COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: DAY 4–“PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE”

In honor of my favorite holiday season I’d like to share some thoughts with you in regard to my all-time favorite Halloween classic, Brian de Palma’s PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE. It hit theaters on October 31st, 1974 and from what I have researched, it wasn’t received very well upon its initial release. The French and Canadians liked it, but it bombed in the US. Forty One years later THE PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE still isn’t the movie everyone is talking about, but thanks to the internet and social media, it has achieved cult classic status, spreading an amazing tale of love, betrayal, and revenge gone horribly wrong.  And it’s all punctuated by a soundtrack that is as close to perfection as you’re ever going to get.

PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE is a film that I’ve loved since age four, when my dad pulled it from the VHS rack and shoved it into our fifteen pound Zenith. From the opening spoken introduction voiced by non-other than the amazing Rod Serling, to the film’s closer, “The Hell of it”, I was instantly hooked and despite the onslaught of nightmares that followed, I must have watched it at least once a week for almost two years straight. Reading that out loud, you’d think I was a crazy, but the fact is, just about everyone in my family loves PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE.

Just to fill you in a bit on my background, my family is Salvadorian, and on my first trip to El Salvador I vividly recall being on a bus heading into town square and the driver had the PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE soundtrack blaring over the speakers. Once we made it to town, there were a slew of vendors who eagerly greeted us with everything from food to animal marionettes. Chief among the vendors were dozens of cassette tape bootleggers selling copies of the most popular hits of 1988, and somewhere in between Paula Abdul and Milli Vanilli, I could clearly see the PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE soundtrack. Thinking back now, this was probably where the bus driver got his copy.

While my wife also admits to liking this film and its glorious soundtrack, she does find it oddly humorous that so many people in the same family could like a movie so much. She teases me about this strange phenomenon famously suggesting on one occasion, “Was PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE the only movie to ever make it to El Salvador?”

This jewel of a DePalma film borrows heavily from European novels. Obviously modeled after THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, it also offers up rich nuances pulled from FAUST and FRANKENSTEIN, with a touch of THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. And the final act of the film features a scene that just screams THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO.  If you’re a fan of Edgar Allen Poe, you may have already guessed what I mean, and if not this is just one more reason why PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE is so enjoyable. It sparked my curiosity to learn where script writers get such perfectly crazy ideas.

PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE stars William Finley as Winslow Leech, a composer very serious about his craft, who becomes the target of a very powerful music Producer, simply known as Swan (played by the amazingly charismatic Paul Williams). Swan owns Death Records and is in the process of opening up a concert hall of his grand design aptly named, The Paradise. He believes that Leech’s music would be perfect for the grand opening, but unfortunately Winslow really doesn’t have the sort of appearance Swan is looking for so the mogul steals his music and sets Winslow up on drug charges, which finds the compose serving a fifteen year sentence in Sing Sing prison. Seeking retribution, Winslow escapes Sing Sing, and while setting up explosives with the intent of destroying the Death Records record press, he is ultimately caught by a security guard. During a scuffle, Winslow slips face first into the record press and is severely injured. Despite his injuries, this musical genius manages to escape from the building, hurling himself into the ocean. Presumed dead, Winslow disappears without a trace.

The second act begins from our protagonist’s point of view as he makes his way into The Paradise Theatre virtually unnoticed… Just like a Phantom. Winslow, or what’s left of him, enters a dressing room where he discovers a silver owl shaped helmet and a black leather ensemble with a black cape complimented by red lining. The Phantom’s signature look. I still get chills just thinking about Winslow handling the helmet and slipping it on for the first time, as an organ reaches a crescendo in the background, announcing that things are about to get really interesting. I’d love to go into more detail, but I’ve told you too much already. You’re best discovering the tiny details for yourself.

I will say that what follows is a revenge tale worthy of the stories that inspired it. This is a movie choc full of symbolism and faulty characters. It’s just like an epic Greek tragedy. PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE has it all. I’m talking deals with the devil, assassination plots, car bombs, love and betrayal, and a pretty decent body count. And miraculously, this film is rated PG!

Jessica Harper does an amazing job portraying the role of  the Phantom’s love interest, Phoenix. It should be noted though, that  to this day it seemed a little odd that Winslow became so strongly infatuated with Phoenix after only having interacted with her for a brief moment, (approximately two minutes, if I recall.) Before ultimately falling for her, I can easily attribute Winslow’s feelings for her as passionate as that love shared by Romeo and Juliet, although Phoenix may or may have not harbored the same feelings towards him. Whatever the case may be, Phoenix would make a modern day feminist proud with a “take-no-shit-from-anyone” attitude, and she reminded a bit of Janet Weiss from THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.

Although there are a variety of interesting characters here, and I enjoy each one for different reasons, I do have to admit I have always had a soft spot for Beef. Played boldly by Garrit Graham, he is fearless in the role of a flamboyant, renegade glam rocker and newest addition to Swan’s musical empire. He’s also the man tapped to sing Winslow’s music. Beef doesn’t get a ton of screen time but Graham makes the best of every second. I promise you’ll love the irony in watching Beef  sizzle, literally, on stage once the Phantom makes his presence known.

Paul Williams’ score is like the cherry on top of a sundae. This man clearly knows how to write music, and in this film he manages to not only make each song feel integral to the story, but each tune could easily be played on the radio as a stand-alone and still be poignant. Furthermore, each song has a style all its own. “Goodbye, Eddie, Goodbye,” the very first number, sounds like it came straight from the 50’s with that poodle skirt-wearing Doo Wop sound. But make no mistake, the lyrics on this thing are pretty jaw dropping, in the best and worst way.  Extremely clever. And much like the movie itself this song also depicts a beautiful tragedy. “Upholstery” sounds like something straight out of a Beach Boys “Best Of” album. A total ode to “Surfin’ USA” but again, the lyrics are very unique.  And don’t get me started on “The Phantom’s Theme”,  aka,  “Beauty and the Beast.” This creative number takes elements from the film itself and applies a handful of self-examining metaphors. It’s quite possibly my all time favorite Paul William’s song..

On a side note, if you examine the voice box that’s attached to the Phantom’s chest, it does have a rather astounding resemblance to Darth Vader’s chest piece. It just goes to show you that PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE has been inspiring some of cinema’s greatest creators. It certainly inspired me. When I was young, I promised myself that one day, I would buy a PHANTOM costume and wear it on Halloween or, you know, whenever I feel like it. I’m 34 now and have yet to fulfill this desire. Someday.

Final thoughts: I remember reading an article about a fellow who had the pleasure of watching Guillermo del Toro’s 35mm copy of PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE at a film festival. How cool would that be? I would jump at the chance to see my favorite film play huge and bright on the big screen. For the time being though, I’m content watching and singing  along to my DVD copy, but should it ever hit the big screen again,  you’ll know where to find me.

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COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN:

October 3rd- “POLTERGEIST”-CLICK HERE
October 2nd-“THE BABADOOK”-CLICK HERE
October 1st-“JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING”-CLICK HERE