Day 351: The Phantom Of The Opera

The Phantom Of The Opera

And next he'll be Tevye in "Fiddler On The Roof"

The it seems that every decade or so, there is a revival for The Phantom Of The Opera. It pops up in a new movie or a television show or the soundtrack to the Broadway musical is digitally remastered to 3.0 Dolby surround sound with special guest sousaphone player blah blah blah. I can't say I've ever been a fan of the 1910 story or the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical. I've only seen two musicals in my life and they were Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. Despite my lack of knowledge or feelings toward The Phantom Of The Opera, there is a large swath of people that absolutely love it. Many a Phantom poster has adorned the walls of teens and college students. I suppose the romance factor has a lot to do with it's popularity rather than the the main characters with the disfigured face. The 1925 silent film starring Lon Chaney is considered a true horror classic, but for today's review, I went with something a little different. Something a bit more 1980's. Something a bit more Robert Englund-y.

The Phantom Of The Opera is a 1989 adaptation of the 1910 story written by Gaston Leroux starring Robert Englund (A Nightmare On Elm Street, 2001 Maniacs) as The Phantom Of The Opera/Erik Destler and Jill Schoelen (The Stepfather, When A Stranger Calls Back) as Christine Day. In modern times (read: 1980s), Christine Day is an opera singer preparing for a big audition in New York City. Determined to get the role, Christine seeks out an old and unique piece to help her stand apart from the other singers. With the help from her friend Meg (Molly Shannon, Saturday Night Live, Night At The Roxbury), Christine discovers a piece entitled “Don Juan Triumphant” by an obscure composer named Erik Destler. They learn that Destler had committed a few murders and may have been responsible in the disappearance of a young opera singer. Alone in her apartment, Christine sings the song, causing blood to drip out of the paper, but it is just a hallucination. During her audition, a falling sandbag breaks a mirror and knocks her out and when she awakens, she is in London in 1881. She is now the understudy for a play, where the Phantom Erik Destler teaches her from the shadows. He encourages her to practice, saying that only she can sing the part of Margueritte in the play Faust. Through strange circumstances, Christine gets the role, which causes an uproar in the opera house. It is revealed that the Phantom, much like Faust, has sold his soul to the Devil, granting him the gift of creating beautiful music, but also a horribly disfigured face. Christine's performance is hailed and she celebrates with her fiancee Richard. The next day, her performance is given a poor review and the Phantom kills the reviewer. His obsession with Christine leads to more murders and shows that he has some supernatural abilities. With the murderous Phantom closing in on Christine, will she be able to survive and make it back to her own time?

Pimp Of The Opera

I don't often say this, but who exactly is the audience for this movie? The movie won't appeal to the fans of the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical because it is far too violent and gory. It doesn't really appeal to horror fans either since there are extended scenes of opera singing and general romance. Ultimately, we get a strange mash-up of a few different genres that never mesh well together. The story is pretty faithful to the original, but the plot goes way off through the addition of time travel weirdness. The whole time travel angle is nonsensical and unnecessary. I suppose they were going for an angle to separate the movie from other adaptations, but the modern scenes are so heavily steeped in the 1980s that it looks very dated today. There's no leg warmers or comically giant cell phones, but the clothes and items like synthesizers ooze 1980s grossness. The movie tends to get boring as it makes sure to check off all the important bits and pieces from the story. There's some action and suspense sprinkled throughout, but it's really nothing special.

So who is this movie good for? People with morbid curiosity, like me. I couldn't really believe that Mr. Freddy Krueger himself was in The Phantom Of The Opera. It should be no surprise that Robert Englund could pull off this role. Once could find similarities in the way Englund portrays the Phantom and Freddy, but there are some differences. His Phantom is far more driven and obsessed, lacking the bizarre charm of Freddy Kruger. The film takes a heavy turn towards horror towards the end, which, coincidentally, is the best part of the movie. The makeup used for the Phantom looks good, but it's hard not to compare it to Freddy. I didn't particularly care for Jill Schoelen performance as she seemed confused and out of place for about 90% of the movie. It was fun to see a young Molly Shannon, though, randomly showing up in an obscure horror movie. 

"Does anyone else smell hot dogs cooking?"

The Phantom Of The Opera is a well-known story and trying to add a modern horror twist to it just doesn't work. The whole time-traveling deal is not handled very well and makes me question why they even bothered doing it in the first place. The movie has trouble deciding who it wants to appeal to as we jump from romance, to action, to horror, to musical. Just about every fan of each genre will find things not to like in the movie. The large amount of gore and violence will turn a lot of Phantom fans off and the plodding romance theme will sure to bore horror fans. Robert Englund is very enjoyable, but I was annoyed by Jill Schoelen's lackluster performance. The only real reason to see The Phantom Of The Opera is just to satiate your curiosity. It's a strange idea and certainly very different, but not very good.

