1979 · United States · Directed by Don Coscarelli

Long before Jason sprang from a watery burial, long before Freddy rose from a fiery cremation, there was The Tall Man. Inimitably brought to life by the late, great Angus Scrimm and put on the big screen by cult auteur Don Coscarelli, this iconic boogeyman was unleashed in 1979’s Phantasm to lurk in the shadowy depths behind many an impressionable mind’s bedframe.

The first in a phranchise that would fester in the psychologies of horror phans everywhere, Phantasm became a death-defyingly low-budget hit that kickstarted an increasingly bizarre universe replete with maniacal alien dwarves and skull-embedding metallic balls discharging blood and brain matter…at least you’ll never have to wonder what goes on behind the closed doors of small-town American mortuaries again.