Horror 2025 Countdown: The Phantom of the Opera (1990)

 The Phantom of the Opera (1990), dir. Tony Richardson, Saban Entertainment 

By the 80's, miniseries had become event tv before the word was coined. The Phantom was no stranger to TV movies but this would be the first time someone would attempt to be dramatic rather than horror.

The Opera Gariner is the grandest opera house in Paris and like any respectable theater there's a ghost. A phantom (Charles Dance), if you will. The manager Carriere (Burt Lancaster) is dismissed, much to his displeasure, as he knows the Phantom isn't superstition, but the new manager Choleti (Ian Richardson) makes it clear he doesn't believe in ghosts. 

Pity the Phantom doesn't share his beliefs. 

In walks Christine Daae (Teri Polo), a simple girl with dreams of being a diva. The current diva, Carlotta (Andrea Ferroel), who by the way is also married to the current manager, is not impressed and banishes her to the wardrobe department. Singing in the prop room, she catches the Phantom's ears and later eyes. He offers to tutor in music, but he insists he must wear a mask. 

Carlotta is also on his radar too, but his intentions are far more malicious. He begins a campaign of terror against her, which leads her to unleashing her own campaign against Christine, which turns makes the Phantom step up his etc., etc., finally ending in the Phantom dropping a chandler onto the crowd. 

Then you get Christine's old childhood friend turned nobility, Comte Phillipe de Chagny (Adam Storke) arriving in town, and what secret is the old Carriere hiding?

Long, well acted, but the length does it no favors. It's certainly one of the better looking adaptations, and Dance absolutely steals every scene he's in; no mean feat for a man with his face mostly covered. I suppose the film's biggest flaw is that the Phantom here is a bit too nice. He approaches Christine not as the 'angel of music' but rather as a musician who offers to make her better. You can almost forget the murders.