Phantom of the Paradise (1974) | 31 Days of Horror: Oct 4

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We’ll be rockin’ in Paradise tonight!

Phantom of the Paradise yields a mixed bag of entertainment. On one hand, it’s a flashy rock-opera based on several classic works and directed by Brian DePalma. On the other hand, it’s not the least bit scary. Or is it?

Before Viewing

The trailer tells of a modern day rock and roll palace, the Paradise, haunted by a mysterious Phantom. It appears to be a modern riff on The Phantom of the Opera but substituting a rock score for the gothic opera. There also seems to be a bit of goofiness going on as well, with comic Gerrit Graham playing a flamboyant glam-character named Beef. Let’s see what The Phantom of the Paradise actually has in store.

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

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After Viewing

After a brief narration (from an uncredited Rod Serling) proclaiming the brilliance and artistry of record producer Swan (Paul Williams), the recluse watches his doo-wop group, The Juicy Fruits, perform one of their songs in his club. While his associate producer Philbin (George Memmoli) is complaining about a starlet that they “made” who is suing them, Winslow Leach (William Finley) plays a piece of his cantata about Faust in the background. Believing that this song–but not the singer–would make a great hit for the opening of his new rock club Paradise, Swan has Philbin offer Winslow a job and takes the song from him.

Any attempt Winslow makes over the next six months to see Swan is greeted with expulsion (from his offices) or a beating (from the hired help). Sneaking into Swanage–the opulent mansion of the producer–Winslow meets Phoenix (Jessica Harper) who is singing his song as an audition piece. Winslow is arrested, framed for drug possession, and jailed for life in Sing Sing prison. His teeth are replaced with metal dentures–all part of a rehabilitation plan to keep prisoners from getting infections. Hearing news of Swan on a radio, he goes mad, attacks a guard, escapes to a manufacturing plant for Swan’s newest single, and falls into a machine which damages the right half of his face. He stumbles into the river and is believed to be dead.

Later Winslow sneaks into Swan’s theater where The Juicy Fruits are practicing a song–now a surf-rock themed group. He steals a costume and owl shaped mask, and then plants a bomb in a prop car used by the band. It explodes, but only manages to get Swan’s attention. He offers Winslow a new start, giving Phoenix an actual audition, and providing Winslow his voice back–heavily modulated by a computer box on his chest. Swan promises to make Winslow’s songs popular, and offers him a giant contract, which the deformed man signs with his own blood. Winslow rewrites his Faustian cantata for the grand opening of Paradise, but Swan steals it, physically bricking the songwriter into the studio.

Swan then relegates Phoenix to a backup singer and hires glam-rocker Beef (Gerrit Graham) to perform the songs, making whatever changes he deems necessary. Winslow, possessing superhuman strength, breaks out of the studio and attacks Beef in the shower, warning him that no one but Phoenix will be allowed to perform his songs. Beef tries to cancel his appearance, but Philbin convinces him to go on with the show. The gigantic crowd at opening night for Paradise witnesses Beef getting electrocuted by a neon lightning bolt thrown into him by the Phantom. Phoenix is tasked to go out in Beef’s place. She starts nervously, but wows the crowd who wants more.

Phoenix promises Swan she will do anything for him if she can have more nights like that. The Phantom grabs her on the way out of the theater and warns her that Swan is no good for her, but she is riding high from her performance. Back at Swanage, The Phantom peers through the skylight in the rain as Phoenix cuddles up to Swan in bed. Saddened at losing his music, his voice, and a woman he cared for, Winslow stabs himself–but nothing happens. Swan arrives on the roof reminding him that his “contract terminates with Swan.” He stabs Swan, but Swan says he is under contract too.

Looking for a way out, The Phantom infiltrates Swan’s office at Death Records and finds a video tape showing Swan 20 years ago making a pact with the devil for a lifetime of youth. As long as  the tape survives, its image of Swan will age and not Swan himself. Winslow trashes the tape and sets the room on fire. He discovers that Swan is planning the assassination of Phoenix at a wedding ceremony during the final act of the concert. The Phantom stops the sniper–who shoots Philbin instead–and swings onto stage moving Phoenix out of the way. He rips a mask from Swan’s face revealing deformed flesh and stabs the producer, whose death allows Winslow to die. As Winslow lies bleeding he pulls off his mask revealing the face that Phoenix recognizes from many months ago. She cradles him as he dies.

“This place is…possessed!” – Beef

Don’t let anyone try to convince you that Phantom of the Paradise is a horror film. That would be like calling Jaws a love story. But it certainly has plenty going for it that is horror adjacent, which is why it’s being featured early in the month for 31 Days of Horror. It is the second film in a week of anniversary reviews, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Not to be confused with KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, a 1978 TV movie featuring music, monsters, and a rollercoaster, Phantom of the Paradise is a modern take on three classic and spooky tales, with several homages to other stories as well. It was an early film directed by Brian DePalma, the man responsible for classics like Carrie, Body Double, and The Untouchables. Some of DePalma’s signature look is on this film, including two sequences utilizing split screen technique and the flashy and glitzy cinematography. However the film doesn’t have the Hitchcockian vibe that DePalma would develop on Dressed to Kill and Body Double. It still looks like a much more expensive film than it is, featuring lots of evocative moments that look great.

