Gentle readers, I’m a Fred Olen Ray neophyte. I ventured into Evil Toons last year, but I’ve yet to fully dip my toes into this filmmaker’s decidedly quirky filmography… until today that is. I am not exaggerating when I say I was “today years old” when I learned The Phantom Empire is very much my jam. Do with that what you will. 

The Phantom Empire follows a group of adventurers traveling deep into the earth’s core to find the source of mysterious diamonds. Working together, they stumble upon cave people, robots, dinosaurs and a particularly…buxom… Space Queen…. Could she be a sorceress? Honestly, it’s quite hard to tell just what she is. Ross Hagen, Jeffrey Combs, Dawn Wildsmith, Robert Quarry, Suzy Stokey, Russ Tamblyn and Sybil Danning co-star in the movie. Fred Olen Ray directs The Phantom Empire from a script he co-wrote with T.L. Lankford. 

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Kids, a movie hasn’t made me laugh this much in a long, long time. The Phantom Empire has one of those tones only those who appreciate the joys of the “good/bad” movies will really understand… by my way of thinking, at least. In truth, this one’s a bit complicated to talk about. Is this movie “in on the joke”? That, my friends, is the million dollar question. However, my answer is a firm and excited “Yes”.

The Phantom Empire is packed to the brim with a fascinatingly complex glimmer of unintentional hilarity. Much of this, it seems, is largely thanks to the performances. You’d expect this to be a cast of amateurs. However, amateurs, they are not.

These are, in most cases, seasoned actors, often with decades of experience under their respective belts. Many will remember Russ Tamblyn as Riff in West Side Story. Robert Quarry, meanwhile, made his screen debut in 1943’s Shadow of a Doubt before enjoying a prolific television career during the 1950s and 1960s. This is a cast who look to be having an infectious amount of fun and I was having just as much fun watching them. 

Ray and Lankford’s script is a (super-low budget) H.G. Welles and Edgar Rice Burroughs like adventure narrative. This is Journey to the Center of the Earth. This is The Lost World. It’s just a heck of a lot cheaper. For me, The Phantom Empire felt deeply reminiscent of Kevin Connor’s unofficial 1970s film series: The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth’s Core, The People That Time Forgot and Warlords of the Deep. 

The Phantom Empire seems caught halfway between standing as a nostalgic love-letter to these adventure films of yore, while at the same time existing as an Austin Powers’ like lampooning of these same works.It’s a tricky line to walk, but frankly, they they have no trouble doing it. It’s easy to get lost in the film’s sense of fun.

So much of this is due to the story’s winking, almost smirking tone. Olen Ray revels in playing with the film’s low-budget aesthetic. Certain filmmakers struggle to make their movies look more expensive than they are. Ray, however, has fun with the money he does have. He’s not afraid to have an effect look a like wonky or a bit of dubbing look a little off. He’ll run with it and throw in a comedic sound effect. There’s a freewheeling craziness to this aesthetic and I had a blast with it. 

At the same time though, there’s is still quite a bit of nostalgia here and with that, it’s difficult to call this a complete lampooning. 

Through all the craziness, there’s the still a faithfulness to this oft-explored genre. It may be a low budget film. We laugh at all the cave creatures with their comedic rubber masks and the Ray Harryhausen-like dinosaurs.

The film, however, shies away from tweaking the overall narrative structure. One could imagine a film with this plot and budget, feeling almost standard in the hands of different filmmakers. Heck, this movie could probably be dropped into the middle of the 1950s as-is, and not feel entirely out of place. This is a “B-Movie” and a “Drive-In” movie in all its wicked glory.

Instead, it’s the characters populating the world who carry the film’s eccentricities. Each one, at different points steals scenes in the most unintentionally hilarious ways possible. Truthfully, this made The Phantom Empire special for me. There’s a humanity and a relatability in these people— the film’s voice and personality shine through and I couldn’t help, but love every second of it. 

When all is said and done, don’t judge The Phantom Empire by its reviews. Though, a number of the Letterboxd reviews are quite funny and worth a read on their own. It is a delightfully weird film rife with contradictions. However, for those who love a “good/bad” exploitation movie, this is a must see.

The Phantom Empire is currently streaming on Tubi. 

A Note from Editing Kim: This version of The Phantom Empire is not to be confused with The Phantom Empire (1935). Though, a Gene Autry sci-fi film? Color me intrigued.