The Phantom of the Opera

See? You see this? Its not just blood, gore, vomit, death, and necrophilia around here! I prefer it that way, but hey, I have a little class. So today I am tackling The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Often considered the grandaddy of the Universal monster movies (Dracula, Frankenstein, Mummy, Creature...etc.), I couldn't wait to finally see this movie. My only fear, silent movie syndrome. See.... I always have trouble watching silent movies, generally ending up falling asleep after fighting off "the nods". This time though, I was successful!

We all know it, The Phantom of the Opera is the tale of the Phantom manipulating things behind the scenes to get the girl he has fallen in love with, Christine, the starring role in "Faust". He then tells her to never to see her lover again and only do his bidding. This works out, until he whisks her away to his chambers, where out of curiosity she removes his mask. She recoils in fear, finding his ghastly visage hideous. He brings his wrath down on her, but lets her sing, one last time. She attends the Bal Masque de l'Opera where her lover plots to whisk her away after her next performance, but this is all ruined when the Phantom overhears their plan. He plots her lovers doom and plans to keep her all to himself.

After capturing her lover and forcing her to choose between blowing up the opera house or saving him, Christine chooses to save her love. But it was a trick. The room he is kept in quickly fills with water. She begs and pleads the Phantom to save him, and in an odd moment of remorse, the Phantom opens the trap door and pulls him from the water. The then escapes with Christine in a stolen carriage.

The carriage careens out of control and finally crashes, leaving the Phantom with a mob at his heels. He escapes to the water front, cornered, in a last moment of terror threatens the crowd with an explosive, only to reveal nothing. He laughs as the group moves in and beats him to death.

While the Phantom is a horrible sight to behold, darkness seeping from him in every scene, the main star of the movie to me is the opera house. Its so large and labyrinthine. Seemingly going on for miles, and reaching the very depths of hell. While the Phantom does not have any powers, his knowledge of the opera house is what makes him a force.

Also, the Ball scene is stunning. The sudden burst of color. The pure excitement and revelry of it all. Its great. And when the Phantom shows up in the guise of The Red-Death he casts such an ominous shadow. So, its a classic for a reason, if you can keep yourself from sleeping.