History Film / PhantomOfTheParadise

* RealityEnsues: Turns out that if you give your song to a music producer with no legal contract, you ''will'' be screwed over.

* FacialHorror: Winslow is permanently and hideously disfigured when his face is trapped in a record press at Swan's recording studio.

* GothicHorror: The film is a mid-'70s {{Homage}} to Gothic Horror, borrowing visual cues and motifs from the likes of ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', ''Film/TheCabinetOfDrCaligari'', ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' and ''Myth/{{Faust}}''. The film itself is [[{{Troperiffic}} built on many tropes familiar to the genre]]; its protagonist is a [[TheGrotesque tragically deformed]], morally ambiguous TheatrePhantom-ByronicHero, the antagonist a SatanicArchetype who's industry reflects a DecadentCourt hosting DancesAndBalls, a waifish love-interest who is lusted after by both, [[ReligiousHorror religious overtones]], a {{Creepy Crow|s}} motif, a DealWithTheDevil (both metaphorical and literal), MalevolentArchitecture and a DownerEnding with an aftertaste of divine justice.

* SexFaceTurn: Towards the climax of the movie [[spoiler: Sawn seduces Pheonix and presumably has sex with her, as Winslow watches them laid in bed through a skylight, which prompts him to try to commit suicide.]]

* ClumsyCopyrightCensorship: A rather unfortunate case. Swan's record label, [[{{Pun}} Swan Song]], was featured in many scenes, including long shots and panning shots. At about the same time they were filming, Music/LedZeppelin manager Peter Grant started a ''real'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Song_Records record label]] with the name, and beat Phantom by a couple months with their first album release. Grant threatened to block release of the film, so De Palma and his editor ''[[ClumsyCopyrightCensorship very poorly]]'' covered up the offending words with the new label name, Death Records. Even worse, several long take scenes with too much movement were reedited so as to not show the original name, wasting the long single take shots. That name was '''everywhere.''' [[http://www.swanarchives.org/Production_Fiasco.asp Luckily, the original takes survive in the hands of a fan]], though who knows if they'll ever be used in a future release.

A musical CultClassic from 1974, directed by Creator/BrianDePalma. A sort of reimagining of ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', but set in the '70s and is more of a rock opera than a traditional one.

->that he tried to deposit them at Fort Knox.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"My music is for Phoenix. Only she can sing it. Anyone else who tries, dies!"'']]

->Since then, he’s won so many that he tried to deposit them
->at Fort Knox. He brought the Blues to Britain. He
->brought Liverpool to America.

->''"He sold his soul for rock n' roll!"''
-->-- Tagline

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler: Swan made a deal with the Devil so that he wouldn't age. He also has his bands and singers sign contracts to him, not allowing them to die until he does. The catch is that he must film himself each day of his life and watch the results daily(in which he looks and sounds wretched), or the deal breaks; Winslow finds this out and destroys the reels, leaving Swan vulnerable.]] Also the story of Faust, as presented in-universe in Winslow's music.

* {{Irony}}: The title and first line of the song that [[spoiler: gets Beef killed]] is titled "Life at Last".

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Winslow [[TheHeroDies dies after killing Swan]], leaving Phoenix heartbroken and alone.]]

* Irony: The title and first line of the song that [[spoiler: gets Beef killed]] is titled "Life at Last".

!!''Phantom of the Paradise'' provides examples of:

A musical CultClassic from 1974, directed by Creator/BrianDePalma. A sort of reimagining of ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', but set in the 70's and is more of a rock opera than a traditional one.

!!This film contains examples of:
* AChatWithSatan: [[spoiler:Satan talks to Swan when he attempts to kill himself in a bathtub.]]

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler: Swan made a deal with the Devil so that he wouldn't age. He also has his bands and singers sign contracts to him, not allowing them to die until he does. The catch is that he must film himself each day of his life and watch the results daily(in which he looks and sounds wretched), or the deal breaks; Winslow finds this out and destroys the reels, leaving Swan vulnerable.]]
** Also the story of Faust, as presented in-universe in Winslow's music.

--> '''Beef:''' That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't wanna be here when it does.

* DramaticUnmask: Averted. [[spoiler: Winslow removes his mask as he approaches Phoenix, but she's the only one who cares. The crowd just thinks it's part of the show.]]
* FatalMethodActing: An In-Universe example when [[spoiler: Beef is murdered by electrocution onstage]] and the crowd cheers it on, thinking it's part of the show.

* GenreShift: a mid-song example. As Swan attempts to find someone to perform Winslow's music, he watches several different artists perform sections of the song, each taking up exactly where the last one left off, and none of them for more than a line or two. You'll never think of genre the same way again after watching it.

* IncrediblyLamePun: Winslow is initially sent to ([[FridgeBrilliance the real-life]] prison of) '''Sing-Sing'''.

* GovernmentDrugEnforcement: Death Records does this with all their musicians. For example, when one of The Beach Bums complains that he feels too bad to sing, Philbin just shoves some pills down his throat and pushes him back on stage. [[spoiler:He was right to not want to perform.]]
** Also happens later with Beef, when he doesn't want to perform because of the Phantom.
** In the scene where [[spoiler:Phoenix]] signs a contract, it's implied that it only happened because Swan [[spoiler:got her high.]]

Compare and contrast ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', another 1970s rock musical that tackles horror themes (albeit in a much spoofier manner) and was considered a failure when it first came out, but is now a cult classic. (Also, both films were by 20th Century Fox and Harper played Janet in ''Film/ShockTreatment'', leading some fans to see all three films as a loose trilogy.)

A combination of ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'', ''{{Faust}}'', ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', and ''Film/TheCabinetOfDrCaligari'', ''Phantom of the Paradise'' is a rather polarizing film, having been a complete flop when it was first released (though at least receiving an Oscar nomination for its soundtrack). It's now considered a cult favorite.

** The "sold his soul" aspect of the plot is obviously based on ''Theatre/{{Faust}}'', just like Winslow's cantata (and ''Faust'' is the production in the climax of the original novel of ''Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'').