The Phantom of the Opera

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I first found out about this film through a YouTube channel and since I been dying to see horror films I haven't seen yet, I got a round to ordering this one. (Spoiler Alert)The film starts with Christine and her friend Meg going to a opera audition in New York. Christine reads a sheet note of music titled, "Don Juan Triumphant" which oddly, Christine seems to know how to sing it. However while she's singing a sandbag falls and knocks her out. When Christine wakes up she's now in 1885, London. While trying to become a big star Christine is given the chance when another opera singer looses her voice. Christine steals the show and the crowd loves her, however those who don't criticize her causing Christine to have second thoughts.The Phantom who loves Christine and is the composer of Don Juan Triumphant will murder anyone who insults her, threatens her career or even nearly killing her with a sandbag. Christine learns the true nature of the Phantom a man named Erik Destler who sold his soul to the Devil so he would live forever, however it costed Erik his face. Erik wants Christine to live with him forever and never leave his side. Fearing for her friends and her secret lover Richard, Erik shows up during a ball party while wearing a fancy red outfit and skull mask.Erik kidnaps Christine while Richard, Inspector Hawkins and a few police officers go after him in the sewers. He dispatches the officers and returns to his quarters where he's hold Christine prisoner. When Erik is in the middle of finishing his master piece, both Richard and Hawkins try to kill Erik however he impales Richard and knocks Hawkins down. Christine grabs Richard's revolver and wounds Erik which gives Hawkins a chance to shoot at him. When Christine is setting everything on fire in order to escape she breaks a mirror causing her to disappear as Erik screams in rage while burning away.Christine wakes up and is back in New York as everyone loved her perforce. The opera's producer, Mr. Foster who loved it, tells Christine she's got the part and offers her a drink at his place. When waiting for him to return, Christine looks around his studio and finds the same musical notes of Don Juan Triumphant which is the same sheet she read at the library earlier that day. Mr. Foster reveals the he is fact Erik Destler aka "The Phantom" and has been waiting years to meet Christine again.Christine stabs Erik, taking his music sheets along with a floppy disc of Don Juan Triumphant, dumping it into the sewer and walking home. On her way she pays a violin player which plays the same theme as Erik's song, she wonders if he's really gone for good?I really enjoyed the film, it was a lot of fun as it plays with the idea of past life making you wonder if these two characters really did meet all those years ago. However my problems with this film is it felt short as it could have had more to offer in the story and the ending didn't make a lot of sense. Was it really necessary for Christine to kill Erik a 2nd time? Why not just go along with it as she could have gotten every opera she ever dreamed of. Sure, Erik might bump off a few people who don't agree with him.Overall it was a fun film and I really liked Robert Englund acting in this film. He played a really interesting character.

If someone used a more serious Freddy Krueger to ambitiously reimagine the classic… and it’s actually pretty decent.Far before her Saturday Night Live days and in her first role ever we find Molly Shannon (Lawnmower Man II, Scary Movie 4), who discovers a time-forgotten page of music composed by the serial killer Erik Destler in a book that looks like a cross between the Necronomicon and Hellraiser’s (1987) puzzle box. And just in case the book’s appearance wasn’t warning enough, visions of musical notes on the pages seeping blood foretell misfortune.A lovely young Julliard singer Christine (Jill Schoelen; Curse II: The Bite, The Stepfather) sings the piece and is transported through time to London (in a similar past life), where she finds herself the fixation of The Phantom (Robert Englund; A Nightmare on Elm Street, Galaxy of Terror, Hatchet II). The Phantom is a horribly disfigured composer introduced to us as he sutures flaps of flesh over his own gaping facial wounds. It’s pretty awesomely gross.At this point with five NOES films under his belt as Freddy, Englund breathes strong personality into The Phantom, and the make-up department followed suit accordingly. So it comes as no surprise that his reverence for his murders and impassioned charismatic flair smack of familiarity.The latex and gore work are effective. Skinned victims, rat-eaten flesh-gnawed faces and severed heads are just the basics. But what’ll make you wince is the flesh-suturing and slimy gooey suture removal scenes with sticky skin flaps being peeled off.Fresh on the set of his second horror film, director Dwight H. Little (Halloween 4) swings for the fences in this semi-contemporary approach to The Phantom of the Opera. Englund is hammed up to fans’ satisfaction and expectations, the special effects are splendid (budget permitting), and with all the operatic music, do I call some scenes in this a pseudo-musical? The music takes no part in the narrative, but it is (in concept) linked to the story. I’d simply call this a film much more stylistic for its era regarding its inclusion/utility of music. This film also seems especially ambitious with respect to the set design (lots of sewers and caverns, theaters and London streets) and the wardrobe. Also, watch out for Bill Nighy (Underworld, Shaun of the Dead).This film may have been a tad over-the-top at times, but less so than Freddy’s sequels and impressive for my honestly low gorehound expectations. No, this is more seriously approached and produced than I had imagined. I’m maybe a bit impressed. I thought I was wandering into hokey B-movie territory, when really this is more in the B+ zone.

