Rated: R
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Year: 1989
Boobs: One Pair
One Sentence: Phantom Of The Opera meets Freddy.
It was the late 80's, Freddy Kruger and his master, Robert Englund were in high regard, and high demand. He got asked to do a lot of other projects, however none I remember more than Phantom Of The Opera, and none I wanted to see more than Phantom as well. I finally got to watch it after almost 20 years, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
More of an adaptation of the book than a horror movie, Phantom didn't fall down the traps of the normal horror genre movies of the 80's. Quality sets, costuming, and a real script led to a movie, which while I might not call a horror, I would say impressed me in whatever genre it wants to sit in. I say might not call horror because while there was some killing, and perhaps a bit of blood and gore, it played out more as a romantic tragedy than the other horror movies to come out of the 80's. At no point in the movie did I feel scared. I am not sure if this is a positive or a negative, I am taking it as a positive however.
Robert Englund was classically trained before he landed his spot on "V" and then the glove wielding Kruger, and it shows somewhat here. Robert has never let me down, and while the part isn't as grand as Mr Kruger, it felt like it fit the movie, and the other characters around him. The other characters filled the screen with as much presence as Englund, or perhaps more, with what I felt was one of the best casts of a horror movie I have ever seen. It was also very funny to see Molly Shannon and Bill Nighy in this movie. Bill is of course Davey Jones from Pirates 2 and 3.
So I am going to say yes to Phantom Of The Opera (1989) which I am as shocked as you probably are. It is no Nightmare On Elm Street, but it is a nice romantic horror, that has style, quality, and doesn't feel like a cheap knock off.
