Phantom of the Paradise

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Brian De Palma

Starring: William Finley, Paul Williams,Jessica Harper, George Memmoli, Gerrit Graham

From: 20^th Century Fox

A delightfully weird movie, and somehow something I hadn’t seen before despite its director. Something like this very well could have rubbed me the wrong way or have been seen as too goofy or (especially) trying way too hard, a thought that has doomed me w/ more than one “popular” and/or “cult” movie. However, once I pressed “play” on the DVR of a FXM Channel recording and spent an hour and a half in such an odd world, this thankfully did work… despite the lack of subtlety present.

After all, this is a “rock musical comedy horror film” (a rather accurate Wikipedia description) which blends together such things as Faust, The Phantom of the Opera and other stories which won’t be mentioned because spoilers as the plot revolves around Paul Williams being an A-hole record producer and stealing the rock opera of piano player Winslow Leach. After a frame job and an accident he becomes The Phantom. At first I wasn’t sure about the movie; however, by the end I was sold. I realized there was supposed to be joy had at the incredible opening credits song, which is at least an all-timer in terms of earworms, and enjoy all the other insanity.

Combining such elements as 70’s De Palma, an electronic voice box, period fashion, groovy songs in several different genres, split screen effects, and the revelation that the music industry had (or probably has) the same issues present in Hollywood—no wonder this flopped at the time and only became a cult hit later. All the talent in front and behind the screen definitely helped with ultimately being won over; of course I was entertained by Williams, the cute as a button Jessica Harper and William Finley as poor Winslow but to think that Gerrit Graham was the highlight as the dimwitted wananbe rock star BEEF. That’s not slighting Graham at all—it was just not expected beforehand and that character was always a delight from his very first appearance.

To be perfectly frank, most actual rock operas I don’t love; after all, to list an example: in terms of Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here are all-time classics to me as albums while The Wall has some great tunes but the rest I am “eh” on. However, this has so many quality moments in a memorable tale that is more than just borrowing from familiar works while at the same time taking the piss out of a business that likely needed skewering (the music industry) and this does deserve the cult audience it has.

Incidentally, I actually had a double feature tonight where I paired this with something I’d seen before, eons ago. No, not Rocky Horror, although that would work for me if I liked Rocky Horror more. Rather, it’s something else which did not prove to be as compatible in tone as expected, but more on that tomorrow.