Malls were the epitome of ‘80s culture. I know.
I was there. I spent a better
part of the decade in one. Because of
that, a mall was the perfect setting for an update of Phantom of the Opera. Besides, YOU try getting a teenager from the
‘80s to listen to opera music.
Eric (Derek Rydall) saves his girlfriend Melody (Kari
Whitman) from a housefire before apparently dying in the blaze. A year later, a mall is erected on the ashes
of Eric’s house. Before the stores are
even open, people start winding up dead at the monument to consumerism. As it turns out, he survived the fire and now
the horribly burned Eric is hiding in the ductwork waiting to get revenge on
the people who wronged him.
The layout of the mall lends itself nicely to the
material. Instead of the sewers of
Paris, Eric gets around through the ventilation shafts of the mall. The scenes of Eric spying on his girlfriend
from the vents and using the security system to stalk his victims are very
effective. The body count is
surprisingly healthy and some of the kills easily outdo the best franchise
slasher movies of the era. Eric uses
fans, forklifts, and escalators to mow down his victims. The best kill by far is the
snake-on-the-toilet gag that has to be seen to be believed. Besides, you’ve got to love any mall that
have stores that sell flamethrowers and display them conveniently enough for
any madman to make use of them.
Honestly, the film probably plays better now than it did on
its original release. That’s because we
can now look back nostalgically on the setting and remember the glory days of
the shopping mall. I’m sure readers of a
certain age have fond memories of shopping in malls back in the ‘80s. I myself felt a wave of nostalgia seeing such
stores as Sam Goody, B. Dalton, and Florsheim Shoes featured so prominently
in the background.
Director Richard (Dark Wolf) Friedman isn’t content on an
anthropological study of ‘80s mall culture.
In addition to the aforementioned gore, he also delivers some fine
action set pieces. We get a
Commando-inspired swinging stunt and the man-on-fire effects are some of the
best the ‘80s have to offer.
The supporting cast is a lot of fun. Pauly Shore gets some laughs while playing a
watered-down version of his usual persona as “Buzz”, Melody’s wisecracking
friend. Morgan Fairchild has a couple of
good moments as the sexy mayor who may or may not be the one responsible for
Eric’s disfigurement. It was also great
seeing the star of the ultimate mall horror movie, Dawn of the Dead, Ken Foree
in a sizeable role as a security guard.
It’s Rydall who steals the show as the mostly unseen
Phantom. I especially loved the scenes
of him using stolen gym equipment to get pumped up on his down time from
killing. Just when you think Eric can’t
get any cooler, he has a kickboxing duel with the evil security guard. This is what sets him apart from the other
screen Phantoms. Say what you will about
Lon Chaney, Claude Rains, and Robert Englund, but did they ever partake in a
kickboxing duel to the death while under their Phantom mask? Didn’t think so.
That scene alone virtually guarantees that this is the best Phantom
movie of all time.
AKA: Phantom of the
Mall. AKA: Phantom Nightmare.
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