Prior to The Phantom of the Opera, director Dwight H. The film is also missing, for some reason – perhaps budgetary? – the classic falling chandelier scene. There are some interesting new interpolations created in this version – the location is, for no apparent reason, transferred from Paris to London, effectively represented by Budapest which, with its paved streets, convincingly 19th Century pubs and restaurants, and lavish opera house gives the film a much higher budgeted look than would have otherwise been allowed. Robert Englund as Erik Destler, The Phantom of the Opera Certainly, the story of The Phantom is strong enough to raise the film above the usual level of most slasher films. The slasher element is not as incongruous with the story of The Phantom as might initially seem – usually this version is disparaged by those who have come to regard The Phantom of the Opera as a romantic story following the Lloyd Webber musical when, in fact, the original story was intended as a thriller/horror story. On the whole though, it is not as bad as it might be.

Most bar the Freddy Krueger cult hated The Phantom of the Opera. Understandably, Robert Englund makes for the most evil of the usually sympathetic screen Phantoms so far.

The result is a clear attempt to straddle both influences, schizophrenically resulting in a Phantom who is a misunderstood genius composer and a lost romantic but also has a pizza face and is a maniacally bloodthirsty slasher. It was also made as a vehicle for Robert Englund, who had become a cult figure as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and sequels. It was produced at the height of the madness surrounding the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical and has been clearly intended to exploit the popularity of this. This is the fifth film version of The Phantom of the Opera and is certainly the most outlandish.

The phantom of the opera 1989