PHANTOM
OF THE PARADISE (1974)Director: Brian De Palma
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
PHANTOM
OF THE PARADISE (1974)With sharp stabs at the cutthroat entertainment industry, Brian De Palma's rock/horror extravaganza should've been the cult phenomenon that "Rocky Horror" is. The film cleverly pays homage to "Phantom of the Opera," "Faust" and "Dorian Gray," surrounded by the flamboyant sights and sounds of chic 70s glitz and nostalgic 50s and 60s pop. The man behind the music is Paul Williams, who also plays Swan, the evil, secluded, larger than life record tycoon who has a nasty habit of buying people's souls. Williams' lyrics are so intelligent that they'll probably go over a lot of people's heads like a souring 747, and De Palma's execution may only be appreciated by passionate genre fans, but that's just part of what makes PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE a cult classic on an intellectual basis.
PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE tells the tragic tale of a talented but naive composer, Winslow Leach (William Finley), who has composed a serious "rock cantata" based on the legend of Faust. Winslow hands over his songs to music impresario Swan (Williams), but the mogul has no intention of giving him credit or involving him in the creative process. After being thrown out of Swan's office, Winslow is beaten up, framed for drug pushing and sent to Sing Sing. Upon hearing that one of his songs has been bastardized and recorded by a superficial group known as The Juicy Fruits, he storms out of prison in a fit of rage and breaks into Swan's "Death Records" plant, hoping to sabotage the pressing of the song. In the process, both his face and voice are destroyed by a record press, then he disappears in the river, presumed dead.
But Winslow is alive and well as he creeps into Swan's new rock palace--The Paradise-- is about to open showcasing his music (now credited to Swan). Winslow steals a silver bird mask and a black leather outfit from the wardrobe closet, thus becoming the phantom and terrorizing the theater. When Swan catches wind of this, he offers Winslow a deal (including signing a contract in blood) to finish his cantata and let it be sung by a female singer he greatly admires, Phoenix (Jessica Harper). But Swan just keeps double-crossing Winslow, attempting to brick him up alive and open the Paradise his way. He hires a sissy glam rock star aptly named "Beef" (Gerrit Graham) and reinvents the beach-bound Juicy Fruits as an outrageous KISS-like group called The Living Dead. Appalled by Swan's actions, Winslow becomes more outraged and his revenge grows more vehement.
PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE is a very lively serio-comic musical fantasy that's a sheer delight. De Palma moves the colorful action at a brisk pace, lacing it with striking camera shots and images, and stirring in all the surefire ingredients that make a cult film a cult film. Paul Williams' songs couldn't be better, underlying the story in a moving, sometimes romantic manner, and he brilliantly shows how a composition can be mutated into something totally different when put into the wrong hands. Just listen how Winslow's dark, intense song about inner change, "Faust," is transformed into a meaningless Beach Boys-type tune about a guy whose whole life is his car ("Upholstery"). Brilliant!
William Finley (also quite frightening in De Palma's SISTERS) garnishes empathy as the anguished Winslow Leach, and his Phantom exceeds with the right amount of energetic camp. Paul Williams' impish Swan is equally tormented (as we find out later in the film), and he brings just the right amount of smiling, conniving slyness to the character. Jessica Harper (further maintaining a following in films like SUSPIRIA and SHOCK TREATMENT) is marvelous as the angelic Phoenix, who is later ravished by the excesses of the rock and roll lifestyle, and she belts out one helluva tune.
Gerrit Graham is the scene-stealing Beef, a flaky and pretentious rock singer who represents the height of the glam rock period. Even though his performance of "Life at Last" was voiced by Ray Kennedy, the scene is a highlight with Beef being created as a monster and then prancing around the stage and extending his tongue like a psychotic Mick Jagger (who by 1974 was much about make-up and self parody). There's also the late George Memmoli as Philbin (a tribute to Mary Philbin of the 1925 "Phantom"), Swan's greasy slimeball talent scout, and the improvisational trio of Archie Hahn, Jeffrey Commanor, Harold Oblong as the chameleon-like singing group that change whenever the incoming music trend calls for it ("We'll remember you forever, Eddie..."). Also note that future CARRIE star Sissy Spacek was the set decorator, and the introduction is voiced by Rod Serling who died shortly thereafter.
Fox has presented PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE on DVD in the 1.85:1 widescreen format and it's anamorphic as well. The framing now looks correct and is now akin to the film's single "split screen" scene where the Phantom plants a bomb backstage (previous full screen video versions only letterboxed this particular scene). The colors look more vivid than ever before, and blacks look solid. The source material is in very pristine condition, and the English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix sounds pretty damn good for a film from the 70s. There is also an additional French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono for those of you who want hear Beef bitch in foreign tongue, as well as English and Spanish subtitles.
There are no extras on the disc except for a lame trailer (no narration or titles) and trailers for other Fox DVDs. Where's all the alternate trailers, re-release trailers, and TV spots for PHANTOM? I guess a featurette was out of the question? Well, Fox has presented the film looking and sounding more dazzling than ever, but a title like this deserves special treatment. At a low retail price and just the fact that it's out on DVD I guess is good enough, but hopefully Fox will consider revisiting this one some day (maybe in 2004?). (George R. Reis)