Thursday, July 23, 2020

Paul Williams - Phantom Of The Paradise - 1974


Enclosed please find an analysis of the film by fellow blogger B.Parker and the film as well. Link in comments.

6 comments:

Edfray said...



*Here you go*

Edfray said...


B. Parker says;

This first-generation midnight movie was directed by Brian De Palma in 1974, after Sisters, but before Carrie. Using a Faustian story to send up all the notorious excesses of 70’s Rock, it is a film all it’s own. Music by the talented (if diminutive) Paul Williams. It introduced the lovely Jessica Harper, 3 years before she starred in Suspiria.

This is one of the most SEVENTIES things ever created! If you were to graph a line through the zeitgeist of that decade - one that touched on K-Tel Records, Alice Cooper, Young Frankenstein, American Graffiti, bloated concept albums, the Carpenters, Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell, Bowie, and yes, Rocky Horror - Phantom Of The Paradise would fit right in with that company.

Also included is an expanded version of the soundtrack, including all the film’s music, as well as dialogue excerpts. Musical highlights include the “Goodbye Eddie” opening, the lovely “Old Souls”, and the proto-Goth rock of The Undead (tell me that guy doesn’t sound like Peter Murphy!). This copy was sourced from the Egg City Radio blog. Though long-defunct, their Album Sharity page still has a lot of great links. Check it out.

Anonymous said...

I saw this film at a drive-in on its first (and only) U.S. run. It continues to amaze me. For whatever reason, it seems the only place it had that effect on anyone was Winnipeg, Canada - where they still have a film festival honoring it, and the massive response among High School students in that town - most of whom saw it more than once on its first run.

The last time I checked, the copy I ripped from a six-layers-deep copy protected DVD I found in a public library (took all day to unravel it - worth it for a perfect copy) remained alive on the torrent networks.

It's a 70s thing, the resta youse wouldn't understand...

Apoxonrox said...

Thanks Edfray for this, I've loved this movie since I was a kid and first saw it at the cinema in Montreal. Back home I've had the vinyl LP forever. Transferred it to tape, but never got around to digitizing it. It will be great to listen to it again after all these years.

Anonymous, I understand completely. This and Rocky Horror twisted my development in ways I am still trying to unravel.

Cheers, Apoxonrox

ZF said...

My first date movie

Edfray said...

That's just creepy.