THE TALL MAN (FROM PHANTASM)

The Tall Man is a villain from the Phantasm series of films written, directed, photographed, co-produced and edited by Don Coscarelli. The Tall Man was portrayed in the film and its sequels by Angus Scrimm. The character is a supernatural undertaker who turns the dead into zombies, in order to do his bidding and take over the world. He is known for saying the now infamous quote, "Boy!" on several occasions. The Tall Man's henchmen include Sentinels (flying silver balls, referred to as Sentinel Spheres by fans) that contain a lethal pair of spiked blades and a drill that eviscerates the victim's brain), lurkers and gravers (zombies dressed in nuclear suits armed with chainsaws), dwarves in monk robes (who are made from corpses), and the reanimated dead. He is also on the hunt for Mike Pearson and Reggie and their friends for reasons that are only hinted at in later installments in the series. The Tall Man has been in four Phantasm films and is still alive. He is also featured in the NECA "Cult classics" toyline.(Series 2)

Fictional character history

Relatively little is known about him. Once upon a time the Tall Man was a kind-hearted soul named Jebediah Morningside, and he was experimenting with inter-dimensional travel. After perfecting the device that would allow him to travel between worlds, he stepped through the gateway. Upon his return he was no longer Jebediah, but the cold and evil being known to Mike and Reggie as the Tall Man. It can only be speculated that while in a different dimension Jebediah's body was possessed by another intelligence. Ever since then he has carried out his duties of turning the dead into slaves.

Powers and abilities

The Tall Man has considerable psychic and telekinetic powers. On numerous occasions he has shown the ability to levitate objects and people without physically touching them, merely by twitching an eyebrow. He also has tremendous physical strength. In the original film he lifted an entire casket by himself, and the effort seemed to cause him no strain. In the second film he flung Liz across a room after holding her by the throat. The Tall Man is able to invade the minds of his victims, and also to cause them to see images and hallucinations. He seems to be able to control the actions of the Sentinels, though in Phantasm II Mike was able to use one of the deadly spheres to attack him (which had no effect on him). In addition to the abilities listed above, the Tall Man is also seemingly immortal. Though it is possible to temporarily "kill" him, he is able to return in only a matter of minutes. Throughout the series the Tall Man has been hanged, blown up in a car, embalmed with acid, frozen, and dropped down a mine shaft, and has always easily recovered. It should be noted, however, that in Phantasm III it was revealed that when one of his physical bodies is destroyed another exact duplicate enters our world through his dimensional gateway. Whether this is the same being or another separate entity is unknown. Added to his powers of resurrection is the ability to regenerate, as he has been shown to regrow lost body parts. He also has some sort of worm or parasite inside his head, which was shown in Phantasm II.

In Phantasm III The Tall Man is revealed to have a golden sentinel sphere within him that is immensely more powerful than the silver spheres that he controls. The silver spheres have two forks and can drill a person's brain out, while the golden sphere has three forks and is powerful enough to blast directly through a persons head, leaving a smooth walled tunnel.

Goals

It is unclear exactly what the Tall Man's purpose is. The dwarf-like creatures he creates from the bodies of the dead serve him in our world, and he also transports them back to his own dimension. It is possible that he uses them as slave labor for his own world, while it has also been theorized that he is planning an invasion of Earth. So far he has not revealed any grand schemes for world conquest, and he tends to plunder only small, out-of-the-way towns; he is never shown invading large cities.

Personality

The Tall Man has a personality that could best be described as calculating. He is calm, patient, and does not let his emotions get the better of him. When compared with other horror villains such as Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger he does not come across as particularly bloodthirsty, as he seems to prefer to do his work in quiet. But when his anger is aroused he will become a most formidable adversary. One of the most curious aspects of the Tall Man's behavior is his bizarre fascination with Mike, and the last two installments of the series have hinted at a connection between the two of them. While imprisoned in one of the Tall Man's mortuaries Mike asked him what he wanted, to which the Tall Man replied, "Use your brain, boy." Later in the same film the Tall Man took Mike prisoner again and told him, "You have lived within this flesh construct long enough. It is time for you to come back to me." The Tall Man also seems to have a great deal of respect for Reggie, who has managed to briefly defeat him on several occasions. At the beginning of part IV the Tall Man has Reggie cornered and could easily have killed him, but instead spares his life, telling him that their final game is about to begin and that he should play this round wisely. Because of this, it would appear that the Tall Man admires Reggie's tenacity and courage and views him as a worthy opponent.

Weaknesses

Though it has thus far been impossible to permanently kill him, he can be hurt. The Tall Man has shown a great aversion to cold (it has been revealed that the dimension he comes from is very warm), and this was used against him in part III. He also has a weakness to certain pitches of sound. In part IV Mike was able to temporarily paralyze him using a guitar tuning fork.

Other media

* The Tall Man was mentioned in the song "Dead in Hollywood" by the Murderdolls. The song contains the line: Hey Tall Man, just take my hand, And lead me to your red planet

* In the animated series Gravedale High, the school bus driver, Mr. Boneyard, bears a striking resemblance to the Tall Man.

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