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.
