This is an absurd and wildly entertaining glam-rock twist on the "Phantom of the Opera" story. Winslow Leach has his rock opera stolen by music biz icon Swan. After terrorizing the record company, Leach is in an awful (but rather hilarious!) accident that renders him disfigured. He terrorizes the opening night of Swan's new rock'n'roll palace, The Paradise.

This is the best horror film I've seen by De Palma. While it is mostly tongue-in-cheek, it does feature one of the most suspenseful uses of his trademark "split screen." The story is great--a surprisingly clever indictment of the music industry. The music is wonderful if you like glam, though the songs that Jessica Harper (the Christine figure) sings seem out of place and are about as deadpan as her performance. Gerrit Graham is a riot as Beef and steals every scene he is in. I recommend "Phantom of the Paradise" to fans of over-the-top productions such as Rocky Horror, as well as anyone looking for a unique twist on a classic tale that doesn't take itself too seriously. My Rating: 7.5/10

I am bewildered that viewers today think this film is a rip off or they don't see that it is a comedy....in fact I think it is easily as much a cult comedy as ROCKY HORROR, albeit unappreciated and undiscovered. Dismissed in its day it ended up as a double feature with Rocky Horror and then played endlessly across Australia in the 1970s. It is a very funny film and anyone with a sense of humor can see that it is as silly as it is scary. The cinema in Sydney where it opened in 1974 was the 2200 seat Regent and looked just like the theater in the film. The film was forgotten the theater demolished and now everyone moans. .....yeesh.PHANTOM is great fun and has hilarious songs and satire. Just enjoy it. PHANTOM was filmed in the Majestic Theater in San Antonio Texas, and is famed Architect John Eberson's first 'atmospheric' theater with stars and sky as a ceiling.