Phantom of the Opera

Rating:
Summary: It Scared Me As A Kid...
Review: ... But things change.
The classic story of love and compassion is presented here as just another hideous slasher movie. Robert Englund, more familiar as Freddy Kruegar stars in the title role. Jill Schoelen costars as a young diva who is transported back in time to Victorian London. There, her opera work becomes entangled with the Phantom composer who stabs and decapitates assorted victims with ghastly relish. Part of Englund's grisly makeup involves his face coming apart at the seams. The film was packaged in 1989 in an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the hit Broadway musical.

Rating:
Summary: The First and Only Gothic Slasher Film
Review: First off I rated this movie based on how much I enjoyed it... which is obviously quite a lot. The movie does have some inconsistencies and some acting that could have been better. (mostly in regards to American actors trying to sound British)
But if we're going to review this film fairly, we're going to have to quit comparing Englund's Phantom to Freddy. They have very little in common other than they're both hamburger-faced, viciously kill people and that they're played by the same actor. But what about the Phantom's one-liners in this film? Well, the Phantom is a bitter misanthrope, so that is where his hateful sarcasm comes from. Freddy's humor comes from the fact that he's gleefully toying with his victims. That said, I think this is a very interesting take on the Phantom legend. The story goes something like this; a young singer auditions for an Opera using a piece of music by an unknown composer, who also happened to be a murderer. She's hit in the head when a stagehand drops a sandbag and in a dream state experiences her past life in the 19th century London Opera. (the setting is changed from Paris to London, possibly to give the Phantom more of a "Jack the Ripper" edge) The familiar story then begins. Christine is tutored by her "Angel", becomes a big star and the Phantom then does anything and kills anyone to ensure her continuing success. The biggest differences in this film (besides its London setting) from the original story are that rather than being a genius born with a horrible deformity, the Phantom is a man who sold his soul to the devil for the immortality of his music. The price happened to be his face. He also gains supernatural powers and immortality for himself, as long as his music remains. (a concept borrowed from The Picture of Dorian Gray and De Palmas Phantom of the Paradise) Also instead of wearing a mask, this Phantom skins his victims, patching up his own face, using crude proto-Plastic Surgery with their scraps. There is no chandelier fall in this film, but it is the first version since 1925 to include the masquerade party, where the Phantom shows up in his Red Death costume. There's plenty of blood and guts in this film as the Phantom slashes his way through his enemies. One great scene has him facing a group of would-be muggers in a dark alley. The imagery is overwhelmingly gothic. Very moody. The phantom's underground sanctum, riddled with candles and a pipe organ is classic. The film did badly, I think mainly because it came in the wake of Webber's extremely popular romantic stage musical. Everyone had their idea of what a Phantom film should be, and this just wasn't it. This Phantom was too evil to pity, and he wasn't very romantic. But when you look at the movie objectively, it's pretty good. Much better than most horror films in the 80's. And next to Freddy, Eric Destler-The Phantom is one of Robert Englunds best performances. He's absolutely wonderful. He makes him a very complex character. On one hand he's a very sensitive, brilliant artist with a kind of nobility to him. On the other hand, he's an almost diabolical character. Evil and power-mad. Englund plays this out very well. As I said there are problems. Some things are never properly explained. How the Phantom retains his reign of terror over the Opera isn't fully explored. How did the Phantom go from being a superstitious "theater tradition" to a legend about a man who sold his soul to the devil for music? How did Christine know the words to the Phantom's music? Why didn't she seem surprised at all when her "Angel" turned out to be a recluse living underground? Anyway, I'm nit-picking. Over all a very enjoyable film and a must see for Robert Englund fans.


Rating:
Summary: One Of The Better Phantom Versions...
Review: I saw this movie with my grandfather and it was pretty good. Out of all the Phantom versions I have seen, it is one of the better ones. The story is a little different, but very understandable. I really enjoyed this movie and I will like to see it again!

