Dario films his own daughter naked!
The Phantom of the Opera (1998)
Directed By: Dario Argento (Deep Red)
The Prologue
Don’t let Dario Argentio’s, The Phantom of the Opera, get confused with his other film simply known as, Opera. Also try not to let the film we are about to talk about ruin the idea that Argento is a legend in this business. Sure he had this (a film that stars his own daughter, Asia Argento) and he most recently had another film called, Giallo. But this is the very same man that did give us such classics as Deep Red, Tenebre, and Susperia (just to name a few). But it does seem like every director does tend to stagger off the quality map after they reach a certain point, and this could have been that point for Dario.
The Movie
Standard story of the Phantom of the Opera but does have one major variation – The phantom is not a disfigured individual, but rather is an unwashed orphan abandoned in the sewers under the Paris Opera & raised by rats (let that sink in for a moment). The Phantom invokes death upon anyone who dares harm his beloved rats. In fact, The Phantom’s nemesis is the chief exterminator who develops a rat-catching machine. Also the leading female in this film is played by Argento’s own daughter, and she does have nude/sex scenes which he filmed..That’s soo not weird at all, right??
Well, let’s get some of the negatives out of the way shall we? This film is just too damn long. I think this was even a cut version that isn’t the full length and even it could have used some cutting. I know Argento has had some films that run a little long and I believe that’s always been my main beef with him. There always seems to be things left in his film that could have easily been cut to make things quicker without hurting the film at all. That’s here just as much as it’s ever been, and where the film isn’t near as strong as his past films it hurt this one more.
Also the film doesn’t really do anything to catch your attention. The gore is there in parts and I’m happy it was because without it we wouldn’t have much at all left to look at outside of Asia Argento. As a matter of fact, the gore that is here is what reminds us we are watching a film by the great Dario Argento. The rest of the film plays out like some sorta weird stage play with people being way over-dramatic in parts and under-dramatic in parts where the most of the emotion could have been used. It keeps things off balance and it just makes this film a hard watch.
So in the end, people get naked, a romance story comes to a head, and rats are hurt. I think the shark is probably jumped in the first five minutes when a rat saves a baby. I’d hate to say things don’t ever really rebound from there, but it’s probably only really worth watching if you enjoy gore and are a die hard Argento fan. Then again, who doesn’t want to at least check out a love story where the main dude has been raised by rats? Ah well, I guess no every film can be Deep Red now can it?
The Conclusion
While the ending score for this film isn’t going to be anywhere near what you’d expect from a film by the great Dario Argento, if you still wish you watch it I can send you HERE to a place where you not only can get it for a good price, but it comes with two other films along with it. By it’s self, I’d say skip it, but if you can get it that cheap with other films, why not?
The Rating (4.5/10)
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