Would give it 3 1/2 ⭐s but don't know how 🤣 definitely worth a watch especially if you're a Robert (Freddy Krueger) Englund fan and or Horror/Thriller/Romance? fan ✌️

This is a little known remake of the classic story. It was made primarily as a vehicle for Robert Englund, who was then a very successful actor in the middle of his run of playing the character of Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series of movies. Since Englund was known at that time for his depictions of mutilated maniacs, the script was rewritten for this film. Many changes were made, which led to this movie being an almost entirely different tale from the original, or the later musical that would play on Broadway for so long.Englund's phantom is a disfigured composer who, after selling his soul to the devil to become successful, becomes a psychotic serial killer. The part of his love obsession, Christine, is played by Jill Schoelen, who was at the time an up and coming actress with an enchanting soprano voice. The storyline centers mainly on her and her portrayal of a young singer who, after an accident during an audition, travels back through time to 19th century London, where the majority of the film takes place.Though the changes to the story give this a nuanced and somewhat gory atmosphere, it is still a well done film. The unfinished opera Don Juan Triumphant, which is the product of the genus of the phantom in the original novel, is a beautiful piece of music in its own right. And the rest of the cast, which includes Alex Hyde-White and Bill Nighy, is really quite excellent. Only about 90 minutes long, this is a good film for any Halloween collection.

I've found The Phantom of the Opera to be absolutely spellbinding ever since I was a kid when I saw a still from the 1925 version in a book which featured Lon Chaney descending the stairs at a masquerade ball surrounded by dames. I knew nothing of the context, or of Gaston Leroux's novel. I just loved the image, and its probably where my fascination with scarred and disfigured characters came from. I would stare at that picture a lot and wonder about the mystery. I remember seeing the Robert Englund version in the video store a few years later and thought that it looked much more in-keeping with that old picture than the new musical that everyone was raving about at the time.Directed by Dwight H. Little, in between his gigs on Halloween 4 and Marked for Death, Victorian London is the scene (bookended by modern day New York) and it has a very pleasing snowy feel, much like Barry Levinson's Young Sherlock Holmes. Little does much better with this material than I expected and it's a shame he's been categorized as merely a working director rather than someone with a vision.Robert Englund is now the Phantom, and if he was trying to step away from Freddy Kruger consider this a success and a failure. He's still does the quips and one-liners but he is given more to work with when it comes to drama and pathos. The supporting cast, including Bill Nighy as the theatre owner, do their best as making this a quasi-musical but Englund is the star here and it's a shame that his performance here doesn't get more recognition.This version had a LOT going against it. First of all it had to at least match the famous Lon Chaney movie in some regard as well as creating its own musical signature to distance itself from the Andrew Lloyd Webber monstrosity (pun intended). There is a noble attempt at creating atmosphere and the production design is amazing, but it just cannot emulate the heavy gothic melancholy of the 1925 movie and will always be overshadowed by the Broadway musical (and the Joel Schumacher camp-fest from 2003).Don't let this movie be forgotten. I'm sure fans of the source material will find a lot to appreciate here and you will certainly recognize its value as a legit take on the story.The Blu-ray looks good in 1.85:1 1080p, the cinematography by Peter Lyons Collister has a soft-focus look to it which might not appeal to HD enthusiasts. The LCPM 2.0 sound is also decent. There are no extras. The US release has a 40-minute documentary, but this Region B release from MGM, courtesy of 101 Films, is really bare-bones.

