History Film / ThePhantomOfTheOpera1989

In modern New York, an aspiring singer named Christine Day comes across sheets from an obscure opera ''Don Juan Triumphant''. She uses it as a part of a theatre audition, which unexpectly sends [[WholeEpisodeFlashback her back in time]] to VictorianLondon to relive the events around the man who wrote the work; Erik Destler, a notorious psychotic killer known as "The Phantom".

* CaliforniaDoubling: Although mostly set in London (except for the New York BookEnds), it was primarily filmed in Budapest.

* PreMortemOneLiner: Erik does this to his victims. ''A lot.'' The film had [[Creator/RobertEnglund Freddy]] [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Krueger]] playing Erik, after all, and by damn they were going to use him!

* PreMortemOneliner: Erik does this to his victims. ''A lot.'' The film had [[Creator/RobertEnglund Freddy]] [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Krueger]] playing Erik, after all, and by damn they were going to use him!

* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Richard, the Raoul equivalent, actually gets killed off by Erik.]]

* PreMortemOneliner: Erik does this to his victims. ''A lot.'' The film had Robert Englund playing Erik, after all, and by damn they were going to use him!

A 1989 adaptation of ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', starring Creator/RobertEnglund and Jill Schoelen, and directed by Dwight H. Little [[note]](''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'', ''Film/MarkedForDeath'', ''Film/{{Tekken}}'' and ''FreeWilly 2'')[[/note]].

* AllJustADream: In the beginning, Christine is knocked out by a large sandbag, which sends her back in time a couple of centuries. After supposedly defeating Erik, she wakes up in present-day and everyone is clamoring over her accident.
** OrWasItADream: [[spoiler:The director of the play happens to be Erik. He later takes her to his apartment and reveals himself to her. He also confirms that the "dream" Christine had was real and they are bound to each other for eternity.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: The film is much more violent and [[BloodierAndGorier gory]] than your typical ''Phantom'' adaptation; people get flayed alive, drowned in saunas or decapitated. Erik also sleeps with prostitutes, pretending they're Christine, and tries to rape her near the climax. Oh, and he periodically has to make himself a new face, sewn together from the flesh he's harvested from other people.
** Then again, the 1998 film is much more violent and includes several on-screen deaths and mutilations. Three people are killed within the first ''seven minutes''.

* OffWithHisHead: Erik decapitates the second mugger and rolls his head toward the third, making him run.

--> '''This is either a wedding march or a funeral mass. You decide.'''

* DramaticUnmask: When the modern day Christine is confronted by Erik, she rips off his false face to reveal his true features.

* TruerToTheText: Shocking, we know. Aside from the time travel, the deal with the devil and the flaying/harvesting of skin, this film is actually pretty faithful to the original novel in many respects. It features a ''lot'' of details that have often been left out of the various adaptations over the years, such as Erik playing the violin for Christine at Monsieur Daae's grave, the punjab lasso and the rat catcher.

* BigNo: Erik's reaction when modern day Christine destroys his work.

* TheEndOrIsIt: After defeating Erik, Christine comes by a mysterious figure playing violin in the streets.

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Erik's hideout resides in tunnels within the sewers under the opera.

* TruerToTheText: Shocking, we know, but - aside from the time travel, the deal with the devil and the harvesting of skin - this film is actually pretty faithful to the original novel. It features a ''lot'' of details that have often been left out of the various adaptations over the years, such as Erik playing the violin for Christine at Monsieur Daae's grave, the punjab lasso and the rat catcher.

* FlayingAlive: Erik flays Joseph the stagehand who accidentally dropped a bag of sand on Christine, and places his corpse behind Carlotta's mirror to scare her from singing that night.

* PreMortemOneliner: Erik does this to his victims. A lot. The film had Robert Englund playing Erik, after all, and by damn they were going to use him!

* TruerToTheText: Shocking, we know, but this film is actually pretty faithful to the original novel. It features a ''lot'' of details that have often been left out of the various adaptations over the years, such as Erik playing the violin for Christine at Monsieur Daae's grave, the punjab lasso and the rat catcher.

* TruerToTheText: Shocking, we know, but this film features a ''lot'' of aspects from the Leroux novel that are often left out of theatrical adaptations; such as Erik playing the violin for Christine on Monsieur Daae's grave, the punjab lasso and the rat catcher.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Erik impales the rat catcher to a spike on a wall.

* TruerToTheText: Shocking, we know, but this film features a ''lot'' of aspects from the Leroux novel that are often left out of theatrical adaptations; such as Erik playing the violin for Christine on Monsieur Daae's grave and the punjab lasso.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The film is a more violent and [[BloodierAndGorier gory]] than your typical ''Phantom'' adaptation; people get flayed alive, drowned in saunas or decapitated. Erik also sleeps with prostitutes, pretending they're Christine, and tries to rape her near the climax. Oh, and he periodically has to make himself a new face, sewn together from the flesh he's harvested from other people.
* DealWithTheDevil: Erik sold his soul to the Devil so that his music would live forever.

* TruerToTheText: Shocking, we know, but this film features a ''lot'' of aspects from the Leroux novel that are often left out of theatrical adaptations; such as the Phantom playing the violin on Monsieur Daae's grave and the punjab lasso.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The film is a more violent and [[BloodierAndGorier gory]] than your typical ''Phantom'' adaptation.

* NeckLift: Erik lifts the third mugger up by his arm's lenght and stabs him in the stomach.

In modern New York, an aspiring singer named Christine Day comes across sheets from an obscure opera ''Don Juan Triumphant''. She uses it as a part of a theatre audition, which unexpectly sends her back in time to VictorianLondon to relive the events around the man who wrote the work; Erik Destler, a notorious psychotic killer known as "The Phantom".

A 1989 adaptation of ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', starring Creator/RobertEnglund and Jill Schoelen, and directed by Dwight H. Little [[note]](''Film/Halloween4ThReturnOfMichaelMyers'', ''Film/MarkedForDeath'', ''Film/{{Tekken}}'' and ''FreeWilly 2'')[[/note]].

* TheEndOrIsIt: After defeating Erik, Christine meets a mysterious figure playing violin.

* ImpaledWithAnExtremePrejudice: Erik impales the rat catcher to a spike on a wall.

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