JLRVancouver This movie is almost a century old and there's little I can add to what has already been said. 'The Phantom of the Opera' is Lon Chaney at his finest and the scene where he is unmasked is rightfully one of the most famous in movie history. The silent-movie histrionics are dated but the sets, especially the Phantom's dungeon lair are memorable - Gothic and surreal and a great counterpoint to the boisterous Paris opera house above. One advantage to being a silent actor: Chaney didn't have to talk and so could wear the creepiest dental prosthetics (see "London after Midnight" (1927) for another great example of this unparalleled make-up genius). Fantastic film from an other age.

allyball-63124 Before you read the rest of this review, it's important to note that at the time of writing this, this is the only silent film I have seen, so I'm not very experienced with them. Okay, now that's out of the way, time to review. For the earliest surviving adaptation of the book, this is pretty dang impressive. The thing that everyone remembers about this film is the unmasking scene and yeah, it's a great scene and Lon Chaney's makeup is on point. It looks exactly how he was described in the book. Speaking of the book, this film does follow the book pretty closely aside from the ending, which I won't spoil here. The music and acting are also on point. I also like that this movie focuses more on the mystery aspect rather than the romantic aspect like quite a few of the versions I've seen do. However, that does lead to a slight downfall: the characters, aside from maybe Erik, and romance are extremely bland. I'm sure this was just a product of the times but it is still an issue, at least for me. Overall, I like and appreciate this movie for the technical aspects and how it handles the story but in terms of the characters and romance, it is a bit dated.

MonsterVision99 This film was great, the cinematography, the acting, the story, the characters, everything. One of the best aspects of this film its Lon Chaney, he delivers a great performance as the phantom of the opera (whos real name is Erik) truly outstanding, at first, you are interested in the character and why he commits such repulsive acts, like extortion and murder, but then you start to sympathize with him, its also a very important movie, many people consider this movie to be inferior to "Nosferatu" or other silent films, but I think this one is on par, if not, better than those films, its definitely more entertaining than "Nosferatu",I really liked "Nosferatu" but this one is superior when it comes to pacing and writing, it also delivers great spectacle, the Masked Ball scene is one of my favorite scenes in silent era. Its definitely worth a watch.

Rainey Dawn Awesome, just awesome. I cannot say for sure if I saw this film in it's entirety but I can say I saw the movie. Rumors say the movie is not complete and that is most likely true but there isn't much that is missing from what I can tell - it is about 1 1/2 hours long. And from what I saw of the motion picture is a true Gothic horror film. This movie really does shine - it is a pure horror gem.They do not make movies like this anymore and this timeless masterpiece should be well preserved for future generations to come.If you like this movie - then you should try to find and watch 'London After Midnight' and 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' both starring the incredible Lon Chaney, Sr.9/10