The Phantom of the Paradisee

Wednesday 11 March at 7.30pm

Brian De Palma | USA | 1974 | 91 mins | M violence

A naïve young singer-songwriter is tricked by a legendary but unscrupulous music producer into sacrificing his life’s work.

“This Faustian horror/trash-rock/revenge musical from director Brian De Palma is one of the most technically impressive and energetically gonzo films of the sick ‘70s. The always-bizarre William Finley stars as the titular character Winslow, a songwriter ripped off and badly wronged by a Phil Spector-like music mogul named Swan (Paul Williams). When Swan sets his sights on the woman of the Phantom’s dreams (Suspiria’s Jessica Harper) things are going to get weird. This is De Palma’s testament to everything he loves in popular cinema, a stylistic exercise with few peers, and a great time at the movies.” – Austin Film Society

“Brian De Palma’s Faustian fulmination against the soulless corporatization of art and artist, Phantom of the Paradise stands as the fullest expression of the filmmaker’s penchant for anti-establishment satire… Hitchcock is here, of course, in the funniest Psycho parody ever filmed, but most of the allusions in this baroque fantasy are paraded with an eye for gothic classicism: Faust, The Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray, among others, provide the canvas onto which De Palma splashes his overwhelming filmic mojo.” – Fernando F. Croce, Slant

“The film is a one-of-a-kind entertainment, with a kinetic, breakneck wit.” – Pauline Kael, New Yorker