The Phantom of the Opera (1989) 21st Century Film Corporation/Horror RT: 93 minutes Rated R (graphic violence and gore) Director: Dwight H. Little Screenplay: Gerry O’Hara and Duke Sandefur Music: Misha Segal Cinematography: Elemer Regalyi Release date: November 3, 1989 (US) Cast: Robert Englund, Jill Schoelen, Alex Hyde-White, Bill Nighy, Terence Harvey, Stephanie Lawrence, Nathan Lewis, Peter Clapham, Molly Shannon, Emma Rawson, Mark Ryan, Yehuda Efroni. Box Office: $4M (US)
Rating: *** ½
I think we can all agree that the 80s was a great decade for horror movies. It’s a decade that gave us blood-soaked chillers like Friday the 13th, The Thing, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser and a great many other ones. At the tail end of ’89, we got The Phantom of the Opera starring Robert Englund (aka Freddy Krueger) in the title role. Based on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel (and NOT the popular Broadway musical), it’s a lot gorier than any of the other film versions that preceded it. While a critical and commercial failure at the time of its release, young Movie Guy 24/7 thought it was awesome. 30+ years later, my opinion remains more or less unchanged.
The story opens in modern day with Juilliard student Christine Day (Schoelen, The Stepfather) searching for something unique to sing at an audition. She finds an old opera piece entitled “Don Juan Triumphant” hidden amongst a stack of dusty old books in a music library. It was written by a composer named Erik Destler, an obscure composer said to have committed several murders in late 19th century London. He may also have been responsible for the disappearance of a young opera singer with whom he was obsessed.
Feeling a connection to it, Christine starts to sing it at her audition until she’s knocked unconscious by a falling sandbag. She wakes up in London circa 1885 as the understudy to diva La Carlotta (Lawrence, Buster) in a production of Faust. She has a guardian angel of sorts in a masked figure, the Phantom, that lives in the sewers below the opera house. He comes to her unseen to teach and protect her. Of course, it’s Erik Destler, a gifted composer who made a deal with the devil. In exchange for his soul, people will love him for his music. However, the devil disfigures his face thereby causing him to become a killer who uses the skin of his victims to make facial masks to hide his deformed visage. Erik is in love with Christine and will do anything to ensure she gets the recognition she deserves. In return, he expects her to commit to him fully.
Although it has plenty of splatter and gross makeup effects, it wouldn’t be entirely accurate to characterize The Phantom of the Opera as “Freddy at the Opera” or “An Opera on Elm Street”. Englund doesn’t joke his way through this role. He convincingly portrays Erik as a talented man driven insane by desire and obsession. Here’s a guy who skins the stage hand who drunkenly dropped the sandbag and tried to blame it on the phantom that supposedly haunts the opera house. He also murders a theater critic who gives Christine’s debut performance a bad review. Although mostly serious, Englund’s performance is tempered with just enough camp to make The Phantom of the Opera great fun. Schoelen is also quite good as Christine, a role that allows her to show off her amazing singing voice. She plays the part with grace and beauty.
Yes, there are plenty of great bloody killings in The Phantom of the Opera including two beheadings and many slashings. That’s in addition to gruesome, Texas Chainsaw Massacre-type stuff involving Erik’s homemade facial masks. This is definitely one for the gorehounds. I should know. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the Scotland Yard inspector, Hawkins (Harvey, From Hell), investigating the murders. He’s well aware of Erik’s story and vows to stop him. There’s a great climactic sequence in which Hawkins and Christine’s beau Richard (White, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) pursue Erik in the dark, wet, rat-infested catacombs. It’s genuinely thrilling.
Artistically, The Phantom of the Opera is top-notch material with its gorgeous production design and period costumes. Even modern day Manhattan looks great. Speaking of which, the bookend scenes in NY were meant to be a lead-in for a proposed sequel (The Phantom of the Opera 2: Terror in Manhattan) that never happened. It’s too bad, I’m sure it would have been more fun than Jason Voorhees’ rampage through fake New York in that year’s Friday the 13th Part VII: Jason Takes Manhattan. Oh well. We’ll always have London.
Although not a success, The Phantom of the Opera is the last great horror film of the 80s. A combination of Hammer horror and slasher flick, it’s a B-movie done right.
