History Film / PhantomOfTheParadise

->''Swan . . .
->he has no other name.
->His past is a mystery, but his work is a legend.
->He wrote and produced his first gold record at 14.
->Since then, he’s won so many
->that he once tried to deposit them at Fort Knox.
->He brought the Blues to Britain.
->He brought Liverpool to America.
->He brought Folk and Rock together.
->His band, the Juicy Fruits, singlehandedly gave birth
->to the nostalgia wave in the 70s.
->Now he’s looking for the new sound of the spheres
->to inaugurate his own Xanadu, his own Disneyland:
->the Paradise, the ultimate Rock Palace.
->This film is the story of that search . . .
->of that sound . . .
->of the man who made it . . .
->the girl who sang it . . .
->and the monster who stole it.''

* BigApplesauce: Set in New York City. Some it was filmed there, but interior shots were mostly filmed [[CaliforniaDoubling in California]], and most of the song sequences and a lot of the exterior shots were done in Dallas. The outside of the Swanage is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_County_Courthouse_(Texas) old Dallas County courthouse]] (also called Old Red).

* SexFaceTurn: Inverted and downplayed. 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.]]

* GenreBusting: The film somehow manages to be a rock opera, a satire on the music industry, a parody of Theatre/PhantomOfTheOpera, and a retelling of both {{Myth/Faust}} and Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray, all at the same time.

* GenreBusting: The film somehow manages to be a rock opera, a satire on the music industry, a parody of Phantom of the Paradise, and a retelling of both {{Faust}} and ThePictureOfDorianGray all at the same time.

Swan not only gives Winslow a shiny new voice box, but the opportunity to have his music produced properly. Winslow agrees, but only if Phoenix can be the only one to sing his songs. Swan agrees and insists that Winslow sign a contract with his own blood. However, Swan doesn't care to keep his promises and instead hires glam-rocker Beef (Gerrit Graham, another De Palma regular) to perform with "The Undead" (previously The Beach Bums). Outraged, Winslow decides to take matters into his own hands...and discovers Swan's plans for Phoenix -- and his very nature -- are even worse than he thought.

* HardWorkMontage: Winslow finishing his cantata while a melancholy song plays over the footage.

* NiceHat: Phoenix's fedora she wears as she sings "Special to Me" at her audition.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: In "Goodbye, Eddie, Goodbye", when narrating Eddie's story, the lead singer of The Juicy Fruits puts on a weird accent that is hard to define besides that it sounds vaguely italian or hispanic.

* UncannyValley: Throughout the film, Swan has a subtly off nature, from going to elaborate means to hide himself in public as well as his face seeming somewhat masklike in addition to looking very boyish for an unnatural 20 years. It's confirmed when it's revealed that this due to a DealWithTheDevil in which he would record himself in private to ensure the immorality and avoid public reveals, which would negate the immortality-- resulting in Swan rotting. His voice has a melodious but artificial quality, which is confirmed when his voice on recordings is much raspier and aged- reflecting on his inner corruption.

* UncannyValley: Throughout the film, Swan has a subtly off nature to himself, from going to elaborate means to hide himself in public as well as his face seeming more like a mask to hide something worse- addition to looking very boyish for an unnatural 20 years. It's confirmed when it's revealed that this due to a DealWithTheDevil in which he would record himself in private to ensure the immorality and avoid public reveals, which would negate the immortality- resulting in Swan rotting. His voice has a dull, melodious, but artificial sounding voice, which is confirmed when his voice on recordings is much raspier and aged- reflecting on his inner corruption.

* GovernmentDrugEnforcement:

* FacialHorror: Winslow is permanently and hideously disfigured when his face is trapped in a record press at Swan's recording studio. After the Phantom [[spoiler:destroys the videotapes and contracts keeping Swan, Phoenix and himself immortal, Swan’s face begins to rapidly putrefy before he is stabbed to death]].

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: In "Goodbye, Eddie, Goodbye", when narrating Eddie's story, the lead singer of The Juicy Fruits puts on a weird accent that his hard to define besides that it sounds vaguely italian or hispanic.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: In "Goodbye, Eddie, Goodbye", when narrating Eddie's story, the lead singer of The Juicy Fruits puts on a weird accent that his hard to define besides that it sounds (very) vaguely italian or hispanic.

* RecycledLyrics: "Upholstery", being Winslow's cantata ("Faust") turned into a vapid surf rock song, shares the same opening line ("I was not myself last night") with it. There's also other lines that aren't exactly the same but sound very similar.

[[caption-width-right:338:''[[{{Tagline}} He Sold His Soul For Rock & Roll]]'']]

* TheVillainSucksSong: "The Hell Of It", which plays over the end credits.

** The Phantom's mask is also reminiscent of a stylized Owl, or similar Bird of Prey, making the Love Triangle very avian themed.

* SequelEscalation: A kind of in-film example, with Swan's public shows. [[spoiler:The first in the film features a singer bloodlessly miming harakiri on stage. The second involves dummy audience members being hacked up by the singers and turned into a Frankenstein-like man. This show ends with said man being electrocuted on stage. The final show, the wedding, features a man being shot in the head, the Phantom's wounds re-opening, and Swan himself being graphically stabbed to death on live TV, with the theater audience themselves finally climbing up to take part in it all.]]

* ShoutOut:

* ShoutOut: Philbin is named after Mary Philbin, the actress who played Christine in the silent version of ''Film/{{The Phantom of the Opera|1925}}''.
** Swan also dresses like Lon Chaney for the press conference introducing Beef.
** There are several nods to popular bands from the era, ranging from the Beach Boys to Alice Cooper.

* Winslow kills (or attempts to kill) anyone who isn't Phoenix that sings his songs.
* For the crime of possessing heroin (albeit planted on him by DirtyCops), Winslow is sentenced to life in prison.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Winslow kills (or attempts to kill) anyone who isn't Phoenix that sings his songs.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/potp.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[{{Tagline}} He Sold His Soul For Rock & Roll]]'']]