Phantom of the Opera (1998)

It was another day at the institute, and I will say that I will be glad when this week of FCC testing preps are over. This area may be my least favorite section that I teach. Fortunately, only two days left. To relax, I decided upon something mindless, 1998 Dario Argento entry, Phantom of the Opera.

Plot/ Gory remake of the Gaston Leroux classic story, only this time, and the phantom is not disfigured, but a man who was raised by rats deep under the Paris Opera House.

Argento can be such a polarizing figure, as some love his work and some hate it. For me, I have always been a fan. While this flick is far from my favorite, and not even close to his best, it is an interesting take on Gaston Leroux's classic tale. Sure, it is not his best work, but it has many of his signature elements that make it entertaining to watch on a rainy night. There are decent performances, strange characters, a decent storyline, awesome gore and a lot of nudity. Really, it has everything. Unfortunately, the audio quality truly took away from the overall feel of the flick and there were a lot of holes and flaws in the scripting. In the end, this is not the typical Argento entry but it is entertaining. Of course, as always, some will hate this flick, but that is OK. Check it out.