Nonureva Really Surprised!

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Wizard-8 I have to admit that I haven't (yet) seen every filmed adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same name, but all the same I am pretty confident in saying that this version, while not the absolute worst, is one of the lesser efforts. It is not an awful movie. The folks at the Hammer studio made sure that it looked pretty nice, with expert production values. And actor Michael Gough really makes for a good villain... though oddly his character really isn't punished in the end for all his misdeeds. The biggest problem with this version is how surprisingly uneventful it is for much of the running time. It moves very slowly, with little in it that could be considered "horror". It's also strange that the title figure in this version almost becomes an afterthought, getting a lot less focus and screen time than you would think. It doesn't help that the music isn't all that special at all. It may sound like I'm making this movie out to be really bad. It isn't - it's watchable. But it's unlikely you remember it for a long time afterwards.

AaronCapenBanner Terence Fisher directed this Hammer studios version of the often-filmed story. Herbert Lom plays the Phantom, who was really Professor Petrie, a struggling composer who had his music stolen by the evil Ambrose D'Arcy(played by Michael Gough) who is now having an opera produced with his stolen music. The star of the opera Christine(played by Heather Sears) becomes an obsession of the Phantom, who became disfigured after a fire involving Ambrose. When he kidnaps Christine, her producer(played by Edward De Souza) pursues the trail to the Phantom's secret lair to stop this menace from further troubling them... Well directed and acted, especially by Lom, but film is otherwise disappointing, with an unsatisfying and dull story. Ambrose deserved a harsher on screen fate! Look for future "Doctor Who" actor Patrick Troughton as the opera rat-catcher.

Matthew Kresal As a fan of both the Hammer Horror films and the the Phantom of the Opera I was intrigued upon learning of hammer's version of the story. Having learned something of its back-story before seeing it, my interest was intrigued even more by the knowledge of Cary Grant's near involvement. Having seen the film now I will say this it is neither the worst Phantom film or the best by any means.Not that the film doesn't have a good cast. Herbert Lom takes a good crack at playing the role of the Phantom playing the role much more for sympathy then for the sheer terror of earlier (and later) versions of the character thanks to the script. Heather Sears, playing Christine Charles, gives a decent if un-extraordinary performance which can also be said of her costar Edward de Souza playing the Raoul of this version Harry Hunter (the part originally intended apparently for Cary Grant). There's also a good supporting cast especially in Thorley Walters as theater manager Lattimer and Michael Gough as the suitably unlikeable Lord Ambrose d'Arcy. There's also a nice brief scene stealing performance from Patrick Troughton as The Rat Catcher. All in all its a nice cast.The film's fault lie really behind the camera as the production is very low key to say the least. The sets themselves seems below the standards of even other Hammer films of the time thought the theater itself works very well in the context of the film. The opera staging in the film is one of the highlights even if Joan of Arc makes for a strange Opera choice indeed (and a deviation from the novel amongst many deviations). the film also suffers from snail speed pacing at times which is annoying considering that the length of the film is only about an hour and a half anyway. Yet the real fault in the film lies in the script.The script itself is where the films problems mostly lie. To begin with the film feels watered down in the horror department when compared to other Hammer films of the era due presumably to the near involvement of Cary Grant. There's also the big problem of the fact that the film is called The Phantom of the Opera but that the Phantom isn't really the star of his own film. This is thanks to a bad decision to shift many of the Phantom's murderous acts elsewhere which leaves the Phantom does little else but sit in his lair for the length of the film. the storyline used in the film bares little resemblance to the original novel by Gaston Leroux and owes more to the previous film versions of The Phantom of the Opera then to the novel especially the 1943 film version.This Hammer version The Phantom of the Opera is neither the best or the worst film version of that story. Though it has a nice cast and some fine performances from the supporting cast in particular the film is let down quite heavily by a low key production, snails pacing and a script hampered by one or two bad decisions. This is a version of Phantom perhaps best enjoyed by fans of the Hamemr films though they too will find that even in comparison with other Hammer films of the era it feels watered down and slow at times.

brownish33 i just saw this on AMC early this morning, and i think it was one of the hammer horror films (had everyone who usually is in them). i must say, this phantom was very very VERY creepy, unlike any other I've seen. its got to be the mask this time around. its also played by the same guy who played inspector cluso'd mad boss in the pink panther films! haha! usually the mask looks very romantic, with half of his face showing his somewhat "handsomeness", but this time his whole face is covered and hes got one red colored eye peircing through. creepy as hell. also, michael gough was totally a complete jerk in this movie! usually hes playin the decent guy, but this time hes a real ass! i wish the phantom got him. the way the film ended was rather sudden, but it really made me feel for the phantom more. i cant believe how many POTO films there have been over the years, but this is now one of my favorites. got to get this on DVD.