Phantom of the Paradise

Laemmle’s Throwback Thursdays closes out the 2015 edition of Roctober with Brian De Palma's satirical Phantom of the Opera for the '70s rock scene, in which a disfigured composer sells his soul for the woman he loves so that she will perform his music.

"He sold his soul for rock ‘n’ roll.” After hearing Winslow Leach (William Finley) perform a song from his Faust rock opera, Phil Spector-ish impresario Swan (Paul Williams) decides that Winslow's opera would be the perfect debut attraction for his new rock palace, the Paradise. Swan steals the music and has Winslow imprisoned -- but not before Winslow meets aspiring songbird Phoenix (Jessica Harper). Jumping prison, Winslow breaks into Swan's Death Records factory to ruin the recordings, but an accident involving a record press grossly disfigures him. Winslow then sneaks into the Paradise to sabotage Swan's show, disguising himself as the Phantom. Swan, however, cuts a deal with the Phantom to finish his cantata; he promises that Phoenix will sing it but then reneges, hiring prissy glam rocker Beef (Gerritt Graham). Determined to have Phoenix sing, the Phantom soon discovers just how far Swan will go to give the people what they want.