Phantom of the Paradise ('74)

[Enshohma]

The following is copied over from a recent blog entry at my DeviantArt page...

http://enshohma.deviantart.com/

...So please forgive me if the following article is a little odd in its reading:

If that wasn't enough, the Fox Movie Channels also get in to the act with a whole swell of their own horror and sci-fi films, but the one that I especially recommend is non-other then the lesser known and somewhat hated by some of my non-hip friends, 1974's The Phantom of the Paradise, which according to MY local listings, will be the subject of Fox's Friday triple play, complete with an lengthy introduction to the film, this Friday at 8PM (central time).

But that's kind of weird considering the film was a major flop at the time (minus one Canadian city), and even as a cult film, it's a small cult indeed. Or at least from my own personal experiences when sharing the film with others. Still, it's an excellent opportunely for more people (namely YOU) to experience one of the major causes behind my current insanity while I was growing up, since I was first introduced to this film at an early age.

Phantom of the Paradise is perhaps the only semi-comedy to come from director Brian De Palma, and even with that said it's a pretty crazy, musical filled, and darkly humorous hybrid of three famous gothic tales; Phantom of the Opera, Faust, and A Picture of Dorian Gray.

William Finley plays Winslow Leach, a struggling and unknown composer whose lengthy cantata based on the story of "Faust" is stolen right under his innocent, dimwitted noise by Swan, a ruthless and powerful though rather mysterious record mogul, played against type by Paul Williams.

In an attempt to see Swan about the situation leads Winslow to meet and fall in love with another struggling artist, a naive but kind singer named Phoenix. Sadly Winslow's life gets far worse when Swan frames him for crimes he didn't commit and is imprisoned for them.

Now although Winslow is a pretty pleasant guy and all, he is capable of sudden bursts of extreme violent rage. And when he discovers that Swan is butchering his life's work for the opening of his rock palace dubbed the Paradise, he escapes from jail and goes on a wonderfully cartoonish rampage. Which ends in tragically when he is brutally injured and deformed at one of Swan's record warehouses and falls into the nearby sea, presumed to be dead by the rest of the world.

But like his inspirational namesake, Winslow returns from the dead so to speak, and dons a cool super villain-style bird getup to become the Phantom of the Paradise, in his attempts to have revenge against Swan and his many employees. But things get more complicated when poor Phoenix is brought into Swan's fold as well, leading to final shocking revelation that Swan is an even bigger monster (both fugitively and literally) then the Phantom himself!

As elegantly ominous as that synopsis is, Phantom of the Paradise more like a live action cartoon with its loose logic, added with some good rock music sequences. It also holds up the enjoyable pace a lot better then similar films do, including the cult classic to end all cult classics (and please don't kill me for stating such because I love this film too) The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

It's one of those weird flicks you really have to love weird flicks to enjoy. And most I've shown the film too either love it or hate it...mostly the latter. But I really hope some of you guys give this weird little rock-n-roll-comedy-horror-fantasy a chance come this Friday (Halloween night). And after which share your opinions, positive and anything but, here as well.

I'll have more on the "Phantom of the Paradise" myself come Friday in a more visual form (*wink-wink*), but until then, a very informative fan site on the movie entitled The Swan Archives...ignore the intro-page's semi-fan fiction text, the rest is more down to earth stuff...or is it: http://www.swanarchives.org/

[lhb412]

I love this movie. I need to get the DVD.

It blows Rocky Horror away in my humbl;e opinion.

[ryuuseipro]

I've been a big fan of this movie! This is my favorite De Palma film, by far, and one of my favorite films. I enjoy this and Rocky Horror equally. (I'm aware that the film's strongest following is in Canada, where it surpasses Rocky Horror!)

The Phantom himself reminds me of Skullman (the proto-Masked Rider) and Gatchaman, although he also may have been a possible inspiration for Darth Vader!

[Shonokin]

This has always been a personal favorite since first hearing the soundtrack in the 70s and finally seeing the movie in the early 80s.

It's funny, wacky and full of horrible things happening to poor Winslow throughout the whole thing.

[Xenorama]

i dunno, i liked parts of it, but it seemed to fall apart toward the end. the songs aren't nearly as memorable as ROCKY's, either. i should watch it again though.

David

[Enshohma]

LOL, so I'm not alone! The Phantom's design is very much like something from a Japanese tokusatsu show, but back in the 1970s a lot of horror movie characters were just a couple degrees from being comic book-like supervillains (The Tall Man of the Phantasm films as another example).

I also agree with Ryuu that I enjoy it as much as Rocky, but as Xenorama points out it does have its flaws, like the before mentioned cartoon logic totally taking over the ending once Swan's secret is revealed.

Like Shonkin, I like the soundtrack a lot, though the only number in the whole thing that is a little weak 'Old Souls', sung by Phoenix after one rock star gets fried by Winslow. But this has more to do with the vocals, especially after considering the great job Jessica Harper (Phoenix) did with the bit 'Special to Me'.

And lastly to Ihb412; I think the DVD is still available, but because its such an old release (DVD-wise) you may have to special order it at stores (like I did back in '98) or online...still, if it is totally out of print, the TV showing should be a big help.

Thank you all for posts.

[Shonokin]

A few years ago I heard a more "Goth" version of Old Souls. Looks like it's on .

The DVD is still out. It averages for $9 on amazon and DDD. There's a French version that actually has extras.

Of course there's the (rumored) anime tie-in from the Lupin III movie "Mystery of Mamo" that Mamo was inspired by Paul Williams' Swan.

[Jon Leo]

I absolutely love Phantom of the Paradise. One of my favorite films.

It's also my favorite Brian DePalma film after Carrie and Blow Out.

[Enshohma]

Just though I'd share this before the thread fully dies...Enjoy!



More serious alternate take:

http://enshohma.deviantart.com/art/Phan ... -102249010

[Shonokin]

Very cool pic!

Hey the Fox Lecacy showing was pretty cool, as Tom Rothman (who's married to Jessica Harper) talked some about the history of the film, its fame and failures. The movie itself was introduced by Jessica.

My wife saw it for the first time and she liked it. Yay! we get to stay married!

The intro talked about the which was a big convention for the movie.

Another interesting site: http://www.swanarchives.org/

While watching it on Halloween I realized that POTP is like the Super Inframan of the musical world. Just out of control fun and everything cranked to 11!