Why was this scene in Phantasm altered?
 

I just watched my dvd copy of Phantasm. Remember the scene where Michael is lying in bed with the Tall man standing over him? Well on the dvd, they show two zombies pop out the graves on each side of the bed and proceed to pull on Michael.

But when I saw it in theaters years ago, that scene was different. Instead of two zombies popping out of the ground, it showed two large HUMAN HANDS come from the ground grabbing michael and trying to pull him apart! I remember this scene because it scared the living shit out of me when I watched it in the theater.

So what happened? Why did they change this scene to two zombies instead?

I don't know,
 

but the scene is included on the original trailer, so it should be the correct footage there.

There is a scene late in the film where Michael is running from The Tall Man and hands emerge from the ground and attempt to drag him down. Are you thinking of that?

I think you're misremembering something. I checked all the usual sites and none of them mention this change, and there's a lot of Phantasm fans out there.

Agreed, Groucho. I saw this in theaters, and many times since on VHS and DVD, and don't recall the "other version".