FILM: Phantom Of The Paradise

Synopsis: Brian De Palma's great, overlooked 1970s glitter-rock comedy-musical spectacle is a memorable combination of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and FAUST. Winslow Leach (William Finley) is a talented young rock composer/janitor whose music is stolen and whose life is destroyed by a ruthless record tycoon named Swan (Paul Williams)--who just happens to have sold his soul in exchange for rock-n-roll success and eternal youth! The ruined and disfigured Leach becomes the Phantom, an imposing leather-clad creature who is hell-bent on demolishing Swan as the diabolical music mogul prepares to open his biggest venture yet-- a rock-and-roll palace called The Paradise. Eerily prescient in it's depiction of yet-to-exist musical genres, this stunningly original and darkly comic rock nightmare features voice over narration by Rod Serling, and memorable original songs by the multi-talented Williams. Academy Award Nominations: Best Original Song Score (Paul Williams/George Aliceson Tipton).

OK, so it's an old film. But I'd never even heard of it until a few weeks ago after I stumbled upon a movie blog. And there's nothing that gets my juices-a-flowin' like an OTT, trashy, kitsch monstrosity such as this. After watching the trailer I just knew I had to track it down immediately...and that's exactly what I did. I felt a smile emerge on my face, and a combination of terror and fascination whilst struggling to realise the point behind it all. It's such a muddled up, skewed view of things which likens itself to some sort of netherworld that I instantly fell in love with the overall tone of it. It was also a lil' ahead of it's time too. I can see films such as Grease, Rocky Horror, and Hedwig And The Angry Inch borrowing and stealing from this left right and centre. The look, the music, the ideas...everything was snatched from this relatively unknown film to create the bastard spawn of it. And the icing on the cake (at least for me) - the wonderful Jessica Harper playing the central female character, Pheonix. Probably best known for her role as Suzy Bannion in Suspiria. Never an overly talented actress imo, but whilst she's on screen she lends a certain charm to it which I find so enchanting to watch.



The humour is somewhat lost on me however, at least the way they intended it. It's one of those laugh for all the wrong reasons kinda films. But laughing for all the wrong reasons is something I've always been rather good at. It's certainly more twisted than humourous, and how it was ever rated PG is beyond me.

trailer
imdb

Go hunt it down before they piss all over it with the flamin' remake!.

This movie is so ridiculous. It's essentially a music video on steroids laced with the patented bad taste of the 1970s. I would recommend if you're going to watch it that you get some friends together, crack open a few beers and let the over the top self indulgent spectacle wash over you. Nobody does that style quite like Brian de Palma.

The Phantom wears this bizarre aerodynamic bird beak shaped helmet that is so atrociously awful looking its image has been seared into my memory for all of time.