More recently, the Conjuring franchise and its Annabelle spinoffs were said to be “ based on the true case files of the Warrens.”
In 1999, the creative team behind The Blair Witch Project made pop culture history by marketing a horror movie about three people getting lost in the woods as a collection of lost documentary film footage. This is a trick that’s been played on us before.ĭuring the closing credits of Universal Pictures’ Frankenstein (1931), the true identity of the mad doctor’s monster was left shrouded in mystery. Use Your Illusion: Layers of Fantasy and Reality in The Phantom of the Operaįor all its reputation as a grandiose, epic, lush, opulent, sweeping saga of beauty and darkness, The Phantom of the Opera begins with a surprisingly simple declarative sentence: “The Opera ghost really existed.” So, when it came time to do my annual Halloween reading last year I decided it was time to tackle the real thing. I did read a comic book version of it (seen above), but everyone knows that’s cheating. I guess my thinking at the time was basically “Why should I read the book? I’ve seen the musical!” – a teenage thought process that somehow makes even less sense than the more common “Why should I read the book? I’ve seen the movie!” As a theater kid in high school, I was well-acquainted with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway version of the story –īut I never sat down and read the novel itself. Like an opera.Īs I mentioned in my review of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, I’ve always been a fan of horror stories and I’m embarrassed whenever I realize that I haven’t read all the classics of the genre.
Over and above the central love story, it’s an exploration of illusion and reality, the manner in which different kinds of people express love, the character of the tortured artist, the development of toxic relationships, and the lifelong effects of childhood trauma. Like the Paris Opera House in which it’s set, Phantom has a lot of layers and hidden passages to get lost in. At its simplest, it’s the story of a love triangle involving a beautiful young opera singer named Christine Daaé, her aristocratic childhood sweetheart Raoul, and a mysterious “opera ghost.” (His name is eventually revealed, though he’s rarely, if ever, referred to as “the phantom.”) As the opera ghost’s behavior becomes more violent and erratic, Raoul must find a way to rescue Christine from his hidden lair under the opera house.īut of course that’s not the whole story.
If you’re the kind of person who reads online book reviews (and obviously you are), you probably have at least a working knowledge of the Phantom‘s plot from its many screen and stage adaptations.