4/10

Day 312: The Devil's Carnival

The Devil's Carnival

The Grimmest Show On Earth

“Rock Opera” isn't something you normally hear when talking about a horror movie. It's not something you normally hear in 2012, either. A loose definition of rock opera is a music album with a storyline told through multiple parts. These rock operas proved so popular that full-length movies were created, based on the story and songs. The most famous examples would be The Who's Tommy, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Pink Floyd's The Wall. The genre died out by the 80's and was long thought forgotten. A few years ago, a pseudo-horror movie movie written and composed by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich came out that made people change they way they saw rock operas. That movie was Repo! The Genetic Opera. The movie didn't have much appeal to me, so I've never seen it, but Zdunich's latest movie intrigued me.

The Devil's Carnival is a 2012 experimental horror/rock opera starring Sean Patrick Flannery (Boondock Saints, Masters Of Horror: The Damned Thing) as John, Briana Evigan (Sorority Row, Step Up 2) as Ms. Merrywood and Jessica Lowndes (90210, Autopsy) as Tamara. Initially unconnected, the three are brought together following their deaths: a grieving John commits suicide over the loss of his son, thieving Ms. Merrywood is gunned down during a police standoff, and naïve Tamara is killed by her enraged boyfriend. They awaken in what looks like a large carnival. Lucifer (Terrance Zdunich) reads three Aesop's Fables to John's missing son which parallel the three stories in the movie. The Ticket-Keeper (Dayton Callie, Deadwood, Undisputed) prepares the carnival workers for their new guests, selecting the Painted Doll (Emilie Autumn), the Twin (Nivek Ogre from the band Skinny Puppy), the Hobo Clown (Ivan Moody from the band Five Finger Death Punch) and the Scorpion (Marc Senter, Cabin Fever 2, I Know Who Killed Me). John and Ms. Merrywood find each other and approach the Ticket-Kepper's booth where he explains the 666 rules of the Devil's carnival and the consequences for breaking them. John goes searching for his missing son while Ms. Merrywood engages in a game of chance with the Twin. At the same time, Tamara meets the Scorpion and instantly trusts him and agrees to take part in his knife-throwing act. Ms. Merrywood loses her game of chance, stripped of her clothes and whipped by the Tamer (Shawn Crahan aka Clown from the band Slipknot). As this is happening, the Hobo Clown sings “A Penny For A Tale” describing Ms. Merrywood's downfall. Tamara finds the Scorpion kissing the Painted-Doll, but she still trusts him. She goes through with the knife-throwing act, only for the final knife to hit her in the chest. The Painted-Doll sings of her demise with the song “Prick! Goes The Scorpion's Tale!” Only John remains, desperately searching for his son. He finds his son in a room with Lucifer, but it is an illusion. What does Lucifer have in store for John and how does Heaven play into it?

That's how Emilie Autumn looks on a weekday

I think it's safe to say that I'm not exactly a big fan of musicals. I've seen Les Miserables and Miss Saigon on Broadway and I've enjoyed occasional musical episode of The Simpsons, but that's about as far as it goes. You won't see me singing the praises of Glee, though that's not just because there's singing in it. The initial idea of a horror movie with singing will initially keep many people away, but it would be a mistake to miss The Devil's Carnival. The songs are all very good and incredibly catchy. You'll have the initial “Devil's Carnival” theme stuck in your head for days. I may not have even watched it if not for well-known metal musicians Shawn Crahan and Ivan Moody were in it. Moody's hauntingly hollow voice sounds fantastic in the movie and gives a certain weight to his song. His performance is also very solid. The same can be said for Emilie Autumn and Nivek Ogre, though their roles are less of a stretch than for some other people.

While the songs do play a central role in the movie, thankfully not everything is in song. All three main characters play their roles well and never look out of their depth. The movie also contains small roles form Bill Mosely, Alexa Vega, and Paul Sorvino as God. The sets and costumes look utterly amazing as they are rich in both detail and color. Director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, Repo! The Genetic Opera) does a good job of capturing everything without being too intrusive. The horror in the movie is more subversive and introspective than most horror films. If you're looking for genuine scares and blood, this isn't for you. The Devil's Carnival has a deeper fear to it that can easily be missed through all the whimsy and bright colors. The movie is very short, only about an hour long, and the movie moves quickly, which could make the story hard to follow.

If you're 555, then I'm 666

The Devil's Carnival is not your typical horror movie, but that doesn't make it any less entertaining. The movie smartly casts real singers and it pays off as all the songs sound great. The story is engrossing and entertaining, but just a little too short. Everyone puts in a good performance thanks to solid writing and direction. The costumes and sets look great and are truly a feast for the eyes. The horror of the movie will not scare you, but it may make you feel uneasy. If you like horror or hate it, you'll still enjoy The Devil's Carnival.

8.5/10