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Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge
USA 1989
produced by Thomas Fries, Charles W. Fries (executive) for Fries Entertainment
directed by Richard Friedman
starring Kari Whitman, Derek Rydall, Jonathan Goldsmith, Rob Estes, Pauly Shore, Kimber Sissons, Morgan Fairchild, Gregory Scott Cummins, Tom Fridley, Ken Foree, John Walter Davis, Dante D'Andre, Terrence Evans, Kelly Rutherford, Gary McGurk, Jake Jacobs, Dick Hancock, Louise Alvarez (uncredited), Brinke Stevens (uncredited)
story by Scott Schneid, Frederick R. Ulrich, screenplay by Scott Schneid, Tony Michelman, Robert King, based on the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, music by Stacy Widelitz
Phantom of the Opera
review by Mike Haberfelner
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A small town prepares to show itself in the best of lights when it
comes to the opening of its own mall, and both mayor Wilton (Morgan
Freeman) and land developer and mall owner Posner (Jonathan Goldsmith)
will stop at nothing to make this work and finally put their town on the
map. Or course, even before the big ceremony personnel dies every now and
again, like a perverted security guard, a bar pianist doubling as rapist,
or even Posner's own borderline criminal son, but nothing, nothing,
must stand in the way of the big day. Young Melody (Kari Whitman) has just
secured herself a job at the mall, even if the place it was built on holds
some uncomfortable memories for her as it was formerly the location of her
boyfriend Eric's (Derek Rydall) that was burned to the ground with him
inside - and even though she witnessed an arsonist on the site, the police
hushed this up in favour of the good (?) of the city - in other words, the
mall. But now Melody meets Peter (Rob Estes), a young journalist whom she
not only falls for (and vice versa), but who also thinks something stinks
when it comes to the whole affair. And it's not long before the two find
out the guy Melody has seen at the fire is actually one of the mall's
security guards, Christopher (Gregory Scott Cummins), and when he finds
out they've found out he tries to kill them, he's stopped by ... the
phantom of the mall (Derek Rydall). Melody's sure it's Eric, and it
doesn't take long until he abducts her and shows her his real face, and
even if it's horribly burned. And she also realizes that most of what Eric
has done he has done out of love, and she's touched of course that after
all this time he's still watching over her - however, this quickly turns
into horror when she learns he wants to blow up the mall right for the
opening ceremony, when it's at maximum capacity, taking pretty much half
the city and then some with it. And now it's up to her, Peter, and their
friends Buzz (Pauly Shore) and Suzie (Kimber Sissons) to save the day.
Thing is, they not only have Eric to overcome, but also Mayor Wilton and
Posner, who won't let a little bomb threat spoil their party ... Now
if I said Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge was a masterpiece in
any sense of the word, I would be lying. That's not to say the film's
terrible, it's well executed and features its fair share of tension,
action and scares. But at the same time it's just a straight slasher,
despite borrowing heavily from Phantom
of the Opera (the novel. in itself something of a slasher
blueprint). And unfortunately, the film fails to recognize the satirical
potential of its mall-background that sure could have added some
subversiveness to its proceedings. And that all said, Phantom of the
Mall: Eric's Revenge is also wonderful, a film that has most
certainly grown on general audiences over the years as its one of the
perfect 1980s slasher time capsules. There's really everything there you
either like about genre films from that era or find ridiculous or
endearing, from music, makeup and hairdos to the obligatory car chase to
bits of quite explicit violence to carbon cutout characters. So while the
film might not be great, it actually is a glorious trip down memory lane,
and certainly a must-see at least if you were both young enough and old
enough to watch this back when.
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