cinema history class (phantom of the paradise)

Session: Music, Madmen and Monsters, Week 4
Movie: Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Directed by Brian DePalma

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
An aspiring composer agrees to have let a renowned producer make him a star. Too bad he didn't read the fine print. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:

The obvious (and, admittedly, lazy, but I'll get to that) thing to do is to compare this to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. So let's start there. But first, let me note that this Phantom came out before Rocky, so it can't credibly be accused of being a ripoff. Like Rocky, this had a ton of great music (though it wasn't a musical per se), a lot of glam, and a somewhat muddled plot that involved some supernatural elements. There were also several scenes that, visually, reminded me of Rocky. If you had shown me this film without telling me when it was made I would have sworn that it was heavily influenced by Rocky. The way Beef (in Phantom) emerges to start singing reminds me of the way Eddie (in Rocky) is revealed beneath the dinner table. The imagery of the Paradise Theater at night reminds me of Frank-N-Furter's castle. And there are other similarities. Maybe this influenced Rocky? It's hard for me to say.

And, while we're on the topic, there are a couple of other coincidences: This has a character named "Beef" while Rocky had a character played by Meat Loaf. As well, this was Jessica Harper's feature-length film debut. She would later go on to play Janet Majors in Shock Treatment, the sort-of-maybe-but-not-quite-sequel to Rocky Horror.

But this isn't really from the same mold as Rocky, beyond the glam factor, bright colors and frenetic loudness. The plot is an odd mix of elements from Faust, Phantom of the Opera and The Picture of Dorian Gray. If you want to go out on a limb, throw in Poe's The Cask of Amontillado. Most of the music seemed like some kind of early Kiss or Alice Cooper (or maybe even proto-Twisted Sister), though the opening was more of a Sha-Na-Na meets musical story-telling kind of thing. 

Part of me wanted to give this movie a 10 because it was really fun in an odd way, and it did do a good job of being purposefully rule-breaking. But, when it came down to it, I just couldn't see it as a 10.

Ratings:

Me: 9
Christina: 8.5
Ethan: 7
Sean: 3 out of 4