Phantasm

• Digital Beauties: 2D and 3D CG Digital Models - A book of digitally created female pictures and the artists who created them.
• Digital Domain: The Leading Edge of Visual Effects - From Armageddon, Dante’s Peak, Interview with a Vampire, and Apollo 13 to Titanic, The X-Men, Fight Club, and the record-breaking The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Digital Domain has been on the cutting edge of effects production. Founded in 1993 by industry veterans James Cameron, Stan Winston, and Scott Ross, this studio has produced some of the most spectacular special effects ever seen in cinema.
  Digital Domain: The Leading Edge of Visual Effects provides an exclusive, first-ever look at the Academy Award–winning production company at the forefront of the Hollywood special effects industry. Readers will discover dozens of cutting-edge special effects techniques, ranging from model-making and CGI morphing to digitally created virtual sets and “synthespians.” Unique, frame-by-frame deconstructions demonstrate how the most sophisticated special effects are achieved, and stunning case examples from the company’s work illustrate basic effects from conception to completed sequences.
• Digital Fantasy Painting - Written for anyone who works- or plays-in 3D graphics, Digital Fantasy Painting supplies a treasury of tested techniques that can be applied to any illustration software package. This extraordinary resource is packed with dozens of step-by-step exercises for designing photo-realistic 3D creatures and their strange worlds. Readers will see how to produce simple human skin and bone textures, as well as an entire host of ethereal creatures such as ghosts, spirits, robots, and cyborgs. They'll discover how to design realistic atmospheric effects as well as capture the surreal world of nightmares, futurescapes, and planetscapes. Computer artists will also find tested techniques for modeling, surfacing, staging, and lighting as well as creating water, glass, and other true-to-life motion effects. Digital Fantasy Painting features a dazzling showcase of the very best fantasy artwork, complete with dozens of tips, examples, and shortcuts that help put the creative process on the fast track. Plus, a special section outlines the myriad software illustration packages available on the market today.
• Phantasm - Jody is the kind of guy that every 1970s teen looked up to. He's in his early 20s, has a cool car, splendid '70s hair, leather jacket, plays guitar and (naturally) snags all the girls. His little brother, Mike, in particular, admires him and emulates him at every turn. Things start to go astray, however, when the two brothers and their friend Reggie attend a funeral for a friend. Mike notices a tall man working at the funeral home; in the course of his snooping, he sees the tall man put a loaded coffin into the back of a hearse as easily as if it was a shoebox. Jody doesn't believe his little brother's stories, though, until he brings home the tall man's severed finger, still wriggling in what appears to be French's mustard. From there, the film picks up a terrific momentum that doesn't let up until the sequel-ripe twist ending. Phantasm was one of the first horror movies to break the unspoken rule that victims were supposed to scream, fall down, and cower until they were killed. Instead, Mike and Jody are resourceful and smart, aggressively pursuing the evil inside the funeral home with a shotgun and Colt pistol. Furthermore, the script has a great deal of character development, especially in the relationship between the two brothers. The film even has a surprisingly glossy look, despite its low-budget origins, and little outright gore (except for the infamous steel spheres that drill into victims' heads). This drive-in favorite was a big success at the time of its release, and spawned three sequels. Little wonder; it includes an inventive story, likable characters, a runaway pace, and, of course, evil dwarves cloaked in Army blankets. The end result is one of the better horror films of the late 1970s. Hot-rod fans take note: Jody drives a Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda, the pinnacle of 1960s muscle cars, rounding out his status as a Cool Guy. --Jerry Renshaw