The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

The original masked madman.

GENERAL INFO:
Director:  Rupert Julian
Studio:  Universal Studios
Starring:  Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry
Tagline:  The Greatest Horror Film of Modern Cinema!
MPAA Rating:  NR
Genre:  silent film, mystery, drama, horror, suspense, masked murderer, deformed killer, classic, Universal Horror, black and white
Scare score:  F
Rating:  A-



Before musical theater fans had the longest running Broadway show of all time, horror fans had this classic.

Plot overview:  It is the late XIX century and the Palais Garnier, the Paris Opera House, is under new management.  As Christine Daaé (Philbin), understudy to the lead soprano, becomes more talented at the hands of an unseen vocal coach, a similarly unseen terror from the depths of the cellars below the Opera House becomes more powerful.  One night, Christine's "Angel of Music" at last shows himself - a dark, masked figure - and takes her to his subterranean lair.  Revealing his love for her, Christine unmasks the mysterious figure, revealing his horrid, deformed face, and realizing that her trainer and the Phantom, named Erik, are one and the same (Chaney).  Although terrified of the Phantom, Christine also finds herself pitying and even caring for him.  Still, whenever she can escape from the nightmare, she pleads that her true love and noble Vicomte Raoul (Kerry) take her away from the cursed Opera House.  As the Phantom grows more mad over his love for Christine, no one is safe and the number of his victims begins to increase.  Will the Phantom - a mad, romantic genius - be set free through Christine's love, or will true and pure love from Raoul conquer?  Soon, Christine finds that the fate of both men, and even the entire Opera House, rests in her hands and heart.

Much like Nosferatu, this film is too old (and too silent) to be scary.  Still, it should be respected as an early horror film and as the inspiration of several remakes, spin-offs, and related productions.  I've always enjoyed the original and creative plot of The Phantom of the Opera, having read Gaston Leroux's 1910/1911 novel a few years back.  I found the novel to be much more lengthy and complicated (plot-wise) than I had expected, but this film does a nice job in cutting out the extra fat.

As far as filming goes, this is a pretty beautiful film.  The sets are remarkable and I would love to see what the budget was like at the time of production.  We as viewers can't help but enter into the true decadence of the Palais Garnier or the vastness of its underground, labyrinthine corridors and waterways.  One of my favorite scenes was when the Phantom first takes Christine into his lair, and during the journey the tail of her dress is always drifting behind her: pure white hanging over the darkness of the horse or spectral fabric gliding across the murky water.  We can't miss Christine's pure, white, virginal colors throughout the film contrasted with Erik's blacks.  Later on, we are treated to a few sequences in technicolor during the Masquerade Ball.

This really is an awesome plot.  On the surface level we have an excellent, Romantic mystery, but as we dig deeper there is such a torn romance filled with characters who are neither all good nor all bad.  I love secret passages, trap doors, and underground caverns in my mysteries, and this story is full of them.  With Erik we are presented with a very tragic figure who is clearly pitiful, deranged in his own musical (and more) genius.  Still, even the most romantic viewers should realize that the true horror lays beyond his awful (read: awesome!) face, as he really is an unstable murderer.  Christine is complicated as well, because while she represents purity and innocence, she is pretty darn selfish.  She feels badly for Erik and tells Raoul she can't see him anymore.  Then she wants to escape from Erik and runs back to Raoul.  She has a hard time making up her mind, most notably at the end when she has to make the decision to spare everyone's life but remain with Erik forever, or blow up the Opera House therefore freeing herself and Erik... is that really a decision you have to think about?  Selfish and capricious.  In this way, I think the film is a bit chauvinistic in its depiction of Christine (though not necessarily due to Philbin's portrayal), but perhaps this was just the way thinks were in the melodramatic silent era of 1925.

Chaney is brilliant.  As a revered king of early horror, the viewer has to respect how creepy the Phantom is not only in his looks but in his actions and lines.  His makeup is extraordinary, and when we first see that face it might just be the scariest moment of the movie.  Years ago I read that Chaney did his own makeup for this film, and that it consisted of fish among other things, taking hours to perfect.  Even if it doesn't scare modern viewers, it has certainly become an iconic freaky face.

The very beautiful Philbin does her job as a silent film era actress in her depiction of the entranced-confused-innocent-sad Christine Daaé.  I think that Christine is a difficult character to portray in any version due to the need to establish a balance between victim and heroine who is both selfish and selfless in her "Beauty and the Beast," Stockholm Syndrome-ish situation.

As I have stated before, the single aspect that truly adds terror to a film is sound: creepy noises, eerie soundtracks, and, of course, the big "boom" moments paired with scary and surprising footage.  While this is a silent film lacking scary sounds, we do have a lovely score underneath the entire movie.  I wish some of the music could have been at least darker during the scarier segments of the film, but if nothing else we have a pleasant classical soundtrack.

My main criticism would have to be that the movie drags on a bit in some places.  I actually fell sleep while watching at first (Horror Buff needed a nap) and had to rewind to enjoy the Chandelier incident, which is based on true events.  Also, the over-the-top ending almost becomes comical due to its rapid sequence of events, but I guess it is what audiences wanted at the time.  Horror Buff won't be swimming in the Seine any time soon.

Final critique:  Phantom of the Opera is an important classic in the horror genre and a crowning achievement of Lon Chaney.  While it won't (er, shouldn't) scare modern audiences, it's still a pleasant movie to watch along with other black and white monster classics during the Halloween season.  It is among these other films (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, etc) that Phantom has established itself and will forever remain in the retro realm of horror classics.  I recommend it for all audiences as an important piece of American cinema and more importantly for its contributions to early horror.