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Phantom Of The Paradise

He Sold His Soul for Rock 'n' Roll

About Me


"He Sold His Soul for Rock 'n' Roll"
In assocation with
THE ORIGINAL PHANTOM MYSPACE!

Describing Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise as an update of the classic Phantom of the Opera doesn't do justice to this demented movie. While De Palma's Hitchcock homages have sometimes led him into dead ends, this rock & roll remake seems to have liberated De Palma's imagination, and the result is weird and funny, with the scruffy underground spirit of the director's early pictures.

The Phantom is one Winslow Leach (William Finley), a nerdy songwriter whose "pop cantata" on the subject of Faust is stolen by a freakish, Phil Spector-like rock impresario called Swan (Paul Williams). After getting his head caught in a vinyl-LP compressor, Leach is transformed into a masked creature, haunting Swan's music palace, the Paradise.

De Palma proves how nimbly he can establish narrative rhythm: the story moves like a cannon shot, and the musical numbers (especially in the Alice Cooper-like Paradise sequences) are brilliantly cut. The movie seems to predict the Studio 54 scene, MTV, and punk rock--the last, especially, in the figure of Beef, a screeching singer played by the unhinged Gerrit Graham.

The songs were written by Paul Williams, that diminutive '70s music icon (he cowrote the Barbra Streisand wet noodle "Evergreen"), and his performance is a reminder of his peculiar, self-spoofing presence: at one point, the preening Swan announces, "You know how I abhor perfection in anyone but myself." Comedy, musical, horror film, '70s artifact--this movie isn't quite definable, and that's what's wonderful about it.
--Robert Horton
PLEASE sign the petition for a DVD re-release!

Buy the DVD!
CLICK HERE


Buy the Soundtrack
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Thanks Scott for this Groovy drawing!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 2/3/2006
Band Website: imdb.com/title/tt0071994/
Band Members: Paul Williams .... Swan
William Finley .... Winslow Leach/The Phantom
Jessica Harper .... Phoenix
Gerrit Graham .... Beef
George Memmoli .... Arnold Philbin
Archie Hahn ....
Jeffrey Comanor ....
Peter Elbling .... Juicy Fruits:
Watch the original Trailer!

Sounds Like: Rocky Horror/Shock Treatment
Watch the entire Movie!

Record Label: Death Records
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Thanks Everyone!

It's been a real pleasure hearing from all you fans! I really never thought this humble myspace space would get any reconition at all, but here we are today! I'm sure somewhere, the spirit of Swan she...
Posted by Phantom Of The Paradise on Thu, 15 Jun 2006 05:55:00 PST

Please Sign The Petition!

All Phantom fans please help! As you may or may not know, the DVD release for Phantom of the Paradise was, for lack of a better word shit! It's not enough to put it on DVD, we want bonus features, com...
Posted by Phantom Of The Paradise on Fri, 03 Feb 2006 10:02:00 PST