Phantom of the Paradise

1974

1h 32m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

707

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8 Videos

99+ Images

Music

Comedy

Horror

Singer-songwriter Winslow Leach seeks revenge on the nefarious music producer Swan, who steals both Winslow's music and his favorite singer for the grand opening of Swan's new rock palace, the Paradise.

Directors

Brian De Palma

Writers

Brian De Palma(writer by)

Louisa Rose(writer by)

Gaston Leroux(novel by)

Stars

William Finley

Paul Williams

Jessica Harper

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Videos8

Photos127

Top cast

Winslow Leach …

Swan

Phoenix

Philbin

Beef

The Juicy Fruits …

The Juicy Fruits …

The Juicy Fruits …

Band

Band

Band

Band

Swan's Entourage

Swan's Entourage

Swan's Entourage

Assassin

Groupie

Groupie

Directors

Brian De Palma

Writers

Brian De Palma(writer by)

Louisa Rose(writer by)

Gaston Leroux(novel by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews1

Review

Featured review

7/10

William Finley as the eponymous character and Paul Williams as the duplicitous record producer "Swan" both ham up enjoyably in this update of the Gaston Leroux novel. "Finley" is writing a cantata, parts of which are overheard by the unscrupulous "Swan" who gets his sidekick "Philbin" (George Memmoli) to pinch the score. Next thing, auditions are ongoing and the poor old writer has been well and truly sidelined. He's determined to wreak his revenge, a determination amplified after an accident sees him hideously disfigured. With chaos ensuing all around, "Swan" decides to try and make a peace with his nemesis - but pretty soon it's clear that's never going to work and as the opening night of the rock club "The Paradise" looms ever closer, you have to wonder if you'd really want a ticket after all. It's good fun this film with some entertaining performances at the top, Jessica Harper holds her own as the feisty chanteuse "Phoenix" and there's just about enough menacing megalomania to prevent it descending into farce. It's quite easy to see how many subsequent films or concepts it may have spawned as it takes much from musical theatre and high drama and mingles them into something that's a sort of an hybrid of the "Man from U.N.C.L.E" and "Jesus Christ Superstar". Williams also wrote much of the of the original soundtrack with a few power ballads packed in to keep the pace moving along and it's worth sticking about for the credits. It has dated, but I still enjoyed it.

Geronimo196720 Sep, 2024