Independently made, written and directed by Don Coscarelli in 1979, Phantasm stands out among horror franchises in imagination, creativity, surreal and macabre atmosphere. Set around the events taking place at a cemetery and funeral home, Phantasm incorporates sci-fi and horror with an antagonist from another world transforming corpses into undead labor, pit against cool-dude muscle car musician, his kid brother, and their ice cream truck vendor friend, all as reluctant heroes. Bizarre as it may be, the plot foundation is much more developed than the supernatural slashers like Halloween and Friday the 13th which only ever sought to explain (and so badly you’d rather they didn’t) the origins of their villains as an afterthought.

Phantasm became a cult classic that introduced The Tall Man, played by Angus Scrimm (*August 19, 1926 – † January 9, 2016), aided by spherical killing machines. These chrome orbs have become instantly recognizable as one of horror’s most innovative devices to date. Several sequels followed, as Regie and Mike follow The Tall Man’s wake of desolated small towns across the US, exploring this weird inter-dimensional horror tale, rife with horror fan service and self awareness that keeps the story in the family.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantasm_(film)

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0079714/