The Phantom of the Opera [1989]

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This is a horror movie. I just wanted to warn you about that.
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The Phantom of the Opera [1989]:
01). Erik Destler… Robert Englund
02). Christine Day… Jill Schoelen.
03). Richard Dutton… Alex Hyde-White.

A lot of people may think me crazy for this one being my favorite. Especially considering not long ago I despised it. I had seen it well over ten years ago, and was not a fan of it. It was also my first ever horror movie so that was a problem as well. I re-watched it recently and found that I loved it. It is amazing how time can change things.
The story begins during modern day New York, and a singer named Christine Day is looking for an original audition piece (which will actually help her, especially if she sings something original instead of the common songs, which shows they know what they are talking about). Her friend Meg finds something old and incomplete called Don Juan Triumphant by Erik Destler. Meg attempts to find the rest of it, and Christine sings a piece of it but blood comes out of the music. When Meg returns the blood is gone.
Christine goes on the audition walking by a poster for Les Misérables. She would actually make a good Eponine, I think. As she sings she seems to be seeing vision of the past, and then a weight for the sets swings down hitting her and breaking a mirror.
We are then transformed back to 19th Century England, and we hear the Phantom for the first time saying “Christine… come back to me!” I love hearing Robert Englund as Erik his voice really is perfect for this. When she wakes (still back in the 19th Century) we are at a rehearsal for Faust and she is playing the role of Siebel. I love this touch because that is the role she was playing in the original novel before getting the role of Marguerite. They send her to her dressing room to rest after getting hit. While their Erik starts to speak to her and give her the lessons and has her practice the role of Marguerite. This really is how I imagined their lessons to go.
Then we have the stagehands talking about the fact that Joseph Buquet was at fault for the accident because he was paying too much attention on eyeing Christine instead of his job. Joseph Buquet then blames the Phantom for it and takes a drink from his flask. When Joseph Buquet is alone he is confronted by Erik. Who says a few wonderful one liners (very Freddy like) then proceeds to kill Buquet and skin him.
A few things to keep in mind for those who don’t know and have been living under a rock! Robert Englund’s best known role is Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, the original ones that is, not the re-loaded. That’s Jackie Earl Haley who I think will do a phenomenal job. That should also tell you the style of movie this is so be prepared. The gory aspects of this movie are not from the original novel, but I will get to that later.
After killing Joseph Buquet, he goes back to his lair and we have a scene in which I have issue watching. He begins sewing flesh on his face to cover his own deformity… Ewww! But, hey he has no nose! So that is a positive. He also does use an artificial one, another positive. He uses a previously lit match to create darker eyebrows. This really doesn’t work… I tried it. I was hoping to find a more natural looking eyebrow because I really don’t have any!
Soon Joseph Buquet’s body is found in Carlotta’s closet. This Carlotta is really a prima donna. But Stephanie Lawrence is also known playing the role of Evita as well. So I am guessing she does her own singing in this. This is actually really good, what little we hear of it that is. Because of being so disturbed by the body of Joseph Buquet, Christine has to sing the role of Marguerite. She does well, I think. Erik watches her with excitement. I like this because just sitting or standing still when watching his prodigy go on stage never made much sense to me. He almost stands up to applaud and then sits back mouthing the word “oops”. This is a touch that I love.
During the performance of Faust we also learn a little bit about Erik himself. Apparently long ago (but how long it is unclear) he made a pact with the devil for his music to live on forever. Recommendation always read the fine print before making a pact with the devil. His music is unknown and he is the one living forever. This is a very Faustian version which actually does work well in Phantom stories. Before leaving the box Erik leaves a rose and a tip for the box keeper which is a nice touch and taken from the original novel, again!
When exiting the theatre Erik is approached by some prostitutes, he ignores the first one, but the second one who resembles Christine he offers his arm too. At first I thought this was ridiculous, but then the novel does mention (before he begins training Christine that is) that there were roses from a woman’s bodice and fan left behind in his box, so maybe he did seek company. The first time you see this movie you would also expect her to be dead by morning. That is not the case before she sees the money he left behind she has a big grin on her face.
After her performance Christine goes out to dinner with Richard Dutton. He admits that he had the intention of proposing to her. But, she says the she wishes to concentrate on her career and talks to him about her “voice teacher”. This is closer to the conversation in the novel.
Also Erik is in a dark corner of a bar working on his music and gets bugged by some of the other patrons. When Erik leaves they follow him with the intention of robbing him. Erik defends himself by using a whip to wrap around the neck of one of the robbers then beheading him and using the head to “bowl” with. He then goes after the last man (Mark Ryan) and they exchange some great one liners. Mark Ryan is actually quite a nice man I meant him when I was in L.A. He then gets out a surgical knife to begin skinning them as well.
