Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse

it is almost like a diary entry written by him and manages to keep his identity a mystery but yet clarify certain parts of his character that makes the film more like a documentary. Unlike Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version, Erik contains more dialogue, that is conspicuously well written. Therefore, it manages portray the characters from a much more realistic perspective with twists that the original story never does.

To add on, the film score is well done too! It reflects the traditional 19th century romantic music which is the actual historical setting of the piece. Also, its different from that of ALW's score so its definitely worth watching. If you are expecting to see a movie just like the musical, I best recommend the 2004 movie because this movie is more dialogue based. However, if you originally love the story and are interested in seeing a unique interpretation of the story, Erik is just right for you.

I'm sure the filmmaker's heart was in the right place, and there are a few fun things here and there in "Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse," but overall this is really just a Fan Film, no different than the ones you've seen people make based on Tolkien's Characters or Batman.

It's curious, because I've seen interviews (well, at least one) with the director and he seems very, uh, "self-assured," shall we say; but he's still a kid, after all, and he's got a long way to go before his skill level matches his confidence level... so maybe it's not entirely fair to judge what he's done here on professional merit, because it's really nowhere near professional quality.

As I said, it's basically a Fan Film.

Still, if at some point he is able to more realistically appraise his capabilities (and find himself some better actors with more refined technique, presence, and instincts) he could make good things happen in the future.