The Phantom of the Opera (1998)
Directed by: Dario Argento
Premise: Inspired by Gaston Leroux’s novel. A man (Julian Sands) raised by rodents in the tunnels underneath a Paris opera house obsesses over an up-and-coming singer (Asia Argento).
What Works: The 1998 version of The Phantom of the Opera has a distinct take on the character. Rather than a disfigured outcast or a disgraced musician, the Phantom of this version was an abandoned baby who was raised by rodents in the sewers of Paris. The makers of this film seize upon a few minor elements of the earlier versions, namely the rat catcher of Hammer’s 1962 film, and then greatly expand those characters and their presence in the story. The music of 1998’s The Phantom of the Opera was composed by Ennio Morricone and the score is much better than this movie. Morricone does what he can to fill in the passion of the romantic story and tie together the film’s variety of tones which range from melodrama to goofy comedy to gory horror.
What Doesn’t: The 1998 version of Phantom of the Opera was directed by Dario Argento who is well known among horror viewers for his films of the 1970s and 80s including The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Suspiria, and Phenomena. Argento’s better movies mixed extreme violence with stylized cinematography. That’s not the case in Argento’s Phantom of the Opera. There’s no atmosphere and the lighting and the camera work are visually uninteresting. It’s a gory and violent film but without style or imagination. For that matter, there is no emotional impact. The love triangle between the Phantom, Christine, and Raoul (Andrea Di Stefano) is not convincing. The principal characters are not well defined and the Phantom isn’t much of a character. The picture suffers from strange shifts in tone and scenes that are unintentionally funny. The moviemakers deserve some credit for innovating on the source material but a lot of the creative choices are silly or stupid or strain the connection with the original story. Gaston Leroux’s novel is about a man who is shunned by society because of his looks but he’s also musically gifted and his obsessions coalesce around a woman. In this version the Phantom is not disfigured but handsome. He doesn’t wear a mask and he certainly does not look like a guy who lives in the sewers and was raised by rodents. He also lacks any evidence of musical talent. The Phantom’s attempt to engineer Christine’s music career comes across as an afterthought. This version is so departed from the source that it no longer feels like The Phantom of the Opera.
Disc extras: The Blu-Ray published by Scorpion Releasing includes a commentary track and featurettes.
Bottom Line: 1998’s The Phantom of the Opera is a disappointment and it was a sign of the decline in Dario Argento’s career in the 1990s. It’s an awkward retelling of this story. There is no obsession or passion to it and as a horror-inclined version, this Phantom lacks scares or atmosphere.
Episode: #1069 (October 19, 2025)