Ben is a wondrous Phantom indeed. He skulks around his theatre, battling all trespassers. He also kills in true Phantom style, leaving a hanged man about for people to find and using an electrifying exit for one victim (think chandelier). But like all Phantoms he has a ladylove. In this case the daughter of the new Crest theatre owner, Jeanie. She resembles his idol Jean Harlow so much that he courts her, Phantom style.

Ben is sweet with his lover, bringing her tokens of his affection like mangled corpses. He tries to have Jeanie overlook his fire-marred body, and can chase her amazingly well considering he is about sixty years her senior. Did I mention the shrine he has built for her? He has the most romantic bedroom for her, sort of shabby chic as well. He doesn’t get so much of a kiss in either, poor guy.

The overall cast is mainly pathetic to the point where you wish Ben would kill them all, but let’s not forget our obsession. Jeanie like all Christines is bright young and darn cute too. She doesn’t resemble Harlow in the least, but that’s OK. She even comes around to Ben once she thinks he is dead and puts her hands in the goo oozing out of his last victim’s smashed head. See? She could be as gruesomely romantic as Ben.

This film works well if you think indie slasher film. The inside joke of Jeanie wearing a Phantom of the Paradise shirt is priceless. Perhaps the most inexplicable part is whether or not Ben owns a generator. He would need one since he’s been running Harlow films all these years. You’ve got to love a Phantom that goes for the silent classics.

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