Phantom of the Opera(1998)

AKA's

• Fantasma dell'Opera

Production Company:   Cine 2000/Focus Film/Medusa Produzione/Reteitalia

Year:  1998

Director:   Dario Argento

Starring:

• Asia Argento
• Julian Sands

SubGenre:  Slashers and Serial Killers

Video Clip:   Coming Soon

Plot Summary:  Julian Sands is the unmasked Phantom, abandoned as a child and raised by rats beneath the Paris Opera. Argento uses the beautiful Budapest Opera House to film the Gaston Leroux tale. Sands moves about the subterranean warrens like a shadow, disposing of anyone who disturbs him while at the same time wooing the stunning young diva, Christine, (Argento). The scenes are skillfully rendered and the atmosphere hauntingly picturesque. A note to trivia buffs, the film is set in the luminous Paris Opera House in the year 1877 while it was shot in Budapest and electricity was not available until 1888.

Reviews:

Reviewer: Ghastly    Overall Rating: 4   B Film Value: 4

A disappointment. A remake of this classic helmed by Dario Argento comes with some pretty high expectations indeed, and although there are some moments worth seeing, Julian Sands doesn't create a striking enough charactor to make his Phantom memorable. A few good gore bits, and good production values make this just average.

---