The Rocky Horror Picture Show even though it predated and sured the movie in many ways. Brian De Palma is a very talented auteur of a filmmaker and what he crafted with Phantom of the Paradise was truly unique for its time. The director took elements from musicals, gothic storytelling, absurdist comedies, and a satirical and prescient view of the recording industry and used them to transform the horror genre in exciting ways.
Phantom of the Paradise is an unconventional reinterpretation of classical horror narratives such as Faust, Phantom of the Opera, and even has connections to The Picture of Dorian Gray. A tortured songwriter, Winslow Leach (William Finley), gets his music stolen by a greedy record producer who uses it to turn a budding ingenue, Phoenix (Jessica Harper), into his latest puppet. Leach suffers a terrible accident that turns him into a disfigured reject who plots revenge against the man who made him like this.
There’s a sophisticated and layered narrative that is told in Phantom of the Paradise, all of which is only strengthened by De Palma’s obsession with bloody giallo cinema. Every scene represents another way in which the director attempts to do something stylized with the visuals and scene composition. In contrast, The Rocky Horror Picture Show tells an entertaining story that emphasizes strange characters and ridiculous situations, but lacks the depth, artistry, and ambition of Phantom of the Paradise. For this and numerous other reasons, Phantom of the Paradise is the superior horror musical of the era, even though Rocky Horror Picture Show is an undisputed and enduring cult classic.
Brian De Palma has become known for his exceptional visuals that play with where the audience’s attention gets drawn. This is put on full display in Phantom of the Paradise through the director's use of split screen, uninterrupted tracking shots, and a wealth of tropes that are more evocative of Hitchcock’s filmography and foreign horror. In contrast, Rocky Horror has attractive art design, but the camerawork isn’t on Phantom of the Paradise’s level. Curiously, both films came out a year apart - in 1974 and 1975, respectively - and they both tackled comparable commentaries on subversive gender roles. Rocky Horror titillates with its ideas, but largely reduces them to camp, yet Phantom of the Paradise incorporates these themes into its larger narrative. It uses conformity, gender, and image to push its indictment of the recording industry and celebrity even further.
A lot of the attention generated around Rocky Horror comes down to its memorable music, which has helped the movie turn into a celebrated cult classic over time. However, Phantom of the Paradise’s music was composed by acclaimed Grammy and Academy Award winner Paul Williams, who also plays the film’s villain, Swan. Williams’ Phantom of the Paradise music hasn’t gained the same level of notoriety as Rocky Horror, but it’s easily at the same quality and is a strong reflection of Williams’ skills. Rocky Horror also contained memorable performances by actors like Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon, but Phantom of the Paradise notably introduced Jessica Harper, who would go on to star in Dario Argento’s Suspiria several years later. Phantom of the Paradise’s hyperbolized style as well as the amount of talent it featured and introduced are all valuable reasons why it should be viewed with as much love, if not more, than The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
