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Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

post #1 of 87
2/18/09 at 7:13pm
Thread Starter 
Finally managed to track down a copy of this recently.

I'm really surprised the film doesn't seem to have more of a cult following. Although the quality of the direction lifts it above the majority of such films, the glam-rock nature of the thing, the tragic hero and the sheer oddness would seem ripe for the kind of devoted fandom that instead attaches to lesser films.
Rather taken with it, regardless.
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post #2 of 87
2/18/09 at 7:56pm
I never tire of this movie, and it's always a nice reminder of how much De Palma used to bring to the table as a director. I think it has a pretty decent cult following, though it could certainly use some sort of new DVD jam-packed with special features.
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post #3 of 87
2/19/09 at 4:06am
I have a poster, the soundtrack, the R2 dvd (Supremo, get that, though most of its special features are on youtube), a fucking doll.



There are maybe five movies to which I know every line, every shot, every splice. This is my jam. More later.
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post #4 of 87
2/19/09 at 10:49am
Thread Starter 
My own R2 DVD only seems to posses one featurette and the trailer. There seems to be a French 2-disc, however, so I'm assuming that's the one you mean.

That doll is amazing.
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post #5 of 87
2/19/09 at 10:58am
What a fantastic movie and great soundtrack. I never tire of watching it. I need to get that doll! Is there a matching Beef doll, complete with body glitter?
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post #6 of 87
2/19/09 at 12:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xagarath Ankor View Post
My own R2 DVD only seems to posses one featurette and the trailer. There seems to be a French 2-disc, however, so I'm assuming that's the one you mean.
Yessir. Worth every cent:

Quote:
Special features:
• "Paradis Regain", documentary about the Making of Phantom (45 minutes)with interviews of Brian de Palma, Bill Finley (Winslow Leach/ The Phantom), Paul Williams (Swan), Gerrit Graham (Beef), Jessica Harper (Phoenix), Ed Pressman (Producer), Larry Pizer (DP), Paul Hirsch (Editor), The Juicy Fruits, + Peter Elbling and Archie Hahn.
• Interview of Rosanna Norton (costum designer) (9 minutes)
• Fake commercial done by Bill Finley (Winslow Leach/ The Phantom) (45sec)
• Video intro by Gerrit Graham (Beef) (50 sec)
• 2 trailers (one including rare gore shots not in the movie)(1mn et 2mn08)
• Clip of Bob Sinclar : I Feel For You
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post #7 of 87
2/19/09 at 1:33pm
Wow, I need that AND the doll. I wonder if there's any hope of the special edition being released in the US. Someone needs to put Edgar Wright in charge of DVD releases, that way I could finally have a jam-packed POTD and an awesome 2-disc version of Bugsy Malone.
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post #8 of 87
2/19/09 at 1:39pm
I too love this film, it even gets screened here occasionally here in LA and I have had the pleasure of seeing it with a crowd.

Phil, you need to explain where and how you acquired that doll.
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post #9 of 87
2/20/09 at 12:06am
I saw this movie late at night on AMC during a very lonely, very cold freshman year at a rural college in Ohio. It seriously blew my mind. I couldn't believe I'd never heard of it, and no one I knew had heard of it. I'm glad it's not more popular, cause it's such a great discovery for those who find it. Paul Williams rules.
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post #10 of 87
2/20/09 at 12:09am
I got it from tha Orient.

I didn't pay this much, but the re-release on Ebay has a cooler box.
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post #11 of 87
2/20/09 at 4:04am
There's no way I can afford that doll, but eBay has this beauty for only $9.99:

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post #12 of 87
2/20/09 at 4:08am
This is my favorite musical ever. I started a thread on it a year or so ago, and I'm glad that there's more on here that love it. I agree on not knowing more people who like it. It's like you're part of a really small fan club. I need to find my copy of the soundtrack. I used to listen to that all the time in my car.

