Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge 1989

 Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge 1989

PLOT - A guy called Eric owns a huge house and some greedy people want to build a mall over it. So they get someone to burn down his house. Eric is badly burned but not dead, and a year later the mall opens. What they don't realize is that Eric is living underneath the mall and he's very angry! 

LOWDOWN -  I originally wanted to buy this movie before black Friday and do this whole write up the week after Thanksgiving on horror movies that are set around a mall, instead I waited too long and ended up buying the movie from VHSPS on black Friday itself. For a while now I had heard about this title and thought with a title, story, and year it was released, it had to be good. Well, sorta...

It took me two viewings to actually watch Phantom Of The Mall, in fact I'm still sure I missed a huge chunk of the movie simply because I'm knitting a scarf as a Christmas gift for someone, and I decided to multitask while watching this movie, somehow my the grace of God I kept either looking away, or wasn't paying much attention and it seemed as if huge chunks of the movie had gone by without me even noticing! So I guess it's clear that Phantom of the Mall didn't hold my intrest that long, in fact it was a struggle. A movie like this seems like my idea of a good time. Released in the late 80's, this film sadly got mixed up with so many other movies as the 90's began. Horror was quickly going down hill and it would take another several years before a new life took form. I still strongly believe there are some truly awesome horror and thrillers released from the early to mid 90's. Was Phantom of the Mall one of them? Eh, not really...

The movie sorta reminds me of Popcorn, released in the early 90's, with a key plotline about a male character being badly burned. In fact Eric himself is played by Derek Rydall, who appeared as Mark in Popcorn, or as I like to see him as, the guy who gets punched out in Popcorn who was carrying two buckets of Popcorn (inside joke, but seriously have never laughed so hard in my entire life.) I feel the overall idea of this movie was awesome, but sadly released at the wrong time. In fact a big part of it just feels like a complete mess. I liked the mall setting, and I feel they honestly could have done a lot with it. This is the same mall used in Chopping Mall, and Fast Times At Ridgemont High. The characters were wooden, and that makeup on Eric's face. Oh Jesus...

Also I guess when you get burned you're voice starts to sound like a cross between a robot and a monster?

I mean the overall idea of Eric living in the mall, killing the people who wronged him was great, but the pay off ended up being pretty awful. First off the movie tries to add too much mystery and only makes it confusing. The fact that all these teenagers are working at the mall now but never seem to be working? Eh?

I liked that it took place around the 4th of July, and like I said Eric watching everyone on the cameras, only coming down to kill, and to try and win his girlfriend back (the flowers, dress, and song were all clever) still, just something about this movie seemed off.

Maybe it was because Pauly Shore was in it.

Oh Jesus.

The scene where he's rubbing his nipples and showing his ass to the camera, I really could have gone without. Oh Pauly Shore, I live to hate you.

Then you had Ken Foree in this along with Morgan Fairchild...what the hell is going on? Did these people read the script before signing on? = Yeah didn't think so.

Also Tom Fridley from Jason Lives in it? Hate to admit it, but the dude did have the best death in the entire movie, which leads me to asking where the hell was the gore? If this movie was lacking on the script at least they could have made this into a messy fun splatter movie. The makeup, like I said before is awful, and the gore very little.

The flashback scenes are cring worthy, and seeing the guard jump on the elevator is laughable. Also ears and eyeballs in ice cream? Really? Have we sunk this low?

Did I hate Phantom of the Mall?

No.

Did I love it and will remember it always?

No.

Is it a fun movie to watch maybe like once.

Yes.

Should it be remade?

YES!

2 Stars!