Starring Menghe Gu, Ping Hu, Shan Jin, Chau-Shui Yee, Wenzhu Zhou
Directed by Weibang Ma-Xu
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A young opera singer is tutored by a mysterious voice in a dilapidated theater he performs in, which he discovers belongs to a scarred performer thought dead long ago.
Credited as China's first horror film by IMDB, I would call it more of a melodrama with a few eerie visuals, but I do think it's a well-acted and directed piece of work. The story is clearly based on Gaston Leroux's The Phantom Of The Opera, and while the production is smaller in scale than more well known film adaptations of the novel, it debuts some ideas which may well have had an impact on other versions. Some of the differences that make the film unique are the "Phantom" and his protege are both male, they both have love affairs that intersect with tragedy, and their stories are tied together by the presence of a common villain. Shan Jin is very good as the scarred Song Danping, and especially so within the makeup, which is well-designed to complement his performance. The opera numbers are distinctive if not elaborately staged, and there's some fine cinematography which adds some spooky moments to the film's beginning and suspense to its latter half. Although the opera numbers sound original, curiously the underscore is made up of disparate classical selections, including highlights from The Sorcerer's Apprentice, A Night On Bald Mountain, and Rhapsody In Blue.
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