Rating:
Summary: One the better versions
Review: I think each version of the Phantom adds something to the genre, but none have equalled the content of the novel. This version stands up against the recent 2004 film version of the Webber musical (the make-up in the Webber film is awful and looks like a bad skin problem rather than a deformity--the stage version had far better make-up). This 1989 version is better than the 1943 and 1962 versions, although not as good as the 1925 Lon Chaney classic. Robert Englund does an excellent job of bringing the character to life, the make-up is very good, the soundtrack is excellent, the acting is first-rate. If you love the novel and are open to varied renditions of the content, this DVD should find a welcome home next to the versions of Lon Chaney, Claude Rains, and Herbert Lom. Thanks to MGM for bringing this cult classic to us in DVD form.

Rating:
Summary: The Only SCARY Version
Review: Iv'e seen every version of "Phantom Of The Opera" and this one is the best. It's scary, suspensful, gory, and entertaining the way it was supposed to be. All the other versions were boring and NOT scary at all. This is the REAL Phantom of the Opera!

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece.
Review: Just last week I went to the theater and saw the newest incarnation of Phantom of the Opera. It was great, though I missed the first 20 minutes of the picture. I had never heard the story, seen any other movies for it, or even the play up until that point. So right now, for me, that -is- Phantom of the Opera. But this week, I saw this version of the story, and picked it up, figuring it'd be interesting.

Oh if I only knew then how interesting it would be.

The movie is fantastic. I haven't been so entertained watching something since the dog down the street got his head stuck in a can of peaches. Because the movie is so great, I won't go into much of a detailed review, as to not ruin the pacing or any of its great moments. First, you have to keep in mind that Robert Englund, Mr. Freddy Kreuger himself, stars as the Phantom here. And yes, like many others, I could only see Freddy in the movie. Not the Phantom/Eric Destler. Hence my name for him- Phantom Kreuger. The moment he appeared in the movie, saying "you're...SUSPENDED" and then hung a man...it had me in tears, laughing. Freddy was back, in Phantom form. But I guess I should give you the gist of main plot, though most of you should know the Phantom of the Opera story by now. We start out with Christine Day in 1989. A woman who tries out for a part in a play, only to get knocked out by a sandbag. And here's where the "time travel" kicks in. She starts to dream about herself in a century (they never do say when it is) way back when. Que to basic Phantom of the Opera plot.

...or so I thought.

There's no operas going on here. In fact, the only opera/singing that goes on is during a quick rehersal with Christine. There are no numbers from the play at all. Though there was one point where the first few notes for Music of the Night kicked in, only to have Phantom Kreuger start talking instead of singing. You know...I don't even want to talk about the movie itself anymore. I just want to go on about Phantom Kreuger becuase he's such a character. I almost want to call this Nightmare On Elm Street: Zero. There were so many times when I kept expecting to hear Freddy's laugh after a kill, or see him don a red and olive green cape. Get this- his face has pieces of flesh sewn on. And when Phantom Kreguer begins to peel it off, it reveals...FREDDY MAKE-UP. No kidding, it's like Robert Englund kinda just left it on from one of the Nightmare sequels and brought it over to this movie. Phantom Kreuger also has a few special powers. He can lift people with one hand about 2 feet off the ground, decapitate them with a 4 inch knife, and even teleport. You have to see it to believe it. With all these nifty powers, who needs time to play the organ or compose music? Not Phantom Kreuger, as he sold his soul to the devil in order to make his music live on. And boy does that get taken literally. Wait until you see the end of the movie. If anyone out there's ever played Alone in the Dark 2 for the PC, remember the music man, and how you killed him.

The picture quality was fair. You can watch either the fullscreen or widescreen version since this is a flip disc. It looks alright for a movie made in '89. There's the expected amount of grain and fuzz here and there. The audio was above average. There isn't a lot going on for the audio. Sure, there's a lot of dialogue, and there's classical music. But there's never one moment where everything booms together to impress the viewer or anything. Well, except for that line "you're...SUSPENDED". God I love that line.

Special features? Not on this disc. 'looks like the lack of extras on the Nightmare discs carried over to this one too.

While Phantom of the Opera here did keep me entertained the whole way through, it gets a few stars knocked off due to no extras. If I wanted just the movie, I'd have gotten the vhs version. Oh how I wish a commentary track with Robert Englund were on this sucker. I can imagine him talking like he did on the Freddy vs Jason commentary track, doing the insane laugh after nearly every line. And I just know there's a deleted scene or two showing Christine having a nightmare and...AAAAHHHH. I JUST NOW GOT IT. When Christine got knocked out, she started having that dream, and Phantom Kreuger appeared. That's when it all went down- in her dreams. Jesus, it really is Nightmare on Elm Street: Zero. A timeless classic I tell ya.

