Rating: 
Summary: Even Better Than Rocky Horror
Review: It seems Sacriligious to write such a thing & yet it is true. This movie is better than the most famous Midnight Movie. It has everything. Sex, drugs, cross-dressing, lesbianism, Rock'n'Roll, DePalma's trademark split-screen and a PG rating! Paul Williams seems miscast (I would certainly never have pictured him in such a role) but is having great fun as the villain, an unscrupulous record producer who steals a Rock Opera based on Faust from a hapless composer and frames him as he bastardizes the music for what he feels would be a more commercial take. The composer escapes from jail and in an attempt to sabotage the factory pressing the albums, gets horribly disfigured in the attempt, dons a mask & cape and becomes the Phantom bent on revenge. This is also one of a very few movies directed by DePalma where he doesn't try to rip-off Hitchcock. He does, however, have fun with a variety of other film conventions -- using a mock-silent film style (speeded-up picture, etc.) for the Phantom's imprisonment & escape sequence, for example. The soundtrack is also memorable. If only someone would deem this movie worthy to put out on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: You'll never believe this film...
Review: Along with the infamous "Rocky Horror," this has to be the coolest musical ever. The songs, the actors, the script, the visuals! it's all so much to take, but it's definately worth watching! Brian de Palma should have made more films like this underrated gem of a cult film!
Rating: 
Summary: Underappreciated film
Review: A '70's rock'n'roll version of "Phantom of the Opera." It's little-known even today: when it was first released it was an undeserved flop. Today it is gaining somewhat of a cult status (and compared to cult films like "Rocky Horror," it is far superior).
Rating:
Summary: All this and a Soundtrack too !
Review: This my friends is probably one of my all time favorite movies. It came around at a time in my life where you still dreamed that anyone even you, Could be a Superhero. Comics were great and so was dreaming of being the Hero of Good against Evil.Geek Winslow Leach Talented song writer but not much else is beaten,Robbed of his Music,Framed,Imprisoned and disfigured all at the hands of a man who sold his soul for Rock and Roll. Swan(Paul Williams)Its a great twist on the Phantom of the Opera story.His music is only for Pheonix(Jessica Harper)only she can sing it, Anyone else who tries Dies.Thats a great Gerrit Graham line.I saw this movie six or seven times when it came out at the theatre.It was several years later before it ever became available on Video. I special ordered the Poster of the movie and also found the soundtrack album(which is awsome)this was the best work in my mind Paul Williams ever did.There is also a group that at the time of the movies release were mistaken as the new Rock band KISS,Singing the song Someone Super like you. One of the few Sound tracks that I have ever liked all the songs.When I am done writing this I am going to purchase this Classic from my youth and sit back and enjoy one of the best movies and memories of my life.
Rating:
Summary: Great Underrated Classic From Brain De Palma.
Review: This one of a kind film, include-Great Music, Excellent Storytelling,Great Performances From William Finley as Winslow Leach and Phantom, Paul Williams as Swan, Jessica Harper(Suspiria)as Phoenix and Gerrit Graham(Child`s Play 2) as Beef.Nobody care, when it came out in 1974, Produced by Edward R. Pressman(Masters Of The Universe, Wall Street, The Crow). Distribute By 20th Century Fox, A year after the film release, then it came-The Rocky Horror Picture Show, was a big success at the box office but it was better in a midnight show, People dressing in costume of their favorite characters and playing their favorites role at a theatre, while they playing the film at the same time. This one of Brain De Palma`s Best and Overlooked Films. A terrific film, don`t miss it. A Cult Classic. Grade:A.
Rating:
Summary: DePalma's Underrated Masterpiece
Review: This film really spoke to me as a kid. As an adult, after working in the music business for ten years, I can appreciate its often brilliant satirical insights. The film features great talents that went on to do more recognized works, and they are at their very best here. Paul Williams has never evoked such powerful emotion than with this original score (he was robbed if he didn't get an Academy Award), and Jessica Harper will capture your heart as the quintessential heroine. Far more humorous than "Rocky Horror," and at the same time more dramatic than "Velvet Goldmine," DePalma's approach to the archetypal drama of Faust is deceptively simple in the way it is presented, yet deftly does justice to the classic story by drawing its overwhelming energy from several genres at once! Too bad they don't make films like this any more. "Immortalize" it on VHS, or better yet, wait for the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: The phantom should be everywhere
Review: Joy, love and betrayal, all in a wonderful musical black comed
Rating:
Summary: i thought i was the only one!
Review: I saw this for the first time back in '75 when I was in the 2nd grade and was haunted by it. many years later i found it available for purchase and grabbed my own personal copy! All I can say is that i'm so glad i'm not alone in my admiration for this film! I love the tongue-in-cheek humor, the score and all the characters. thank you all for being out there and loving this movie as much as i have all these years (-:
Rating:
Summary: all the elements of a good show
Review: This movie never ceases to thrill me! I found it so stunning the first time I saw it in 1974 I had to see it a second time the same day. It has all the elements of a good show--- classic plot, spectacle, catchy tunes, comedy, pathos. I am surprised it has not surfaced on Broadway yet.
Rating:
Summary: Stands the Test of Time
Review: Fell in love w/ this in '74 when I was a wee teenybopper. Amazing how it stands the test of time...it's clever wit & camp went right over my 13-year old head! The soundtrack still amazes. Songs will haunt you...this film is a prime candidate for a stage redux. Absolutely recommend!
|
