MovieChat Forums > The Phantom of the Opera (1989) Discussion > Freddy of the Opera

Freddy of the Opera

posted 20 years ago by cleobrody
7 replies | jump to latest

I see by the Amazon.com reviews that I'm not wrong when I thought this.

I remember the vhs cover for this movie among all the other horror movie boxes from the video store we used to rent from when I was little.

The horror movie section scared me, cuz I knew all the bad guys were there. And then, there he was. Freddy in another movie.

Phantom of the Opera. I used to think this was a Nightmare on Elm Street movie.

And then I rented it. It's actually not too bad, and not as Freddy-ish as I thought.

Perhaps the cover art was deceiving in an attempt to market on the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

Any thoughts?

[–] Sanguinaire 20 years ago

I first saw this movie way back when it was first released to VHS, for the most part forgetting about it with the passing years. When I got the new DVD, I was amazed - this film is so much more that the "Phantom Of Elm Street" sort of thing many people think it is. The classical score by Mischa Segal is simply AMAZING, especially the universally-appreciated Don Juan Triumphant song. That sequence in which the Phantom appears to Christine in the cemetery, playing the tune on his violin as he invites her into the underground world, is simply BEAUTIFUL and worthy of any high-end production. So is the sight of Englund weeping upon hearing Christine sing the Don Juan song as he plays it at the organ. And Englund is fantastic as Erik. Take it from a veteran Phan, folks; this film may not be perfect or the equal of the Rains and Chaney versions, but it's muuuuucccchhh better than its reputation suggests. It's a must see, in fact.

"Paint it, paint it, paint it, PAINT IT BLACK!"

[–] mrvlgrl1860 20 years ago

I thought he looked like Freddy Krueger in this movie, too.

[–] Diamond_Dan 20 years ago

I think at certain parts, the Phantom/Erik did look like Freddy Krueger! And also, at the beginning when he was calling out Joseph's name before he killed him. That was extremely reminescent of the way Freddy called out Tina's name before he killed her in the 1st Elm Street! But i do agree with Sanguinaire that its so much more than the "Phantom Of Elm Street" some people may think it is! By the way cleobrody, I remember the box cover from when i was a little kid too and thinking it was Freddy Krueger on there!

Like Mötley Crüe said, "Girls, Girls, Girls"!

[–] WarpedRecord 16 years ago

I'm a big fan of Robert Englund and the "Nightmare" series, so I thought he was fine as the Phantom.

Really, I think most "Nightmare" fans would find this boring, and most opera fans would find this too violence. I've seen the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, and it was entertaining but I'm not an opera man.

As for me, I thought the makeup and effects were outstanding, but the story dragged quite a bit. I gave it 6 out of 10 stars.

[–] ghoultown 16 years ago

I think this was one of the better ones, because it stuck closest to the spirit of the original novel.

[–] tnoel13-5 15 years ago

I really enjoy this version and I thought robert gave a impressive preformance. Its a shame people are quick to dismiss this flick as a freddy krueger like movie I never saw any similarities between the two characters other then the phantoms make-up in the last scene.

[–] smileyking1975 10 years ago

The first time I remember seeing this, it was in 1990 and on the pay-per-view channel. I couldn't afford to buy it, so I watched the trailers all day. I remember the tag line saying: "He's back, and uglier than ever!" I was wondering who they were talking about, Robert or Freddy!

I heard that it was because of the Freddy-like make-up that they didn't make The Phantom of New York. Robert wasn't pleased by the fact that people were calling it The Freddy version of The Phantom of the Opera.

I think if they used a different make-up, it would have gone well, something like the Vincent Price character, Dr. Phibes' make-up, maybe?