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starring: Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham, George Memmolidirected by: Brian De Palma
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302842272
Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC
ISBN: 6302842271
Label: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: June 07, 1993
Running Time: 92 minutes
Sales Rank: 24287
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release Date: October 31, 1974
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Describing Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise as an update of the classic Phantom of the Opera doesn't do justice to this demented movie. While De Palma's Hitchcock homages have sometimes led him into dead ends, this rock & roll remake seems to have liberated De Palma's imagination, and the result is weird and funny, with the scruffy underground spirit of the director's early pictures. The Phantom is one Winslow Leach (William Finley), a nerdy songwriter whose 'pop cantata' on the subject of Faust is stolen by a freakish, Phil Spector-like rock impresario called Swan (Paul Williams). After getting his head caught in a vinyl-LP compressor, Leach is transformed into a masked creature, haunting Swan's music palace, the Paradise. De Palma proves how nimbly he can establish narrative rhythm: the story moves like a cannon shot, and the musical numbers (especially in the Alice Cooper-like Paradise sequences) are brilliantly cut. The movie seems to predict the Studio 54 scene, MTV, and punk rock--the last, especially, in the figure of Beef, a screeching singer played by the unhinged Gerrit Graham. The songs were written by Paul Williams, that diminutive '70s music icon (he cowrote the Barbra Streisand wet noodle 'Evergreen'), and his performance is a reminder of his peculiar, self-spoofing presence: at one point, the preening Swan announces, 'You know how I abhor perfection in anyone but myself.' Comedy, musical, horror film, '70s artifact--this movie isn't quite definable, and that's what's wonderful about it. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Classic Literature Meets 70s Horror + Music
While I can't quite give this movie 5 stars, it is a really interesting combination of several elements. ('Phantom of the Opera,' 'Faustus,' 'Picture of Dorian gray,' 70s styles, 70s music, and even an interesting foreshadow of 80s music.)
The movie starts innocently enough with a 50s style song. (Though the lyrics to the song kind of foreshadow the tragic end.) We then see Phil asking his boss Swan to wreck a star that he feels double crossed him. (Immediately, the dark characters ... Read More
Rating:  - Great Movie, Great Music
I first watched this movie on a CATV system in Escondido CA USA around 1975 - and loved it then. I bought a new DVD just to update the media because the old tape was getting scratchy.
It's still a great movie and I still love the music, except it can get into my head - and I sing it all the time.
It's a great musical and horror (not very scary) and I still love it!
Randall O'Laughlin
Rating: - Essential for any cult movie fan!
As a child I remember watching this movie several times on cable tv. I never quite understood what was going on, but I loved the songs & the costumes. When I got older I managed to catch it once again & well in love with it all over again. Like others have said, it might not have aged as well or be as famous as other cult films of the era are, but it is one of the best out there.
The plotline follows that of several tales (Faust, Dorian Grey, Phantom of the Opera) as the main ... Read More
Rating:  - Phantom of the Paradise
Lost a bit over the years!Hasn't stood up as well as Saturday Night Fever or Grease...but still fun.
Rating: - Paradise!!!
This movie, with Paul Williams ingenius creativity in the movie, the music, everything about it, would not be the same without him.
Like Rocky Horror, just one of those early cult 70's movies you just HAVE to see.
LOVED IT!!!
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