christopher-underwood Not being a great fan of musicals and reckoning that the phantom is probably my least favourite movie monster, it may not be surprising that I have never until now seen this film. This being despite always having been a DePalma fan. As it turns out this is not as bad as I feared, being particularly clever and amusing at times. Obviously there must have been budgetary restraints but the director pulls off both sound and visuals with some aplomb. Made the year before Rocky Horror Show, this is much more restrained on the 'camp' front and although Paul Williams is rather annoying offset by the charming performance from an angelic Jessica Harper in her first film.

tomgillespie2002 For those who are familiar with the great work Brian De Palma did throughout the 1970's and 80's, his bright, energetic glam-rock opera Phantom of the Paradise may seem like something of an oddity. It's a spin on The Phantom of the Opera, with elements of Faust and The Picture of Dorian Gray, told within the context of the music business, who De Palma and scorer/star Paul Williams obviously hold some level of disdain for. While this may differ tonally and perhaps thematically to De Palma's more popular works, Phantom embodies the mixture of flair and homage that De Palma perfected, which many label him a rip-off merchant for (though I strongly disagree).Sad-sack composer Winslow (William Finley) is overheard playing his Faustian opera by the powerful and mysterious music producer Swan (Williams). Swan is on the cusp of opening his new theatre The Paradise, and feels Winslow's music is perfect for his vision of nostalgia and kitsch. Winslow offers his work to Swan, but is never called or paid for his contribution. Seeking answers, he arrives at Swan Records to see an endless line of women, including Phoenix (Jessica Harper), auditioning to be a backing singer and singing his songs. He is thrown out, framed for drug possession and sentenced to life in prison. But Winslow escapes and, after being mutilated by a record press, seeks vengeance on Swan.For all it's visual pizazz, where Phantom lacks is within the casting. Finley, who had worked with De Palma the year before in Sisters and who sadly died in 2012, struggles to make his character empathetic. Williams, while certainly looking the part, lacks the presence to convince that he would be able to wield such a control on his underlings. Harper, while cute as a button, lacks the charisma to really justify Wimslow's obsession over her. The only actor to really impress is Gerrit Graham as glam-rock God Beef, who behind the scenes is a fussy little queen. Beef is no doubt Paul Williams' stab at all those self- important diva's he unavoidably came into contact with during his time as a musician.But with a bright and bouncy film such as this, the acting plays second fiddle to the visuals and the music. While the music may not be catchy in the same way as Phantom's close relation The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), in context they contemplate De Palma's camera. All of De Palma's visual ticks are there - crane shots, long takes, split-screen - and it even throws in a homage to Psycho (1960), only with a plunger. It makes for quite an exhausting experience, but you only really need to hold your breath and dive in, and it's really quite easy to fall in love with it. It was unfairly panned by critics and ignored by movie-goers on it's release, but with De Palma's early films getting positive re- evaluation with various Blu-Ray releases, Phantom is finally getting the praise it deserves.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

MBunge Like a dog playing the bassoon or Rush Limbaugh delivering the keynote address at the annual convention of the NAACP, there are some things in life you have to see to believe. Phantom of the Paradise definitely falls into that category. A willfully campy stab at creating a "Rocky Horror" style midnight movie, this film inherently defies critical analysis. Almost everything about it that's goofy or terrible is intentionally that way. All you can authoritatively say about it is that it features a lot of great music by Paul Williams and it shows that Brian De Palma had no freakin' idea what to do when his characters started singing.As the title implies, this is a take off on The Phantom of the Opera but one where the origin of the Phantom is acted out twice in the story. It's also a musical version of Faust where the a main character has actually written a musical version of Faust. Then if that wasn't enough for you, the movie also throws a heaping portion of The Portrait of Dorian Gray into the cinematic stew pot. The end result is an intentionally bizarre muddle that you have to enjoy for its own dreadfulness. William Finley stars as Winslow Leech, the talented musician who is betrayed, disfigured, becomes the Phantom and is then weirdly betrayed again by the same guy. Of course, since Finley looks like the genetic results of a four way orgy of Barry Manilow, Randy Neuman, Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman, he's probably the only Phantom in history to look better after he's disfigured. Paul Williams is Swan, the mega-successful and manipulative record producer who steals Winslow's music to christen the opening of his new theater, "The Paradise". Jessica Harper is Phoenix, the young singer caught between Swan and the Phantom. Harper appears to be the only one in the cast to not understand that she's in a deliberately bad film, resulting in her giving both the best and most incorrect performance in the whole mess. There's also George Memmoli as Swan's chief stooge and Gerrit Graham as a glam rocker Swan recruits to perform Winslow's cantata about Faust, which somehow transforms into a rock opera about Frankenstein.I could go on and on about how Phantom of the Paradise sucks in this, that and every other way…but that would miss the point. Even the abominable 70s fashions on display are so obviously exaggerated beyond what even people in the 70s wore that you can't really comment on it. All I can say is that the music, written but not usually performed by Paul Williams, is quite catchy. If they'd been part of a straightforward musical, even a terrible one, some of these tunes would probably have become standards that get covered over and over again by different artists. The other noteworthy thing about this movie is the direction of Brian De Palma. I t's interesting to see him work before he threw in the towel and became a Hitchcock drag queen, but the experience is somewhat spoiled by De Palma being completely out to lunch when it comes to making a musical. The singing and dancing in Phantom of the Paradise is so blandly staged and lamely filmed that you could show those scenes to the most devoted De Palma fans in the universe and they would never guess he directed them.If you can imagine The Rocky Horror Picture Show starring The Monkees, you have a fairly good idea of what this film is like. If that sounds like something you would enjoy, you can either rent this DVD or get yourself some much needed therapy.