I still remember reading it for a dollar on vhs, and watching it every day I had it.
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post #13 of 87
2/20/09 at 5:35am
Things I've definitely posted before, but hey:

The above poster is painted by Richard Corben.

Re: Really Small Fan club: On its release, Phantom of the Paradise bombed everywhere...except in Winnipeg. It played a record run there for some reason, and the city has hosted a couple fan conventions for the film.
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post #14 of 87
2/20/09 at 6:04am
Back in my more ignorant days, when I held a blanket hatred for musicals, this was one of the exceptions. I remember reading about it as a kid who was just beginning to show interest in film. I bit later, I saw commercials for it. I didn't understand the allusions or references, but it looked freaking bizarre, and I wanted to see it. It was gone before I could even think of asking an adult to take me, which probably wouldn't have happened anyway.

Years later, when I saw the laserdisc in the video store, I was still holding those memories, and I was practically vibrating by the time I got it home. It's a small piece of cinematic miracle that it didn't disappoint me after all that time. It's still among my favorite examples of something that defies description. Plus, it gave me this:

"You just pass the stuff out, I take it. I know drug real from real real."

In my opinion, Rocky Horror got the cult that this film deserved. Not that I think any film is best appreciated by shouting and throwing things at the screen, mind you. But this is the one that actually deserves immortality.
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post #15 of 87
4/5/09 at 5:33pm
I rewatched the movie last night, and then got curious, and started trolling for youtube clips. Interesting little interview with Garrit Graham here about some of the original casting.

William Finley advertising the doll.
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post #16 of 87
4/6/09 at 3:38am
And incidentally, no matter how many times I watch this, Graham screaming into a microphone while periodically looking quizzically at the sheet music remains one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Must find this soundtrack, incomplete though it is.

Edit:

Oh good lord.
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post #17 of 87
4/6/09 at 6:11am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David View Post
Noticed that myself the other week.
Hopefully the absence of any attached names means no-one's taking it seriously.
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post #18 of 87
4/6/09 at 10:59am
I think the only reasonable response to this "remake" is to sabotage it ourselves in some sort of meta/ironic fashion.
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post #19 of 87
4/6/09 at 11:43am
It's because of all you johnny-come-latelys talking about it.

They tried to revive it as a stage musical in the 80s; nothing happened. Don't get the pitchforks and torches out yet.
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post #20 of 87
4/6/09 at 11:46am
All this love is making me want to hunt it down.
I'll watch it soon. Boy scout honor!
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post #21 of 87
4/6/09 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
It's because of all you johnny-come-latelys talking about it.

They tried to revive it as a stage musical in the 80s; nothing happened. Don't get the pitchforks and torches out yet.
I could actually get behind a stage musical version. That would be different enough, at least.
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post #22 of 87
4/6/09 at 7:22pm
They'd have to get to it sooner or later. It's one of the few movies that hasn't had a run as a stage musical yet.
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post #23 of 87
4/8/09 at 11:18pm
http://www.phantomoftheparadise.ca/why.html

An in-depth look at the locale phenomena...
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post #24 of 87
4/8/09 at 11:23pm
That's a great article.

Quote:
Interviewed at the time, a booking executive for Phantom's Canadian distributor stated: "It is incredible how well the picture has done here, but it only happened in Winnipeg, nowhere else. In Vancouver, the film lasted only one week; it went a week in Calgary, only a week in Edmonton and then people stopped coming. But in Winnipeg they just never stopped!"
There were a bunch of videos on youtube covering the "Phantompalooza" festival they held (I think twice) in Winnipeg. I've heard they won't do another one; if they did, I would go. I would spend money on a plane ticket and book a hotel and go there and my wife would never stop punching me in the face.
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post #25 of 87
4/10/09 at 3:47pm
I'm going to watch this one again tonight or tomorrow, as I'm going to force it on a friend of mine who I suspect will love it. At least, I'm hoping she will.

