Bounding Into Halloween Does The Time Warp For Night 28 With ‘Phantom Of The Paradise’ & ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’
We’re on the final lap of our race to Halloween, and it’s time to really get the party started! Tonight’s movies take us back to the swinging seventies for two bizarre, but amazing horror/rock operas that live in the demented hearts of many.
Grab a date, and buy your tickets, but keep the little ones at home, because anything can happen at the late night double-feature picture show.
Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Our first jam of the evening is a trippy take on Gaston Leroux’s classic serial novel, The Phantom of the Opera. This is the seventh feature in the lengthy career of director, Brian De Palma (Carrie, Dressed To Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, Carlito’s Way), and he really lets the freak flag fly with this magnificent display of quirky style. I hope you like singing because The Phantom of the Paradise has a few songs of death to sing.
Winslow Leach (William Findley) is talented songwriter, and composer who is discovered by the devilish record producer, Swan (Paul Williams), during his performances. Swan is deeply moved by Winslow’s song, and deems it as the perfect music to open “The Paradise,” his highly anticipated new concert venue. Instead of cutting a deal, Swan steals Winslow’s music and has him barred from the offices of his Death Records label.
An unperturbed Winslow then sneaks into Swan’s private mansion, “The Swanage,” to find out what’s going on. He observes several women all rehearsing his music for an audition, but one of them completely throws Winslow off of his mission. She’s an aspiring singer names Phoenix (Jessica Harper), whom Winslow deems perfect for his music, and the two quickly fall in love.
He is told of Swan’s plan to open the Paradise with his music, but it hardly matters because that’s when he gets jumped by Swan’s bodyguards, and they plant drugs on him for the police to find.
Winslow is given a life sentence (after Swan pulled some legal strings) and is sent to Sing Sing Prison. His teeth are ripped from his mouth, and replaced with shiny metal ones as part of an experimental prisoner program funded by the Swan Foundation.
Six months later, he hears his music on the radio while assembling tiddlywinks games. Winslow goes berserk, escapes from prison, sneaks into the Death Records building, and wrecks the place. He then breaks into Swan’s record factory with the intention of destroying a record press, but a guard catches him in the act.
This causes him to slip, and fall headfirst into the record press which crushes and horribly burns the right side of his face, while also destroying his vocal cords. Badly hurt, he manages to flee the building and then shamble his way to the edge of the East River for a cold plunge.
The newspaper reports that his body was not recovered. Does this stop our persistent music nerd? Nope!
Winslow is barely dried off from his swim through the East River when he breaks into the Paradise and makes his way into the costume department. There, he finds a black leather costume, a long black cape, and an owl helm that looks just like the one Griffith wears in the Berserk manga.
It’s unclear how Swan got his hands on that evil bastard’s stuff, but you’ll find out that he also has friends in low places. With fresh new gear, Winslow becomes the Phantom of the Paradise, and sets off to terrorize Swan and his musicians, but that’s until he gets suckered into another deal with the devil.
I’ll never forget watching this as a little kid and being completely weirded out by it, but also completely enthralled at the same time. Come to find out later that Paul Williams was the voice for Penguin in Batman: The Animated Series. Now, that’s all you’re going to hear when he speaks.
Phantom is a campy romp disguised as a horror musical with a Faustian/Dorian Gray element, and some very hilarious moments. Phantom of the Paradise can be found lurking on Prime.
Here’s the trailer:
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The next feature shouldn’t even need an introduction. It’s the crowned King (or Queen!) of cult cinema, and a dear favorite among the outcasts of this world. This is the amazing adaptation of the 1973 gender-bending musical play by Richard O’Brien who also stars in the movie as the faithful handyman, Riff Raff.
It also features Susan Sarandon, Nell Campbell, Patricia Quinn, Barry Bostwick, Meat Loaf, and the great Tim Curry in his brilliant performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Welcome to The Rocky Horror Picture Show! Get ready to be thrilled, chilled, and fulfilled. So…come up to the lab, and see what’s on the slab!
It’s the month of November in the year of our lord, 1974. Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) are a “normal, ordinary, healthy, completely vanilla” young couple from the small hole-in-the-earth town of Denton, Ohio. They first meet in Dr. Scott’s college refresher course and fell in love.
After watching their friends Ralph and Betty get married, Brad asks Janet to marry him during a song, and assures Janet that dammit, he loves her!
There are breaks in the film where a Criminologist (Charles Gray) explains that we are about to embark on a strange journey following the misadventures of Brad and Janet. He says that despite the storm clouds gathering, the two decided to go for a long drive to go tell Dr. Scott about their engagement.
Nothing was going to stop them, even when their spare tire was badly in need of air. The criminologist claims that Brad and Janet will both have “a night to remember for a very long, time.” And he’s not wrong, especially about their car tire!
The sun goes down as Brad and Janet continue their journey. As the criminologist predicted, the storm rolls in, and then we hear a loud “BANG” before Brad skids the car to a stop. Completely out of options, and stuck in the rain, the wholesome couple goes to an old castle they passed along the way to use their telephone. There’s a light over at the Frankenstein place, and in the darkness of everybody’s life.
They arrive on the front doorstep of the castle. Brad knocks and just as the two were about to leave, the door is opened by Riffraff. A tall, gaunt, balding butler in a stark black suit who looks one step away from a long stint in rehab. The couple tell him their sob story, and he lets him inside.
They quickly find out that a big party is being thrown at the castle, and it was a most special occasion. Dr. Frank-N-Furter has a new creation to show off to everyone, and Janet will not want to miss this. Trust me.
This great film has spent almost the past half century being the number one midnight feature for countless movie theaters, and it even involves audience participation (just don’t tell them you’re new!). The songs are catchy, the performances are all tremendous, and it shows that it’s perfectly okay to be weird.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is on Hulu. It’s just a jump to the left. Here’s the trailer:
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