The Best Phantom!
This is a silent classic (although not quite as good as Nosferatu or Metropolis) and is easily the best version of The Phantom Of The Opera. Silent film is a perfect medium for this tale, if like me you're less than fond of actual opera.
This film to me, is different from many of the later versions (the Charles Dance/Terri Polo mini series, for example) in the fact that I can't believe that Erik (The Phantom played by Lon Chaney, a master of his painstaking craft) truly loves Christine Daae (silent era starlet Mary Philbin). In this film it seems more
like a selfish need to possess her and keep her for him alone. Lon Cahaney is gleefully evil and sadistic in this version, wantonly terrorising and killing without a thought. A true monster, unlike the later more sympathetic/romantic interpretations. This is a dark film, atmospheric and thrilling. An early horror classic worth keepin alive and far superior to the later Universal "talkies" of the '30s.
This film to me, is different from many of the later versions (the Charles Dance/Terri Polo mini series, for example) in the fact that I can't believe that Erik (The Phantom played by Lon Chaney, a master of his painstaking craft) truly loves Christine Daae (silent era starlet Mary Philbin). In this film it seems more
like a selfish need to possess her and keep her for him alone. Lon Cahaney is gleefully evil and sadistic in this version, wantonly terrorising and killing without a thought. A true monster, unlike the later more sympathetic/romantic interpretations. This is a dark film, atmospheric and thrilling. An early horror classic worth keepin alive and far superior to the later Universal "talkies" of the '30s.
- Django-21
- Mar 6, 2001