I find that "gory" 80's movies tend to be a bit hit and miss as they promise allot, but most of the gore happens off screen, so I was really pleased to see that's not the case here! By the standards of the age, it's really pretty bloody and that's what I like from my horror films!I think that this could easily have been an old Hammer Horror production at times as the sets and general atmosphere are suitably gothic and it looks amazing! The sets and costumes are all of a high standard so it's a real treat for the eyes and it could just be me, but I think there's a little bit of a hint of the musicals music in here too. It's not a musical by any means, but sometimes the score does sound a little bit like the famous musical version, but again, I quite like that.Robert Englund also shows that there's more to him as an actor than the odd one liner as Freddie and he puts in a commanding performance as the Phantom. Having said that, there's more than just a hint of Freddie here too, but he's also different enough to be able to see a significant difference.My only real complaint is why switch the location from Paris to London? That doesn't make much sense to me, but that's just a small complaint really. As I say, I really enjoyed this film and would easily enjoy watching it again.

Being a long time horror fan, I was surprised that I had not seen this version of phantom, but I hadn't and so I chose to purchase it on blu ray. I really enjoyed the film, as I found it to have the right balance of horror and unlike many other horror film, it actually had a story to it. I must admit that I was a little disappointed with the phantom make up, as it was Robert England playing him and it was the same special effects guy that did his freddy Krueger make up on some of the elm street films and so it just looked like they were using left over freddy make up most of the time. Apart from that, the film was enjoyable enough and even featured the massively underrated 80's horror scream queen jill shoelen. The blu ray was a little bit of a let down because it was very soft and looked more like a dvd, but being that I never saw this before, I cannot compare it to any previous release. All in all it was a really good movie with an acceptable blu ray transfer, it's not something I would rush out and purchase but, if the price went down to say £7 then it's worth a look on blu ray, as I feel it's not worth much more than that.

First all of all I love!...love!! Love!! This movie!But...this release (from 101 films)...although it's better than my old VHS version (obviously as its Blu-Ray!)The picture is terribly soft so therefore lacks any real detail like you expect from a Blu-Ray release!As far as I can tell it's the full uncut version too which is good for all you horror hounds out there!No extras at all which is a disappointment!The Scream factory release in the U.S has a much better picture and extras too! But seeing as though that's region locked I had to get this!I'd give the film a five star rating but seeing as though it's a Blu-Ray it's not much better than a DVD,So I've marked it down! Worth it while it's cheap though!

I've only seen this movie (all the way through, anyway) once or twice. I really liked it, but not quite as much as I like (sorry, LOVE) the musical, even the 2004 movie. This is mainly because I'm not that much of a horror/gore fan, and this film does have some very gory scenes (hence the 15 or 18 rating - on here, the picture of the blu-ray says it's a 15, but the product description says it's an 18, which I think is more suitable), but thankfully it's not constant throughout the movie.Anyway, Robert Englund is easily the best actor in the entire movie. Even though the character is, in some ways, very like Freddy Krueger, but the character is different enough that I never thought "Hey, it's Freddy in Phantom". Actually, in some parts his performance is quite moving. Some of his one-liners could have been quite cheesy, but they work even better than some of Freddy's one-liners in the Nightmare movies ("Bon Appetit" from the fifth movie is a perfect example).I highly recommend it.