Review of The Phantom of the Opera (1925) by Jonathan S — 13 Aug 2010

Lon Chaney, a horror movie icon, stars as the Phantom, a musically talented genius who's heart is full of jealous hatred and an urge to kill.

This classic silent film takes many components from the original story, but adds a few creative twists too. This movie's story starts out as same old same old (even though this is the first Phantom of the Opera movie) but as the movie goes on it does get a bit freakier and changes it's mood to a genuine horror movie.

The preformances of Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin are great. Lon is so sinister, and Mary does a great job at showing exactly what her character is thinking. But aside from that, what really makes this movie great is Lon Chaney's makeup. His Phantom is one of the scariest looking faces in horror movie history that can match, if not surpass Nosferatu. Really, when his face is revealed, it'll give you chills down your spine. The music in the movie matches the operatic theme, but it should have had a scarier score in other parts of the movie. But all in all, the production value in this movie is fantastic for it's time, and there were many great camera angles to boot.

This movie is one of those movies that inspired other horror movies. It may not be gory in anyway, but you don't need blood and gore to scare an audience. Though mild by today standards, this movie made it's mark and is known for the incredable makeup job. This film will be remembered by horror movie fans always.