"If I am the Phantom, it is because man's hatred has made me so..."
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) was the first feature length adaptation of Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux. This version remains a classic horror film and and was one of the very first films in Universal's well known monster movie line.
[I recently saw a restoration of this film that was completely silent but used primarily the 1929 version, with some parts restored from the original 1925 version and technicolor scenes from the 1930 version. If you would like to read more about the very complicated version history of this film please do so here. This "Photoplay Production" is the version I will reference and review, obviously because I just watched it but also because it seems like a good mix of the different versions that were released pretty close to the same time.]
The story of this film really holds up well. It's simple, interesting and I really love the way the mystery plays out. It keeps you guessing about who the Phantom is and what he really looks like for a good portion of the film. Then once you do know what is up, the horror is actually amplified by his grotesque image and actions. Really cool.
The ending is abrupt and almost unsatisfying, and lots of things are obviously very dated today. Some things that get brought up aren't followed through, but basically for as old as this film is it holds up about as good as a film of it's age could.
The film has some really, really amazing sets. With a ton of detail and a whole lot of little details sprinkled all around. A lot of the sets also move and have hidden things they do that really work believably! The amazing set pieces really help to sell the story of this film. And amazingly the opera set is still standing today!
The direction of the film is phenomenal. With only a few slight exceptions the cinematography follows all the common rules of cinematography today. It's all done in a very straightforward and simple way, so much so that it really blows my mind. I liked how despite the Phantom killing a bunch of people and is a true antagonist of this film, it still almost shows him in a sympathetic light. The ending sequences really emphasize this. It's really great! I love the incorporation of Faust, and if you can see the technicolor version, which was the way it was apparently intended to be released, it's amazing how even at such a low quality the effect really pays off and makes the Phantom stand out and come to life in his red robes in the Bal Masqué scene.
And lastly I need to mention Lon Chaney Sr.'s makeup as the phantom. Back in those days the actor was responsible for his own makeup and Lon Chaney really took it seriously and was very passionate about it. His makeup for the phantom is really quite simple but is still very shocking and disturbingly believable today, which is a true testament to how good he really was.
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) is one of the silent films everyone should see, and luckily it's often played around Halloween-time on the big screen so if you get the chance you should definitely check it out! 4/5 stars.
This film is now in the public domain due to Universal's failure to renew the copyright in 1953, so you are free to download the 1925 version here, or the 1929 version here, thanks to the Internet Archive.