Diario di un fantasma

Gaston Leroux's classic tale is updated to the late '80s, with a mall replacing the opera house as home to its disfigured titular character. Hideously disfigured and presumed dead after unscrupulous developers torch his home to make way for a modern shopping complex, Eric now lurks in the tunnels and vents of the mall, planning to wreak revenge on those responsible while also keeping a watchful eye on his girlfriend Melody (Kari Whitman).

With a smattering of gore (extra points for the eye-popping scene), some gratuitous nudity (a pervy security guard spies on girls in the changing rooms and Melody gets topless for a flashback sex scene), and an early, not-too-irritating role for Pauly Shore, this is a dumb but fun version of the oft-told tale. Phantom Eric does some martial arts moves against the mall's security guards, there's death by escalator, hydraulic door, and air vent fan, and we get a whole load of impressive stunts, including a guy being flipped through the air by a car, a high dive (onto a spike), and a full body burn.

6/10. It's no '80s horror classic, but it's entertaining enough for the duration.

One of the cornerstones of low-budget cinema is taking a well-known, classic storyline and making a complete bastardization out of it. Phantom of the Mall is no exception to this rule. The screenwriter takes the enduring Phantom of the Opera storyline and moves it into a late '80s shopping mall. However, the "Phantom's" goal now is simply to get revenge upon those responsible for disfiguring his face and murdering his family. The special effects do provide a good chuckle, especially when body parts begin appearing in dishes from the yogurt stand. Pauly Shore has a small role which does not allow him to be as fully obnoxious as one would expect, mostly due to the fact that his fifteen minutes of MTV fame had not yet arrived. If you're looking for a few good laughs at the expense of the actors and special effects crew, check this flick out. Otherwise, keep on looking for something else.

Dont be put off this film by the star rating or the tacky movie title. I collect 80s B- movie classics and i quite enjoyed this movie. Its about a girl who starts a new job in a mall and is still traumatised over the death of her boyfriend(Eric)and evidence keeps on showing up that makes her believe he may still be alive. He protects her when she is in danger, and goes on a murderous rampage. The Fx arent fantastic but the story is quite interesting and the acting is reasonable, (ive seen worse). So if you can find a copy catch it if you can!

Though I suppose it would be well possible to make a better movie about a shopping mall version of the Phantom of the opera, to the best of my knowledge no one ever has. Unless you count "Gremlins 2: The New Batch", on account of the fact that it featured a Phantom themed Gremlin. I don't count this though, so let's move on. Not only is "P.O.M" (as I shall now call it) the best movie ever to place the Phantom in a mall, but it is also the greatest (IE: only tolerable) Polly Shore movie ever made. This movie being made in 1988 before Polly Shore was famous enough to be allowed to act like Polly Shore in a film. Another nice touch is the fact that the front doors of the Mall are labelled "Mall Entrance." Really I though they were the entrance to something other than the building they're attached to like the magical world Narnia or something. Anyway the real draw of this film is it awesome musical theme. It's reminiscent of a better day when almost all movies had a rock'n song about their plot at the end, under Hollywood's "well it worked for Ghostbusters" policy. The song boldly dares to use such controversial terms as "Boobs" and "Retard". Point being if your not doing something productive to uplift the human spirt (which if you're reading my review on "The Phantom of the Mall" you and I both know you aren't) rent and watch this hidden jewel of cinema and make Mr. Polly "The Free World's Punching Bag" Shore a couple pennies richer. Go ahead, I dare ya!

A new mall is opening in the San Fernando Valley, but it has dubious beginnings, which might explain the mysterious psycho lurking its nether regions (Derek Rydall). Morgan Fairchild plays the mayor while Jonathan Goldsmith is on hand as the greedy mall owner; Pauly Shore appears as an employee and Rob Estes a reporter.

"Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge" (1989) takes the milieu of "Chopping Mall" (1986) and inserts the Phantom of the Opera story with bits of De Palma's "Phantom of the Paradise" (1974). It's comic booky 80's horror with almost a (cheesy) superhero approach, although things turn insane in the last act.

Kari Whitman is a highlight on the feminine front as protagonist Melody while Kimber Sissons is on hand as statuesque Suzie. Of course, Morgan is her usual striking self.

The film runs 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was shot at Promenade Mall in Woodland Hills (also used in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High") and Sherman Oaks Galleria with studio stuff done in Valencia, all in the Los Angeles area.

GRADE: B-/C+