Rating:
Summary: Critics Beware!
Review: New capture of the horror film classic, this version is sometimes regarded as an attempt to cash in on Andrew Lloyd Webber's broadway production. However Duke Sandefur's script is highly original and well done, he creates the phantom as part of the opera "Faust" which is used in this version and many other versions. Director Dwight H. Little also captures some good and terrifying moments. For the most part, Robert Englund is the phantom, Erik Destler, a music artist who sold his soul to the devil for the world to love his opera talents. Unfortunatly the devil mutilated his face and the phantom then gets supernatural powers and haunts the London Opera House. Christine (Jill Scholen) is in present day New York looking for a piece of music to sing to get an audition for a broadway production, she comes across Erik's music and once she sings it, she is sucked back to 1881 London and is the understudy of the opera's Diva Carlotta, and the phantom coaches her to be the new star. Along the way, the phantom skins the stagehand, he takes on three thieves and even kills an opera critic in a sauna that critized Christine's performance. The film is somewhat bloody, but the film captures some impressive scenes including Christine at the graveyard, the phantom's lair, the masked ball and the opera house is very luxorious as well. Unfortunatly this version does not have the classic falling chandlier, but the unmasking is different, instead of a mask, the phantom ripps apart his face, and Christine also does it again at the end of the film, (two scenes which are very hideious). Misha Segal's music score is by far the best for any phantom film so far. His music for Don Juan Triumphant is magical, and his scores for the title theme, and the murder scenes are suspensful and terrifying. Bill Nighy, Terence Harvey, Stephanie Lawrence, Nathan Lewis and Peter Clapham all co-star. Also look for Molly Shannon (Saturday Night Live) in a small role in the present day New York City sequences as Christine's friend.

Rating:
Summary: More Freddie Kruger than Phantom
Review: OK this wasn't the best of adaptations of the classic Phantom of the Opera, but neither did it fail completely.

My biggest gripe with this one was that, while rich in action and gore, there was too much emphazis placed on the Phantom's murderous impulses than on the overall storyline.

It didn't help either that the producers of this film choose poor Robert Englund to play the Phantom.
It's not that Englund isn't good in the part, it's more that he seems unable to escape the Freddie Kruger persona.
Throughout the entire film I kept thinking I was watching a spin-off of yet another Nightmare on Elms Street.

I did enjoy the operatic scenes of Faust and the way they've incorperated opera culture into the film.
In essence, this is more a mixture of Freddie meets Callas than a true Phantom of the Opera film.

However, the overall result is entertaining enough and with a very nice sound score makes for good watching.

My advice, rent it. This isn't one of those films you'll want or need to watch over and over.




Rating:
Summary: This movie makes no sense
Review: OK, probably everybody knows the story of "The Phantom of the Opera" and there exists number of movies with different interpretations. The reason why I do not like this version is that it makes no sense - first of all, why should be the phantom portrayed as the most vicious killer in the world? He is defenitely not this kind of a person. Yes, he has the anger in him, because of his past life, but the whole idea is that relationship with Christine must influence him to become a better person. His devotion to music should make him a better person. He is supposed to be a genious. Unfortunately in this movie the Phantom is potrayed only like a horrible heartless murderer.
too much unnecessary violence in the movie.
I think Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera portrays the Phantom much better, much deeper, not to mention amazing Emmy Rossum's Christine in Weber's Phantom who is much more suitable for Christine's character.
So I give 2 stars, only because of some nice music in the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Poor, poor example of Phantom
Review: OK...all I have to say is: Freddy as The Phantom????? NO!!!!!!

This movie showed promise, but it became more of a slasher/Jack the Ripper-ish movie with a phantom that must sew a new face on periodically (and he hunts down victims to get new skin for his messed up face....creepy).

Only purchase this to put in your Phantom movie collection...watch it once, then forget about it. I saw it back in 1989 and viewed it again 6 months ago. I won't be watching it again for awhile....