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Reviews
The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
This film is just plain bad
Euro schlock producer Harry Alan Towers does it again! This is probably the worst version of Gaston Leroux's classic novel I have ever seen! Robert Englund is actually quite a good phantom, perhaps the best since Lon Chaney. Unfortunately, he (and the other actors) are given little to do by the director, and must therefore forcibly manufacture all-purpose emotions and gesture. Director Dwight H. Little seems to have little clue as to what motivates human beings to do things, what drives them to such extremes of behavior. Instead of creating passion, horror and tragedy, the best he can do is get his actors to grin like idiots when happy, breath quickly when scared, wrinkle their faces when angry, etc. I think this director should stick to working on television shows, where emotional depth is of less importance than in film. The other culprit is the script, which is full of clichés and very conventional workings out of plot elements. Not sure how to resolve a story?... Just make something explode real loud, or knock some candelabras over in a bogus and ridiculously over-emotive fit of rage! That's the general level on which this script operates. My advice... see Lon Chaney's classic silent Phantom, or Hammer's remake. At lease director Terence Fisher knew how to tell a story where the emotion is real.