Remembering Reggie Bannister

This is NOT a photo post. I am going a little off subject topic here.

Along with music everyone who knows me i love horror movies. Especially the 80s-early 90s flicks. Working at a video store as a teen helped shape that love for the “B” movie roll with companies like Full Moon and Troma!

MGM wasn’t known as a B company but their movies were usually inexpensive and mid budget. One series I got into was Phantasm. Even if you don’t know about the movies themselves you know about the spiked ball. It’s as iconic as Freddys glove, Jasons Mask or even Hellraisers cenobites. Iconic images. Phantasm was one of those movies who was more about the creative process of doing something original vs what was expected. The series had gore, yes, but unlike the other movies, it wasn’t the focal point. Besides the Tall man, you could say that the series revolved around an unlikely hero. Reggie.

Ironically this was also the actors real name, The story wasn’t about Reggie but watching how the Phantasm series progressed you would think it was more Reggies story than The Tall Man’s story or even Jody and Mikes story.

Sadly, Reggie passed away a few days ago. He had some health problems leading up to his passing , including dementia. Which there is a somewhat cruel and ironic twist. In Phantasm: Ravager, Reggie (the character) was also dealing with dementia. It wasn’t known to anyone on set at that time til after filming had been finished. Imagine doing a film with a issue you’re currently dealing with that isn’t known to anyone? I feel this was his way of telling his fans without actually saying it.

He was a fans actor. What you saw on screen was what you got in person. He also loved the horror genre. Besides the Phantasm movies (he was in all 5 since 1979) he was in movies such as Wishmaster (1997), Bubba Ho-Tep (2002), Bloody Bloody Bible Camp (2012), His final movie came in 2020 with Killer Waves 2.

Reggie had the charisma, he was extremely likable in his movies which is why,, i feel, fans gravitated towards him, He literally put everything he had into his films.

He was influential in my love for the B movie genre. Whenever I watched a Phantasm movie, i was like how does Reggie F up now. Thats how his character was and you couldn’t help but cheer him on. He was the movies underdog who from a character standpoint wanted to be the leading man,.

Reggie will 100% be missed. I don’t think anyone will say otherwise.

RIP Reggie

9/29/1945-8/9/2026