Edward R. Pressman Tribute

Phantom of the Paradise

While our allotment of advance tickets has sold out online, some additional tickets will be available to purchase at the door on a first come, first served basis on the night of the show. Box office & doors open roughly one hour before the first film. For shows that have sold out online, in-person ticket purchases are limited to 2 tickets per person.

Director Brian De Palma’s update of Phantom of the Opera, with additional bits of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Faust, set at the dawn of corporate rock. Composer Winslow (William Finley) has his music stolen by Swan (Paul Williams), a record producer about to open up a concert hall, The Paradise. When Winslow goes to Swan’s record company to demand the music’s return, he’s beaten and framed for drug dealing by Swan’s henchmen. While in prison and after his escape, Winslow suffers disfigurement, further fueling his revenge quest. He lurks in the bowels of The Paradise, terrorizing Swan and his bands. Coming face-to-face, Swan cons Winslow into believing he can still have his music produced and use the singer of his choice, Phoenix (Jessica Harper). Things go predictably wrong and Phoenix is replaced by Beef (Gerrit Graham), an egocentric glam star. Electrocutions onstage, double crosses and Swan’s seduction of the innocent Phoenix follow.

“Not just one of the flashiest, angriest musical films, but an enduring and damning kiss-off to America’s spiraling desperation for entertainment.” – Jacob Oller, The Film Stage

“A very good horror comedy-drama about a disfigured musician haunting a rock palace. Brian De Palma’s direction and script makes for one of the very rare ‘backstage’ rock story pix, catching the garishness of the glitter scene in its own time.” – Variety

Marc Edward Heuck discusses Phantom of the Paradise on the New Beverly blog.

Sisters

Margot Kidder is Danielle, a beautiful model separated from her Siamese twin, Dominique. When a hotshot reporter (Jennifer Salt) suspects Dominique of a brutal murder, she becomes dangerously ensnared in the sisters’ insidious sibling bond. A scary and stylish paean to female destructiveness, De Palma’s first foray into horror voyeurism is a stunning amalgam of split-screen effects, bloody birthday cakes, and a chilling score by frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann. (Janus Films)

35mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive