Saturday, October 26, 2013

Horror Challenge #68: "The Phantom of the Opera"

This is a pretty epic undertaking for a silent movie.  It's a huge production with a huge cast (over 5000, as the poster says) showing lavish parties and theatrical productions and all manner of fancy events going on in the opera house while the phantom is banished to the shadows, not allowed to partake in respected society.  He is kind of a tragic figure, but I appreciate this movie for showing him as the murderous monster that he is, because some OTHER adaptations of this story want to turn him into a romantic hero (because stalking is like, so romantic and stuff) and that always irks me.  I'm sorry that the guy feels left out because he's disfigured and looks like one of the zombies from the movie Paranorman, but he's also an outcast because he's a MURDERER, and he KIDNAPS a woman because he's OBSESSED with her and he demands that she love him.  Dude, that's messed up.  This movie is also notable because it might be the first movie to feature a fake-out scare when a character is scared at a noise and it turns out to only be a cat.  see how influential these old movies can be?

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