The Phantom of the OperaYear: 1998 Director: Dario Argento Written by: Dario Argento, Gerard Brach Threat: Psychopath Weapon of Choice: Chandelier Based upon: novel - Gaston Leroux Color/B&W/3D: Colour Language: English Country of Origin: Italy IMDb page: |
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Other movies in this series:
None
Rish's Reviews
I've seen a handful of "Phantom of the Opera" adaptations over the years. And so have
you. This is the second one tyranist and I have reviewed in the past month, and I don't
have much to say. I hate to admit it, but the best one I've seen is easily the Joel
Schumacher-directed 2004 musical version. Sorry for letting you down, Father.
You know the tale. In the great Paris operahouse, there is a mysterious presence (Julian
Sands) who takes a particular interest in young, beautiful Christine (Asia Argento), trying
to bring her talents to the forefront. Oh, and the phantom has a tendency to kill those
who get too close to him, or in his way.
The good: Asia Argento has never looked so lovely.
The bad: Dario Argento has never made such a bad movie. Sure, his style is there and
many of the shots are quite beautiful, but the movie is a mishmash of different ideas
(some from the traditional Phantom story, and some quite new), that go together
like oil and water. Or matter and anti-matter. Or Nicole Richie and a square meal.
You get the picture.
As you might expect, the cinematography and scenery is fantastic, with great shots,
lighting, and a stylish feel to the film. There's some gore here, and a tiny bit o' nudity.
But wow, the narrative is all over the place. Most of the time, that place is not where you
want to be. The film never makes up its mind as to whether the Phantom is our villain
or some kind of shady anti-hero, and Christine's feelings for the Phantom are so inconsistent,
her character would've been right at home on a WB Network "Dawson's Creek"-ripoff
about good-looking teens in a preppy insane asylum.
The film just didn't work. Rent Jenifer instead.
Posted: September 14, 2007
The tyranist's thoughts
Only Dracula has been remade more times than Phantom of the Opera and most
of those came about after Andrew Lloyd Webber's little musical made all the girls knees
quiver. This one is just like all of them. Except it is made by the Argento family. So while it
is quite a bit bloodier than the others, it also should have been better.
Instead, it is a rehash of the same story with nothing really knew or creative in the interpretation.
Singing, mayhem death, it's all pretty much just like any other version of the movie. And as
much as I like Asia Argento, she isn't enough to make it worth seeing this ever again. In fact,
I'd recommend Opera instead. It is
similarly set, made by Dario, stars Asia, and is a much, much better movie. More intense.
Scarier. Even the story is better.
And that's really what it comes down to. Opera is a much better take on Phantom
of the Opera than Phantom of the Opera is. A very loosely inspired take, but
much better nonetheless.
So I can't recommend this, even to Phantom fans. Unless, of course, you are just after more
of the same, except with more blood.
Posted: September 14, 2007
Total Skulls: 22
| Sequel |  |
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| Sequel setup | ||
| Rips off earlier film | ||
| Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie | ||
| Future celebrity appears | ||
| Former celebrity appears | ||
| Bad title | ||
| Bad premise | ||
| Bad acting | ||
| Bad dialogue | ||
| Bad execution | |
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| MTV Editing | ||
| OTS | |
|
| Girl unnecessarily gets naked | |
|
| Wanton sex | |
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| Death associated with sex | ||
| Unfulfilled promise of nudity | ||
| Characters forget about threat | |
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| Secluded location | ||
| Power is cut | ||
| Phone lines are cut | ||
| Someone investigates a strange noise | |
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| Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door | ||
| Camera is the killer | ||
| Victims cower in front of a window/door | ||
| Victim locks self in with killer | ||
| Victim running from killer inexplicably falls | ||
| Toilet stall scene | ||
| Shower/bath scene | |
|
| Car stalls or won't start | ||
| Cat jumps out | ||
| Fake scare | ||
| Laughable scare | |
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| Stupid discovery of corpse | ||
| Dream sequence | ||
| Hallucination/Vision | |
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| No one believes only witness | |
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| Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth | ||
| Warning goes unheeded | |
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| Music detracts from scene | ||
| Death in first five minutes | |
|
| x years before/later | ||
| Flashback sequence | ||
| Dark and stormy night | ||
| Killer doesn't stay dead | ||
| Killer wears a mask | ||
| Killer is in closet | ||
| Killer is in car with victim | ||
| Villain is more sympathetic than heroes | ||
| Unscary villain/monster | |
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| Beheading | |
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| Blood fountain | ||
| Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc. | ||
| Poor death effect | ||
| Excessive gore | |
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| No one dies at all | ||
| Virgin survives | ||
| Geek/Nerd survives | ||
| Little kid lamely survives | ||
| Dog/Pet miraculously survives | ||
| Unresolved subplots | |
|
| "It was all a dream" ending | ||
| Unbelievably happy ending | ||
| Unbelievably crappy ending | |
|
| What the hell? | |