The next day Christine is slightly hung over and Meg shows up with her review. Christine reads it and it is a horrible one. The person who wrote the review was actually paid off to do so. Because of this Erik visits the reviewer in the bath house and offers to give him his box to see Christine perform again the reviewer says that he would rather die. Erik of course obliges by killing him with a towel.
Christine leaves to go and visit her father’s grave. Richard follows her as well. While she is there a violin is overheard and Erik is playing it. He tells her to follow him. She does so. Richard tries to stop her but she chooses to go with Erik. This scene is one of the most beautiful and rare scenes in Phantom. We have the graveyard scene in the 2004 movie, but they illuminate the violin from it, which I think is a bad decision. The imagery of him doing this is rare, but to me iconic.
Erik takes Christine to his lair, and shows her around. She finds his Don Juan and asks him to play it and he refuses. The exchange is quotes from the novel. This makes this the only movie to have these. Finally he plays the music for her and she begins to sing it, even though the words are not written yet. If you look closely you can see tears coming out of his eyes. Erik then gives Christine a ring that she is to never remove from her finger saying she is now married to music.
During this Richard Dutton speaks with one of the policeman (an Ahab if anyone gets that) who has been investigating Erik for some time and says the only way to destroy him is to destroy his music. He also shows Richard photos of the skinned bodies.
Richard goes to visit Christine but she refuses to see him, she does slip him a note saying to meet her at the masked ball. She is also having troubles getting the ring off of her finger.
At the masked ball Richard and Christine meet and discuss getting out of there secretly. Richard then leaves to get his carriage. Erik has over heard this and is dressing like Red Death, the first Red Death showing up in Phantom movies since Lon Chaney. He dances with Carlotta, which is actually a cool image. Carlotta wishes to see his face so he takes her to a secret room and shows her as she begins to scream the scene shifts back to the masked ball. Soon food is being served and in the soup dish is Carlotta’s head creating panic.
We are now at the final chase of the movie, Richard, the policeman, and shown the way to the Phantom’s lair by the Rat catcher. They take a few more policemen with them and they of course are killed by Erik on the way. Erik also quotes one of the greatest quotes from the novel “The Requiem Mass or the Wedding March… the choice is yours!” Eventually Richard and the Policeman make to Erik’s lair and Erik kills them both! Wait! He dies in this version! The Raoul character does! I actually like Raoul, so I am not going to cheer for this, though some may. Christine finally fights back and shoots Erik and breaks a mirror. I don’t know what actually happens because we then go back to modern day New York.
Christine wakes up from being knocked out and is informed by the producer that she got the role. The producer is none other than Erik. He takes back to his home for him to change and take her out to dinner to celebrate. He goes to his room where he fixes his face, and she discovers his Don Juan. She recognizes it and when he shows back up talking to her the way he did in… The previous life? The alternate life? I don’t know. He says “Now it is just a matter of what you choose… love or music.” This is actually my ringtone. She reaches up and kisses him and his face is so content. The she reaches back and rips off his mask. His deformity has gotten much worse reminding me of Dorian Gray! Oddly enough is another theme that works well with Phantom, weird. She then stabs him and steals his music burning it and destroying it as he cries out. She still has some of it though and tosses that into the sewers. As she walks away a violinist begins playing the Don Juan. The End.
This movie departs from the novel greatly, but at the same time has the feel of it better than any other version. Robert Englund gets Erik down pat! He gets that he isn’t stoic and has a lot of passion. His voice also matches quite well even though he doesn’t ever sing, but he dos play the violin. The music in this movie is very good as well.
I also like some of the things Robert Englund himself has said about this movie. “A person is free to be themselves when they are hiding behind a mask.” Also “Women are attracted to Erik because he is passionate about music and that is sexy.” He also has said that cashing the paycheck for this movie was the most fulfilling of all the movies he has filmed. He also is proud to be among the ranks of Lon Chaney, Claude Rains and Herbert Lom. Listing them in chronological order, and has also mentioned reading the original novel in High School, which I have a lot of respect for. I also have an autographed photo of him in this movie which he signed (on his own) Erik, the Phantom… Robert Englund. So I might be added these to my love for the movie. But, I don’t care. I highly recommend this version especially if you like horror movies or are a fan of Robert Englund or the Freddy Krueger movies. Well that’s all for now. I have no other ones to review at the moment.