summerb4jc

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What would happen if you took Phantom of the Opera and dropped it into the 1970s? Well, Brian de Palma answered that question with his 1974 rock opera PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE. This movie is BONKERS, a cult classic that has been subtly influencing pop culture even today (from Daft Punk to GEORGE LUCAS!!!!) My first thought upon the credits rolling was “oh no...this is going to ruin Christmas...” because I could tell, immediately, that there was so, so many things I wanted to talk about, to pull out and dissect. The visuals (stunning), the soundtrack and lyrics (incredible), the literary references (many and varied.) An all around treat and visual feast. PLEASE ENJOY. THIS MOVIE IS SO COOL.

In 1925, Universal Studios released The Phantom of the Opera, based on Gaston Leroux’s gothic horror masterpiece and starring Lon Chaney - The Man of a Thousand Faces - as the Phantom.

2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the film’s release, and since then, the Phantom has haunted the silver screen, the tv screen, the computer screen, the phone screen, bookshelves, and a bunch of stages with new adaptations of the story being released at least once a decade - if not more.

WELCOME to the fifth installment of 100 YEARS OF PHANTOM - a series in which I will endeavor to review the many, MANY adaptations of Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera.

Please enjoy this VERY THOROUGH look at Brian de Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise. I tried to emulate some of the film’s editing in my own editing, and I really like how this one turned out.

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Hammer Horror is well known for it's 87 million Christopher Lee Dracula movies, it's 8 trillion Peter Cushing Frankenstein movies, it's plentiful harvest of Mummy movies, as well its vast array of other gory, campy, gothic horror stories. But in this vibrant and well-populated sea of sequels on sequels on sequels, there swims only ONE fish with a mask and a penchant for music.

Hammer Horror made only ONE ☝️ Phantom of the Opera movie.

WHY? Well, that's the whole point of this video, so please enjoy a little history on Hammer Horror, a few tangents into related media, and a breakdown on why I feel this adaptation fundamentally misunderstood the story it was trying to tell.

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Do you ever think about Phantom of the Opera and go...hey, I mean, this is great and all, but what if it was a romantic comedy? WELL, BUDDY, DO I HAVE A MOVIE FOR YOU.

NOW, the 1925 silent film was fairly book accurate - hitting the same major beats as the novel even if it did manage to crash and burn during the Final Lair scene. BUT there was a time before the release where they reshot almost the entire movie as a romantic comedy - giving Christine TWO love interests to handle while also dealing with the phantom.

Test Audiences HATED it! Booed it right out of the theater! It was re-edited and released in the version we know now, and time passed. Then suddenly, a new version of Phantom of the Opera released. Same set (soundstage 28 - the perfect replica of the Paris Opera), same source material, but different. changed.

THIS was a version in full dazzling technicolor, with incredible operatic numbers, sweeping sets, gorgeous costumes, and not one BUT TWO LOVE INTERESTS for Christine! (and the phantom of the opera was also there).

This version of the story is both funny and charming...which is a really weird tone for a Phantom of the Opera remake. A full Romantic Comedy...with the events of phantom sort of happening in the background. Welcome to the third installment of 100 Years of Phantom, featuring the 1943 Phantom film starring Claude Rains and Susanna Foster.

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The 20th anniversary of Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice just passed, and that means it's been 20 years since I saw it in theaters which means its been 20 years since I was 12 years old and time is a wheel that never stops turning, isn't it?

ALSO, please know, I have every intention of doing a full review of this movie. BUT 2025 is pretty much dedicated to my 100 Years of Phantom series, and I DO NOT have the time I need to do the review justice until at least 2026. SO IT WILL HAPPEN, I just couldn't let the 20th anniversary go by without saying SOMETHING.

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The next installment of my 100 years of Phantom series is up!!! 🗣️🗣️🗣️ The 1925 Silent Film Phantom of the Opera won'e be turning 100 for several months, but I figured chronological order would be the best way to climb this mountain. Please enjoy this deep dive into the FIRST surviving film adaptation of Gaston Leroux's gothic horror masterpiece THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. I'm breaking down the plot, going into trivia, and ranking the adaptation on book accuracy and how much I liked it.

I'll also be covering:

• The 1916 Phantom of the Opera - a lost Austrian film

• The 1925 Silent film vs the 1929 Sound Rerelease.

• Losing every single one of my marbles over the plentiful variety of slightly different cuts of this movie

• my dawning shock and horror as I realize I've never actually watched the movie I'm talking about.

• Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance

• The sets

• The lighting

• Universal Soundstage 28

• Lon Chaney

• Mary Philbin

• Norman Kerry (a little)

[summerb4jc]

In 1925, Universal Studios released The Phantom of the Opera, based on Gaston Leroux's gothic horror masterpiece and starring Lon Chaney - The Man of a Thousand Faces - as the Phantom.

2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the film's release, and since then, the Phantom has haunted the silver screen, the tv screen, the computer screen, the phone screen, bookshelves, and a bunch of stages with new adaptations of the story being released at least once a decade - if not more.

WELCOME to the first installment of 100 YEARS OF PHANTOM - a series in which I will endeavor to review the many, MANY adaptations of Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera, and there is no better place to start than the with the source material.

Please enjoy this OUTRAGEOUSLY THOROUGH synopsis of Gaston Leroux's gothic horror masterpiece THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. I'm breaking down the plot for new and old fans alike and making sure that even those who haven't read the book (YET!!!) can still appreciate how each adaptation manages to adapt the original.

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New video talking about my top five creative projects. Don’t you worry, two of them are phantom of the opera related.

(And @rjdaae, POTO Secret Santa gets a shoutout at the end. I always had fun the years I did them!)

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“…I am not an angel, nor a genius, nor a ghost…

…I am Erik!”

- Gaston Leroux

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the water reflection of the bridge

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A COMPREHENSIVE TREATISE ON WHY THE DARK UNIVERSE CAUSED PHANTOM OF THE OPERA TO CLOSE ON BROADWAY.

Finally, I get to say what’s been on my mind.

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Haunted 

A step by step process of this will be available at my Patreon on sept 1st 😊

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Erik and Christine 😊 I went for a bit more novel inspired designs 

A step by step of these will be available at my Patreon on Nov 1st!

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you ever fall through a decrepit stage and pass out in the moonlight?

A little test sketch for the comic I’m planning, a modern day take on Phantom of the Opera based on this fic I wrote

The Old Abandoned Theater at the Edge of Town

This is a scene where Christine falls through the stage of an abandoned old theater.

#oldabandonedtheaterattheedgeoftown #phantomoftheopera #christinedaae #comic #sketch #procreate

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