I'm still pissed it took me so long to actually see this. It's so great.
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post #26 of 87
4/11/09 at 1:07am
I found out the other day that my film geek friend at work hadn't even heard of it. I pushed it into his hands with great force. This is like one of those secret society movies that the hardcore feel they have to let other "members" in on.
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post #27 of 87
4/17/09 at 2:33pm
So I guess Phantom of the Paradise is getting the Rocky Horror shadowcast treatment in Kentucky, if that's your thing...
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post #28 of 87
4/24/09 at 11:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tati View Post
All this love is making me want to hunt it down.
I'll watch it soon. Boy scout honor!
I'm a man of my word! Took me 2 weeks, but holy fuck. This movie was like nothing i've ever seen. What happened to this Brian DePalma ?

I need the soundtrack, now.

Thanks Phil! I owe you a big one. I am not the same man now.

Also, i need this on my wall.
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post #29 of 87
4/24/09 at 11:50pm
The only place I've managed to find a soundtrack is on eBay. I haven't gotten around to buying it yet. I suppose that holding out hope for an expanded soundtrack album would be the height of wishful thinking.
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post #30 of 87
4/25/09 at 2:55pm
Fox Movie Channel was showing it - turns out Tim Rothman (or whatever his name is) married Jessica Harper. And pegging her in her mid-50s or so, she looks pretty damn good; if she's had work done, it's been minor.

They also ran some Fox Legacy bumpers - Harper beat out Linda Rondstadt for the part of Phoenix.
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post #31 of 87
5/3/09 at 2:22am
I literally just watched it. That was fucking awesome. I could gripe that Winslow is the biggest fucking sap in the universe, but that would imply I was supposed to take the movie's plot seriously. And yes, this definitely should be the movie people remember instead of Rocky Horror.

I find that De Palma's blend of unflinching tackiness, dopiness, and superficiality tends to be an all-or-nothing proposition: either they get in the movie's way something fierce, or they elevate it to new heights of fucked up, insane delight. This was definitely one of the latter.
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post #32 of 87
5/3/09 at 2:30am
Oh, also, I love Phoenix's bizarre, seemingly angry dancing that seemed to prefigure Elaine Benes by a good two decades.

It sounds like Edgar Wright might be drawing some inspiration from this movie to make Scott Pilgrim, which would be oddly appropriate: both are insane mashups of different genres that throw random weirdness and tonal shifts at the audience. And it sounds like the music's going to be a big part of SP, too.
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post #33 of 87
5/3/09 at 8:05am
The Swan Archives. Phantom Website.
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post #34 of 87
5/3/09 at 12:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Prankster View Post
I find that De Palma's blend of unflinching tackiness, dopiness, and superficiality tends to be an all-or-nothing proposition: either they get in the movie's way something fierce, or they elevate it to new heights of fucked up, insane delight. This was definitely one of the latter.
I always envision De Palma writing/directing the film in some coked-up fever dream, not sleeping from the moment the first sheet of paper was put into the typewriter until the final edit was made; he then slept for two weeks, woke up, viewed the film, and said "dear lord, what hath I wrought?"
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post #35 of 87
5/13/09 at 3:40pm
I love how this feels like it should not come from De Palma, but but how there is no one else it could come from. Just look at the Touch of Evil split-screen homage. No one else could pull that off.
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post #36 of 87
5/16/09 at 5:54pm
Thread Starter 
Rewatching, I think I failed to appreciate just how amazing the shower scene is the first time around.
Perfectly framed.
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post #37 of 87
5/16/09 at 6:57pm
So I've been listening to the soundtrack, and at first, The Hell of It and Goodbye Eddie, Goodbye were in heavy rotation. But now I'm finding that Somebody Super Like You (Beef Construction Song) is the one that's getting a lot of play. The only one I'm not liking is the Swan version of Faust. Winslow's is far superior. Maybe that's intentional.

