I’m not hating The Phantom of the Opera as many people do. I won’t go as far as saying it’s good, but it has its moments. The looks, however, are not one of them. I’m not entirely sure why, but it doesn’t look like an Argento film. The looks lean more towards an expensive TV production, and I don’t like it. The colours are for the most part dull, and the lighting seems weird in places. Nowhere near Argento’s best. The overly gory kills, however, looks quite good. If they fit the story is another story…

Yeah… The story is really weird. You will recognize parts of Gaston Leroux famous novel, but it’s nothing like that or other adaptions before and after. In some parts it’s quite funny, and in others it’s so pretentious and boring it hurts. I have no idea what Argento was thinking with this, as the very uneven story makes this hard to like in any way or form. What ends up almost saving it for me, is that when it’s funny…it’s quite funny

The acting is quite uninspired. There are some, like Asia Argento and Julian Sands, that does an adequate job, while others just phone it in. I imagine getting this script, and actually be enthusiastic about it, was quite hard. Especially since Argento is not known as an actors director.

No matter what you think about The Phantom of the Opera as a film, Ennio Morricones score is quite lovely, and is one of the highlights of the whole thing. I wonder what Morricone thought about this film as he did the music…

I can’t really recommend this film to anyone but the most hardcore of Argento fans. If you know what you're in for, it’s quite possible to have some laughs with the funny and stupid parts. It’s also surprisingly gory, which will also bring a smile to those of us so inclined. However… The Phantom of the Opera is NOT a good film, so don’t go about expecting much if you dare try this.