67
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The New YorkerPauline KaelThe New YorkerPauline KaelThe film is a one-of-a-kind entertainment, with a kinetic, breakneck wit.
- 88Slant MagazineSlant MagazineThis is De Palma pouring the new wine of his formal inventiveness and anti-authoritarian irreverence into the old bottles of archetypal myths, and it remains a supremely entertaining anomaly within his filmography, yet entirely emblematic of his filmmaking sensibilities.
- 83The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyA smorgasbord of camp, Grand Guignol, and bird imagery that thumbed its metal beak at commercial considerations.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineA better rock'n'roll parody than The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and one of director Brian De Palma's more original efforts, Phantom of the Paradise combines elements of The Phantom of the Opera and the Faust legend into a fairly entertaining, but only sporadically successful, horror-musical comedy.
- 70Time OutTime OutA highly inventive updating of the Phantom of the Opera story to the rockbiz world - complete with borrowings from Faust and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
- A garish cult thriller.
- 60Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrThis was one of De Palma's early efforts, and its excesses can be chalked up to youthful enthusiasm—the ideas seem appealingly audacious even when they misfire, which is more often than not.
- 40The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyPhantom of the Paradise is an elaborate disaster, full of the kind of facetious humor you might find on bumper stickers and cocktail coasters.