Phantom of the Opera (1989)

Director: Dwight H. Little

Starring: Robert Englund, Jill Schoelen, Alex Hyde-White

A young soprano becomes the obsession of a horribly disfigured composer, who has plans for those who oppose him or the young singer.

Long before Gerard Butler played The Phantom in 2004, Robert England portrayed the character in this 1989 version. This film delivers fine performances from a good cast, and has a great production design, costumes and make-up effects as well.

Despite the film being a failure, I actually enjoyed it very much. Maybe the film was too gory for the mainstream audience. ‘Phantom of the Opera’ is viewed by many as a romantic tale, a sort of Beauty and the Beast if you will. There’s no romance here, although it might seem that way. Instead, the Phantom seems obsessed with Christine as an object to fulfill his desires – and I’m not referring to the sexual sense, or companionship to be more subtle. Oh no, his determination is fueled only by his selfishness – to have a soprano perform his work the way he intended it to be performed.

There’s also no love here from Christine’s perspective for the Phantom. She was ‘chosen’ by him and therefore feels compelled to perform his work. Maybe – because of these facts – and due to the film being so gory, it didn’t appeal to a wide audience. That aside, this is a very different – yet very worthy – addition to the 80’s horror collection. Let’s face it, how many horror fans out there enjoy opera? As someone who enjoys both, I was entertained by ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, and thought Robert England did a great job as the Phantom. The make-up was also incredible, and made me cringe a number of times. As contradictory as it might sound, this is still an elegant and stylish horror.

The film does have an unexpected twist ending and I wonder if it was really necessary…

Would I watch it again? Maybe.