As mentioned above, Phantom of the Paradise is inspired by three classic stories that are spooky on their own. The most obvious tale is The Phantom of the Opera, a French story by Gaston Leroux which was originally published in its entirety in 1910. The title of the film is a riff on this story, which is about a deformed stage magician that hides within the Paris opera house, becoming infatuated with a singer. Like The Hunchback of Notre Dame before it, The Phantom of the Opera is not wholly a horror tale, but more of a love story. The horror elements come from the deformities of the title character, with the Phantom being described as skull-faced, and his stalking and killing of people in the opera house. Two early silent adaptations of the story were made by 1916, but the most famous version is the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney as the Phantom. The story was also adapted into a successful musical in the mid-1980s by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Phantom of the Paradise uses much from this original text besides the title allusion. There’s the deformed Phantom, the beautiful ingénue singer, and the gigantic opera house–here played as a modern stage venue. Interestingly enough, the piece being performed within the original story was a piece from Faust–just as Winslow composes his cantata about Faust.

The story of Faust is a long-standing German legend, made popular by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s early 19th-Century version. The story, loosely centered around the German alchemist and astronomer Johann Georg Faust, involves a man so dissatisfied with his life that he signs a pact with the devil in order to gain riches and knowledge. This story was already linked with The Phantom of the Opera as the opera being performed by the singer Christine, and now gets a larger part in this film. No longer a single performance piece, the music written by Winslow centers around the character of Faust, as part of his cantata. Thematically his music parallels the journey by Swan who in this case is the character that has entered into a bargain with the devil. His story is very similar to Goethe’s version, being a man who is so terrified of growing old that he sells his soul to stay young forever. Within his “contract” he was able to buy other people’s souls for his own profit and amusement. But his story does not end there, for DePalma (who also wrote the film) added in an additional literary source.

The final piece of source material integrated into Phantom of the Paradise is elements of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. In it, a vain and hedonistic man sells his soul to remain young and beautiful, while a portrait of him ages and decays. In the end, when the picture is destroyed, so too is Dorian’s life; aging immediately while the picture reverts to its initial state. The lifestyle of Swan more accurately follows that of Dorian Gray than it does Faust. He wishes to retain his youth and all the accouterments that go with it. In this story it’s a video tape of him that is the magic key to his immortality. Questions surrounding this exact element are raised, since the color videotape was made in 1953 (according to the film) but seems as clean and clear as a modern 1973 recording. Also the character in the tape does not seem to age in the same manner as the character from Wilde’s story. Either way, when Winston destroys the tape, that signals the ability for him to end Swan.

These elements all have horrific themes related to them: self loathing, disfigurement, mystical bargains with uncertain terms (seriously, who reads the fine print in a contract with the devil?). But there’s nothing overtly scary about the Phantom of the Paradise. Some moments with Winslow’s deformity or mania might be frightening to younger children watching the film, but the film is really more of a comical parable on fame and the music industry. Philbin tells a story to Swan in the beginning of the film about a young starlet “Annette” (perhaps based on Annette Funnicello) who is suing them after they made her a star (however unscrupulously). He is shocked that she had the balls to fight back. This scene, which seems to evoke Bonasera speaking to Don Corleone in The Godfather, is only one moment to poke at the entertainment industry. Later, female singers are being auditioned for the opening of the Paradise, but the true “auditions” can be seen behind the door. Swan is not even there, and it’s Philbin testing each woman out on “the casting couch,” rather than for their talent. It’s also his job to supply all the stars with pills and booze to make them more manageable. These elements become the most horrific elements in the film showing what price people will go to for fame.

Phantom of the Paradise was not received critically during its initial release, but like so many odd films from the 70s, it had become a cult hit. If anything it was ahead of its time. It hits some of the same weirdness as The Rocky Horror Picture Show would in the following year. Some of the tone and parody of the film is seen in This is Spinal Tap, a mockumentary dealing with the music industry. And its grandiose rock opera style seems appropriate to an album like Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. For viewers coming into the film expecting something scarier, the outcome is disappointing. Phantom of the Paradise is more of a kitschy parody with a great series of songs by Paul Williams. It’s definitely worthy of a watch, but maybe not at Halloween time.

Assorted Musings

• The film is replete with bird motifs. Swan is named after a beautiful bird, having originally considered himself an ugly duckling. He creates Death Records, the logo of which is a dead canary. Phoenix is named after a mythical bird that rises from its own ashes. And Winslow’s costume is made up of an owl-shaped mask.
• This film was Jessica Harper’s lead-debut. She would showcase her singing voice again in Shock Treatment (a sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show) and Pennies from Heaven, plus star in a serious horror film three years later, Suspiria.
• Both William Finley and Gerrit Graham were members of the troupe that worked in many of DePalma’s early films. Finley would work in several other DePalma films, and have a small role in the horror film The Funhouse. Graham would gain notoriety in the comedy Used Cars, and appear in horror films such as TerrorVision and Chopping Mall.
• By the time Paul Williams wrote the music for this film, he was very much a superstar songwriter, having composed tracks for Three Dog Night, The Carpenters, and Helen Reddy. His acting credits would include The Muppet Movie and the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy.
• Swan’s right-hand man, Philbin, is named in tribute to actress Mary Philbin. She originally starred as Christine in the 1925 film version of Phantom of the Opera.
• DePalma pays one homage to Alfred Hitchcock. Beef is taking a shower as the Phantom approaches, drawing back the curtain and stabbing him with a small plunger.