Review of Phantom of the Opera (1943) by Mauricio L — 07 Jun 2017

I can't help but compare this to Chaney's silent classic, and it just plain doesn't hold up. Completely lacking in the gothic, macabre visuals of that one, it instead leans into the phantom's romantic origin story, and it's just not that engaging.

The tone is all over the place, with lots of dramatic men with wispy mustaches saying (intentionally?) comedic things, with a few cool moments of tension breaking the doldrums (chandelier, use of shadow).