Review of The Phantom of the Opera (1925) by Ninon M — 07 Mar 2018

What really stands out of 'The Phantom of the Opera', what makes it - though it should - not pale in comparison to its best German contemporaries, is in Chaney, and in its set up, which have such a fascinating effect.

Lon Chaney, the actor and uncredited make-up artist, who reveals in the infamous mask scene, his most terrifying creation. And it also lies in the baroque, Expressionist-like set-up of the never-ending cellars of the opera, in which old monumental décors, symmetric staircases, and at the end , the phantom's bewitching chamber are assembled.

Overall, 'Phantom of the Opera' is saved by his realm of fascination, which comes to its peak when, fascinatingly, and completely unexpected, color appears for the Grand Bal sequence - and not color as we've already seen it - but primitive, bichrome technicolor, at first scarlett and green, then blue and scarlett, to make it look surreal, like an animated movie.