This Brian De Palma classic musical from 1974 stars singer Paul Williams, some dude who's never been heard of again called William Finley, the grindhouse scream queen Jessica Harper, and the guy who played the only member of the race "The Q" from Star Trek with a unique name (in real life he's known as Gerrit Graham).
De Palma wrote and directed (songs by Williams) this just a couple years before tackling his adaptation of Stephen King's "Carrie" and about a decade before his best know masterpiece "Scarface".
This movie couldn't be more different than either of those two. Shot in a manner that resembles an art school film project with excessive wide angle lenses, cartoonish overacting, and set pieces that look like rejects from Tim Burton's Pee-Wee years.
I love this movie, a friend and I have a tradition of watching it at the stroke of midnight on New Year's day. The plot is a coked out, disco-esque adaptation of "Phantom of the Opera".
Singer/songwriter Winslow Leach is thrown in prison after a series of misadventures trying to get credit for his original pieces are stolen by the mysterious record producer Swan. After hearing his music butchered by the pop group The Juicy Fruits who've turned his beautiful "Faust" inspired contata into a Beach Boys styled jam, Leach escapes prison and vows vengeance on Swan and any who dares touch his music.
This movie is available to stream on Amazon: $2.99 gets you a rental, $9.99 lets you own this cinematic diamond. http://www.amazon.co...-amazonvideo-20
I like this pitch so much, I think I might make it my review on Amazon...
