Reggie Bannister was an underrated horror star and the heart of the Phantasm movies

Reggie Bannister as Reggie in Phantasm - Courtesy of Getty

I was late to the Phantasm series, and by late, I mean that I didn't see the initial movie until my late 30s. I was generally familiar with the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) and some of Phantasm's most famous sequences and creepiest images, but it took me a long time to actually watch the movie. Once I did, I was hooked.

Phantasm has such a haunting score and hypnotic dream logic that it's a movie I find utterly immersive, no matter how many times I watch it. I also dig Don Coscarelli's sequels, no matter how weird and bonkers they are, and believe me, they are. There's a point where one of the main characters, Jody (Bill Thornbury), lives inside a sphere and somehow still communicates. The sequels are trippy alright.

Yet, no matter how weird the Phantasm series became, featuring other dimensions, Jawa-like dwarves that harvest bodies for the Tall Man, and other wild shenanigans, there's one character that truly anchored the series, and, other than Scrimm's performance, was really the heart and soul of the franchise. I'm talking about Reggie, played by Reggie Bannister, an ice cream man turned unlikely hero who chases the Tall Man through other dimensions over five movies to protect his friends, especially Mike (A. Michael Baldwin).

The news this week that Bannister died at 80 hit me damn hard because he seemed like such a nice dude and based on what fans said about their interactions with him at conventions, it seems like it was indeed true. He was just as kind as his on-screen character.

Reggie Bannister was an unlikely action hero and horror star who grounded the Phantasm movies

The initial Phantasm movie released in 1979, one year shy of the action hero decade that was the 1980s. I'm talking about the Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger types. The big muscle, big guns kinda stars. While Reggie could wield a shotgun and even picked up a chainsaw in Phantasm II, he wasn't a Stallone-type action star, and I don't mean that as a dig.

One of the many reasons I love Phantasm is because Reggie is the unlikely action hero. Hell, the dude drives an ice cream truck in the first movie and is a hippie musician. He's also cornball, and during one scene, while he jams with Jody, Mike's older brother, he comments that they're "hot as love." Reggie was always great with the one-liners, and yet, it's tough to imagine Schwarzenegger ever uttering anything like that line.

Additionally, he's the antithesis of the Tall Man, who's the physical, inter-dimensional personification of death and evil. This is illustrated so well in the first movie when Mike walks downtown and in a slow-motion scene, he sees the Tall Man strolling down an opposite street. There's something so uncanny and unsettling about this sequence, and then, in a brilliant moment, Coscarelli frames the Tall Man behind Reggie, who's loading up his ice cream truck. It's likely no coincidence that Reggie is wearing all white in this sequence, and the Tall Man is adorned in his usual black undertaker outfit. It's the old good v. evil, and an indication that it'll be Reggie who faces off against the Tall Man and protects Mike at all costs. He grows into the role with each sequel.

Reggie is a symbol of positive male friendship and loyalty throughout Phantasm

Phantasm has a lot of weird stuff in it, as I already mentioned, but at its core, that first movie is a metaphor about grief. Mike lost everyone, and I mean everyone. This includes his parents and Jody, who we learn in the movie's final minutes died in a car accident. The film's dream logic and even nightmare sequences fit with Mike's fragile state of mind, as he mourns and tries to comprehend that all of his family is gone. Grief can make everything feel hazy and surreal, and few movies capture that as well as Phantasm.

One of my favorite moments occurs just before the credits roll. When Mike realizes Jody died, it's Reggie who comforts him. He hugs him and promises that he'll always be there for him. Mike no longer has his family at that point, but he does have Reggie, and through sequel after sequel, Reggie is indeed there for him, thwarting the Tall Man's sinister plans for Mike time and time again. In that moment, when it truly dawns on Mike that Jody and the rest of his family is gone, Reggie gives him an anchor and assumes the mantle of Mike's older brother and protector. He maintained that role until the very end. If the Tall man symbolizes evil and death, then Reggie symbolizes love, frienship, and loyalty.

I'll end this with Coscarelli's own words about Reggie Bannister, which he posted on his social media accounts. Coscarelli wrote:

I first met Reggie when I was 18 years old. I was deep into production on my first feature film Jim The World's Greatest. He had invited producer Paul Pepperman and I down to the Wooden Keg, a dive bar in Long Beach, CA to meet about it. Reg was performing a spirited set that night on guitar and vocals and the audience loved his songs and infectious personality. After his set, we introduced ourselves, intent on convincing him to co-star in the project. "A feature film, huh?" he asked. "Far out, man." Reggie then ordered us all a round of beers. It was the first alcoholic drink I'd ever been served (illegally) at a bar. With four words, Reg toasted with a clink of his glass, "Count me in, boys!"

Little did I know that night would lead to literally a lifetime of working together with him on many films. In the Phantasm series, only Reggie could turn a simple role as an ice cream vendor sidekick into an unlikely action hero for the ages. He channeled himself into that role. All the fans who met him at the horror conventions could attest that in-person, Reg was cool, funny, loyal, and steadfast. Reggie the character was Reggie the friend. In real life, he embodied all the qualities of his character in Phantasm and no one questioned that Reg was that guy, the one willing to lay his body down on the fires of hell for his friends.

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