TheFinalAlias Ah, what better film to review for my 50th than Brian De Palma's weird and wonderful Rock & Roll send-up of "Phantom of the Opera'. Alternately overpraised as a Kubrickian genius, or dismissed as a lame Hitchcopycat, De Palma is still a genuinely interesting director to study if not exactly easy to understand. While I agree that 'Carrie' is his masterpiece, his most unique and re-watchable film is this bizarre take on Gaston Leroux's often-filmed tale, which is filmed with lots of things which will alternately make you marvel or start scratching your head in confusion, not the least of which being that this version probably features THE most faithful portrayal of the Phantom since the days of Lon Chaney Sr and drives home the Faustian element of the story farther than any other version, and in some ways, much better than even in Leroux's own novel.Yeah, you read that correctly.The film sets its tone with the opening scenes(following a bizarre "Twilight Zone'-like voice-over)as we see a greaser nostalgia group called the Juicy Fruits perform a deceptively cheerful song about an unsuccessful musician who kills himself so that he will become a legend overnight so that it will help support his sister. Scenes like this are great, as they pretty much tell you that you will be getting more of the same in alternating doses of effectiveness. The whole film is like this opening: Fast-paced, bouncy, but with an underlying sense of menace, tragedy and heartbreak. If James Whale was alive in the '70's, this is the film he would have made.The plot is a comedic update of the 1962 Terrence Fisher version of 'Phantom'. William Finley plays Warren Zevon-look a like Winslow Leach, a character clearly patterned after Herbert Lom's Professor Petrie. The nerdy but easily angered(he goes berserk at the prospect of his music being sung by the Juicy Fruits, whom he despises)Winslow is writing a rock opera based on 'Faust' which he insists on performing himself, and although he does quite a good job in my opinion, record dealer Swan(Paul Williams, playing a cross between Phil Spector, Dorian Gray and Michael Gough's Lord D' Arcy character from the 1962 version)decides he likes the music more than Winslow and steals it. After several unsuccessful attempts to get his music back, Swan has drugs planted on Winslow and he ends up getting life(?). However, after hearing his music performed on the radio by the Juicy Fruits, our hero snaps, kills a guard and escapes in a montage straight out of Loony Tunes, only to get disfigured by, wait for it, a RECORD PRESS. Yeah.....You can tell what happens next, but that doesn't mean things don't become more and more twisted. He may now be the disfigured, caped masked madman, but Winslow is soon going to discover he's not the only one inhabiting Swan's performance house who is worthy of being called "The Phantom". Often criticized for his overindulgence(only in the '70's could such a minor celebrity have so many guest appearances) and diminutive size, Paul Williams nevertheless crafts a wonderfully slimy and urbane villain in Swan. The Phantom may be deformed, kill and terrorize, but Swan is the real monster in more ways than one. William Finley shines as Winslow, managing to make us instantly care and sympathize with him despite being a nerdy, naive, egotistical goof-ball. Yet, as the Phantom, he is genuinely menacing. Winslow, much like Erik in the novel, is more at home writing and performing than interacting with other people, and although he is targeting a genuinely evil man, he nevertheless has no qualms whatsoever about brutally slaughtering innocent stagehands and musicians he does not care for, annoying though they may be. It is genuinely disturbing watching him cackle insanely with his high-pitched robotic voice as he maims and kills people. Like Erik, he may be a tragic victim, but he really does enjoy being an evil monster more than he would care to admit. Finley makes his murders progress from bad tempered outbursts, to circumstantial ones to "Wheeeee!!! Murder is FUN!" in a believable fashion. And his Phantom costume, depending on your point-of-view, is either the best or worst ever created, even though he looks more like a superhero(or villain)than anything else. Husky-voiced Jessica Harper is also good as Winslows' love interest, man can she sing. Despite prominent billing, Gerrit Graham has little more than an overlong cameo as quite possibly the biggest gay stereotype on the face of the earth; a metal singer named Beef(!!!??)who ends up being killed in an outrageously offensive quadruple-visual pun(I'll let the smart people guess what I mean, and no, it's not because of his Frankenstein costume).The film has great songs, and a fun cartoon sensibility that makes several gaping plot holes and outrageous coincidences overlook-able. The film's only flaw, is that it is too short, and too fast-paced. Nevertheless, this is still essential viewing for any cult film enthusiast.~