The tyranist's thoughts
At the time I am writing this review, this is our oldest horror movie. It won't stand for long though, since Rish has promised me something even older.
Made in the silent film era, this is the first of many, many versions of this movie. All of them, though, follow the same story, and so, I won't waste your time with it. The differences between the versions are largely in how much the production dwells on the romance versus the horror of the situation. This one definitely falls into the horror category even though it doesn't have one of the crutches of the horror film, sound.
I have to tell you at this point, that the copy I picked up didn't have an accompanying soundtrack so I had to just fill in with whatever I could. Unfortunately, I didn't think long or hard enough and ended up just tuning into the local classical station. Rish later suggested the Batman soundtrack and I've been kicking myself since.
Lon Chaney turns in a pretty good performance in the midst of what is otherwise a melodrama. His makeup is nice and actually startling when you first see it. I also the Christine Daae character even though she was a bit overplayed.
The sets were lovely and when the tint turns red instead of black and white during the masquerade, it accomplished so much more than I think they were expecting it to. I believe that this is the first instance of any color in a film and it is used particularly well here.
If you like the old horror movies, you should definitely check this one out at least once. Check the soundtrack first though and if it is blank, be creative.