It's amazing to me that Williams wrote all of these. They're very different styles, and few of them resemble his popular output in the 70's.
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post #38 of 87
5/16/09 at 9:30pm
So I've invited a bunch of people from work over to my place to watch this on Monday night and I'm pretty excited. Partly because I get to expose more people to this amazing film, but also because I have absolutely no idea how they will react to it. I've described it to them, told them it's probably unlike anything they've watched before and told them to expect an off-beat experience like Rocky Horror (which is part of what intrigued most of them to begin with), but I'm still pretty sure none of them have any idea of what they're in for. This is gonna be awesome.
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post #39 of 87
5/16/09 at 9:39pm
I tried that once when Exhumed Films in Philly showed this film. The print was so faded-to-red and spliced up that two of those people were mad at me for weeks. If the print had been pristine, they would have only been mad at me for a day or two.

Sometimes the not-for-everyone-ness of a movie pains me. This is one of the big ones. Good luck!
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post #40 of 87
5/16/09 at 9:48pm
Yep, I tried to show this to my brother, and he was all like "Get this fag out of here." Didn't likey.

I should've known better, I learned ages ago that most of the people I call friends are jerkasses with poor taste.

I so want to open a rep house here in Indy.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure this is my first non Trek related post in over a week. I need counseling.
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post #41 of 87
5/18/09 at 10:24am
I recently discovered that a friend of mine has a Death Records tattoo on his arm. It was a moment of pure nerd bonding when we both discovered each other's love for the movie.
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post #42 of 87
5/18/09 at 7:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David View Post

It's amazing to me that Williams wrote all of these. They're very different styles, and few of them resemble his popular output in the 70's.
The man wrote "Rainbow Connection"; I think he DID sell his soul for a stab at 70s glory.
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post #43 of 87
5/31/09 at 3:06am
So, i was with friend going through an old book and record store and look what i found for 5 bucks.

Amazing.
I literally couldn't believe it. I was going through their movie collection and having fun with what they had, and thought to myself "how hard it would be to track down a copy of phantom of the paradise" and a few more down the road i found it.

Now i need a vinyl player.
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post #44 of 87
5/31/09 at 6:29am
No, no, you must not play it. You must lock it in a hermetically-sealed, climate-controlled room. On special occasions, you may allow yourself to view it for a period not to exceed four minutes, lest your body heat alter its physical properties.

Collecting rare stuff is not about fun, you know.
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post #45 of 87
5/31/09 at 3:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chavez View Post
The man wrote "Rainbow Connection"; I think he DID sell his soul for a stab at 70s glory.
But he also wrote Movin' Right Along and Can You Picture That? from the same movie, which are friggin' great tunes.

He's also responsible for one of my favorite heavy metal parodies: RIVERBOTTOM NIGHTMARE BAND!! from Emmett Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. It's as biting a commentary on metal as anything in Phantom.
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post #46 of 87
5/31/09 at 7:04pm
Did you just insinuate that The Rainbow Connection is not a great tune?

For shame.
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post #47 of 87
5/31/09 at 7:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David View Post
Did you just insinuate that The Rainbow Connection is not a great tune?

For shame.
No, I was insinuating that only someone who had entered some infernal pact with ultimate evil could come up with such awesomeness. It is beyond the ken of mere mortals.
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post #48 of 87
5/31/09 at 7:25pm
No, I knew what you meant. I was referring to Ratty's response.
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post #49 of 87
6/1/09 at 12:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David View Post
No, I knew what you meant. I was referring to Ratty's response.
It's an okay song, just not up to the level of Movin' Right Along. Not making waves!
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post #50 of 87
6/1/09 at 3:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty View Post
He's also responsible for one of my favorite heavy metal parodies: RIVERBOTTOM NIGHTMARE BAND!! from Emmett Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. It's as biting a commentary on metal as anything in Phantom.
Wow. I've always appreciated that Williams was more "everywhere" across 70s and 80s tv than I had thought, but that I did not know.

Funny, I just caught him in a little role in THE CHEAP DETECTIVE. Some great laughs in the film, but it's not quite MURDER BY DEATH.
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