Middle-aged Ed Blake (Peter Bergman) thinks it's high time to quit his corporate job and do something for himself - so he buys an abandoned movie-theatre with the intention of putting on 1950s style rock'n'roll shows, with the intention to this way also revive the run-down neighbourhood. And renovations are going well, and Ed soon has a trusted team to his side, including handy maintenance man Bruno (B.J. McQueen), well-spoken bouncer Marcus (Russell Curry) and prickly bookkeeper Sally (Cindy Vincino). Only Blake's wife Nancy (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) feels neglected due to all the time he spends with touching up the theatre, and their relationship is strained - but that all changes on opening night that goes well as can be and that lifts a great weight off his shoulders.

However, things might not have gone as smoothly as they seemed, as the theatre is inhabited by the Phantom (Joshua Sussman), a badly burned man who has lost his brother in the 1950s in a car accident and got burned trying to save him. He has since put up residence in the theatre and now kills all intruders as well as local winos hanging around by the theatre. Why he hasn't killed any of the main cast while they've been patching up the place is never explained, but the night before opening night, he kidnaps Sally, and on opening night he kills two teens hanging out in the parking lot in front of the place. Detective Lastrade (Steve Geng), a friend of Blake's, investigates, but really comes up with little in terms of clues. Then the next night, the Phantom strikes on stage, puts fear into the audience and kidnaps Nancy - and now it's up to Blake to prove himself ...

Despite the suggestive title, this movie only makes fleeting references to The Phantom of the Opera, and instead comes off as a routine slasher, mixed in with a wannabe-inspiring comedy about a man following his dream. And the film's rather bloodless at that - and that doesn't only mean the murders which take place primarily off-screen and lack any proper shock value, but also the inspiring part of the story comes off as somewhat anaemic, it just moves through the motions rather dully, with even Nancy's frustrations about her neglecting husband coming off as sadly clichéed, and trusting too much in its eccentric supporting characters (some of which are at least pretty amusing. And really, apart from an appearance of the Coasters doing one of their greatest hits, there's no real 50s feel in any of the film, even the music sounds generic 80s more than anything else.

In all, I'm afraid this is a movie that fails to live up to its premise.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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