October 21, 2013 13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #3 Phantoms (1998)
A woman brings her younger sister to her home for a vacation only to find the town deserted. Bodies with a strange affliction are here and there. If it's an infection though, why is the police station littered with spent bullet casings? Soliders with hazmats suits, rolling fortress laboratories, and a mysterious message to a professor stuck working at a tabloid round out the mayhem and madness that is Phantoms. This is an adaption of the novel by the same name written by none other than Dean R. Koontz. I don't remember how close the movie is to the book after about the half point--it's been some time since I read it, instead I pull out the movie.
This movie was directed by Joe Chappelle who also directed Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) (movie)--don't run away. Both Rose McGowan and Liev Schreiber from Scream (1996) (movie) are present as well. Rose is the younger sister. Liev is a creepy deputy who, no spoiler, obviously isn't quite right to begin with. In a nice twist of casting this film also boasts Ben Affleck as the Sheriff, and Peter O'Toole as the professor. If you like Koontz and the particular brand of horror from the novel then you're going to want to see it on-screen, whatever screen you have.
by Rob Zombie. 
