When this film opensapparently in the year 1989a young woman is running through busy New York streets into a small music bookshop. There she finds a rare piece of sheet-music from an unknown composer, and when she starts to sing from it the pages turn to blood.
This young woman, one Christine Day, is a music student at Julliard and is on her way to an audition. When she sings from the piece she found at the old shop, a vagrant sandbag swings across the stage and knocks her out cold.
After a whirlwind montage reminiscent of THE WIZARD OF OZ, she awakes in 1885 London. Now she is Christine Daae, a young Victorian ingénue songbird, lifting herself up during a rehearsal at a London opera house inexplicably dressed as a male page, not at all bothered or puzzled by her new surroundings. So begins this liberal interpretation of Gaston Leroux's classic tale of obsession and horror.
There is much alteration to Leroux's original mythos. For starters, the entire story and its characters have been transported from Paris to London, so that everyone can speak in Merchant-Ivory British accents everyone, that is, except for Christine, who (even while transported to Victorian England) is still an American. And of course, another significant difference is that Christine travels through time. I'm sure Leroux would have added that in, though, had he thought of it while writing his novel.
Then, of course, there is the Phantom himself. This Phantom is different than his predecessorshe combats muggers in dark urban alleyways a la Batman, seduces prostitutes, and skins his victims' flesh, which he then uses to sew onto his own tissue-deteriorated face.
Robert Englund plays the title character with the same macabre pleasure he brings to his role in the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series. In fact, with his latex face mutations, he looks very similar to his Freddy Kruger persona, and as the Phantom he seems to delight in preying on his victims. The Victorian setting is not altogether inappropriate considering the emphasis on the Phantom's ghastly appetite for murder, evoking the menace of a blood thirsty Jack the Ripper.
Overall this movie is an entertaining flick. The acting becomes hammy as with many horror films, but the suspense is thrilling even for those familiar with the original story, because you just don't know who screenplay writer Sandefur is going to decide to kill off in his spirit of deviation. It is part period drama, part slasher (mostly slasher) with not too much emphasis on writing or character. This is a movie that explains the Phantom's facial paroxysm as the curse of a demonic midget who melts his face in exchange for talent and renown. But if you're in the mood for a laughable/gory ghost story, this movie is quite enjoyable.
This young woman, one Christine Day, is a music student at Julliard and is on her way to an audition. When she sings from the piece she found at the old shop, a vagrant sandbag swings across the stage and knocks her out cold.
After a whirlwind montage reminiscent of THE WIZARD OF OZ, she awakes in 1885 London. Now she is Christine Daae, a young Victorian ingénue songbird, lifting herself up during a rehearsal at a London opera house inexplicably dressed as a male page, not at all bothered or puzzled by her new surroundings. So begins this liberal interpretation of Gaston Leroux's classic tale of obsession and horror.
There is much alteration to Leroux's original mythos. For starters, the entire story and its characters have been transported from Paris to London, so that everyone can speak in Merchant-Ivory British accents everyone, that is, except for Christine, who (even while transported to Victorian England) is still an American. And of course, another significant difference is that Christine travels through time. I'm sure Leroux would have added that in, though, had he thought of it while writing his novel.
Then, of course, there is the Phantom himself. This Phantom is different than his predecessorshe combats muggers in dark urban alleyways a la Batman, seduces prostitutes, and skins his victims' flesh, which he then uses to sew onto his own tissue-deteriorated face.
Robert Englund plays the title character with the same macabre pleasure he brings to his role in the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series. In fact, with his latex face mutations, he looks very similar to his Freddy Kruger persona, and as the Phantom he seems to delight in preying on his victims. The Victorian setting is not altogether inappropriate considering the emphasis on the Phantom's ghastly appetite for murder, evoking the menace of a blood thirsty Jack the Ripper.
Overall this movie is an entertaining flick. The acting becomes hammy as with many horror films, but the suspense is thrilling even for those familiar with the original story, because you just don't know who screenplay writer Sandefur is going to decide to kill off in his spirit of deviation. It is part period drama, part slasher (mostly slasher) with not too much emphasis on writing or character. This is a movie that explains the Phantom's facial paroxysm as the curse of a demonic midget who melts his face in exchange for talent and renown. But if you're in the mood for a laughable/gory ghost story, this movie is quite enjoyable.