Phantom of the Opera

Claude Rains stars as _The Phantom of the Opera_, in Universal’s new vision of Gaston Leroux’s classic novel. The story follows young opera ingénue Christine Dubois whose secret benefactor, a violinist named Erique Claudin, is deformed during a fight with a publisher and seeks refuge in the sewers under the opera house; where he is driven mad and launches a series of attacks to further Dubois career. Unfortunately, there’s also a comedic subplot with two suiters vying for Christine’s affections that doesn’t really fit the tone of the rest of the film. However, Rains gives a solid performance and Susanna Foster is pretty good as Christine Dubois. Additionally, the sets and costume designs are extraordinary, and won the film a well-deserved Oscar. Yet while it’s a beautiful looking film, _The Phantom of the Opera_ lacks the power of the original and is a rather poor adaptation.

A composer, Erique Claudin is fired after twenty years in the opera's orchestra. He's short on rent and can't continue the lessons he's been paying for his favorite understudy, Christine DuBois. His new concerto is his only way to get back on his feet so he offers his work to music publisher. He becomes enraged once he finds out that the publisher has stolen his work. He strangles him to death, then his face is permanently scarred after the assistant throws acid in his face. Guilty of murder, he hides in the sewers beneath the opera house and continue his intention to make DuBois a star. I'm not a fan of musicals so this is not for me. I can't deny that it looks gorgeous and is competently made with beautiful, colourful sets and costumes. But as a universal horror film, it doesn't deliver the horror. It's the least horrifying than what I've seen so far. This reminds me of The Great Gabbo where it's mostly singing and dancing. The comedic bits thrown in here don't really work. Many of the scenes drag on for way too long. I can't connect to most characters beside Claude Rains.

Too many musical moments and I disliked the comedic last scene. But oh, it looks gorgeous in 4k and Claude is great.