a space between the technological and the supernatural. They move with artificial precision yet behave like living predators, draining blood and penetrating skulls in ways that feel both mechanical and ritualistic.
These objects blur categories. They are neither purely science fiction nor purely fantasy. Their function is never fully explained, which enhances their power as symbols of the in-between. They represent intrusion—of one world into another—and reinforce the sense that the rules of this universe are constantly shifting.
Sound Design and the Dreamlike Atmosphere
A crucial but often overlooked aspect of Phantasm’s effectiveness is its audio design. The film’s soundtrack, composed by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave, plays a significant role in shaping its liminal tone. The main theme loops in a way that feels both nostalgic and disorienting, moving between moods with a quiet unease.
Ambient sounds within the film—echoing corridors, subtle drones, mechanical hums—create an aural experience that feels suspended in time. These audio elements are essential in maintaining the illusion that nothing is stable or fully real. Together with the film’s visuals, they contribute to a sensory experience that mirrors the disjointed logic of dreams.
Portals, Dimensions, and the Unstable Divide Between Worlds
Beyond its soundtrack and visual oddities, Phantasm is filled with imagery that speaks directly to the idea of liminality. The film features physical portals to other dimensions, characters who shift states of being, and spaces that seem to defy normal laws of physics and continuity. The Morningside Mausoleum is a literal gateway, but so are the shifting graves, the disappearing corpses, and the characters who appear alive one moment and dead the next.
Nothing in Phantasm is static. Everything seems to be in transition—between worlds, between realities, between states of consciousness.
The Ending as the Ultimate Liminal Moment
The final scene of Phantasm exemplifies the core of liminal horror. After seemingly waking from a dream, the protagonist is pulled back into the nightmare, suggesting that both realities may be illusions. There is no resolution, only a deepening ambiguity. The viewer is left not with answers, but with questions—and the sense that they, too, are trapped in a transitional space with no clear way out.
This lack of closure is not a flaw but a feature. It aligns with the film’s broader interest in spaces that defy categorization. The ending reinforces the idea that horror can come not from what is seen, but from what remains unresolved.
Cultural Legacy and Renewed Recognition
Over the decades, Phantasm has maintained a strong cult following. Its unconventional structure and surreal tone have resonated with audiences looking for something beyond mainstream horror. More recently, as the concept of liminal horror has gained popularity online, the film has found a new audience. Its influence can be felt in contemporary works like Skinamarink, I Saw the TV Glow, and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, which similarly explore blurred boundaries between reality, memory, and imagination.
