The Phantom of the Opera

From Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, to Marked For Death, to Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, to the most recent Anacondas: The Hunt For the Blood Orchid, director Dwight H. Little has gone from one genre of film to the other. He took a stab at an old tale in the late 80's with The Phantom of the Opera, which is one of the oldest tales retold through movie after movie (most recently the Joel Schumacher version that's out in theatres now). I thought Dario Argento's take on it was horrible, so somehow I assumed this version would be as well. In this movie the Phantom (Robert Englund) sells his soul to the devil so his music can be loved by all, but in return becomes horribly disfigured, leading him to hide underground and wear fake masks to hide the scars as he ventures above ground. Jill Schoelen (The Stepfather, Popcorn) plays the girl the Phantom is infatuated with and kills in order for her to stay in the spotlight. You'll catch an interesting and unfunny cameo by SNL comedian Molly Shannon in her first role as the friend of the lead chick.

This movie basically takes the tale and adds a demonic twist, with various gory deaths. I haven't seen many movies based off the Phantom of the Opera, but from the ones I have seen, this is probably the best. Although the film is pretty gory, apparently a small batch of gore-scenes was cut out to receive an R-rating. I only have a couple problems with the movie: The movie takes place in present day, and then goes back in time to the 1800's after the lead chick gets knocked out. I thought it would have been cool had it stayed in the 80's, but then it wouldn't really be a true Phantom movie. I'm also not a fan of singing in movies, so naturally during the scenes involving opera singing, I had to hit the fast-forward button. Both silly reasons to not like the movie, but they are my reasons none-the-less. In the end it's still a good gory 80's flick.

OVERALL

Definitely check this out if you're looking for a sweet horror version of the classic Phantom of the Opera tale.

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