Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on Aug 14, 2019
I first saw Phantom of the Paradise (1974) a few years ago and immediately became obsessed with it; I downloaded the entire soundtrack and listened to it constantly for weeks. I was delighted to be able to revisit the film this week thanks to the Shudder streaming service, where the film is currentl read more
Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on Apr 28, 2017
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) is Brian de Palma's musical cult tribute to a number of iconic horror tales, most notably The Phantom of the Opera and Faust, although it also functions as a scathing satire of the music industry and its obsession with sex, fame, and eternal youth. As both writer and d read more
Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on Apr 28, 2017
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) is Brian de Palma's musical cult tribute to a number of iconic horror tales, most notably The Phantom of the Opera and Faust, although it also functions as a scathing satire of the music industry and its obsession with sex, fame, and eternal youth. As both writer and d read more
Phantom of the Paradise has all the trappings of a failed passion project, only not a lot of passion for the project. Director De Palma, with a couple notable exceptions, doesn’t have much interest in directing a musical. When I say couple, I mean two–there are two scenes where he seems read more
(1974) Written and directed by Brian De Palma; Starring: Paul
Williams, William Finley, Jessica
Harper and Gerrit Graham; Available on Blu-ray and DVD
Rating: ****
“I got the idea riding in an elevator, and listening to a
Beatles song done on Muzak, and I said to myself, ‘T read more
